Somatic Therapy in Brooklyn & New York with Deniz Oktay, LCAT
Somatic therapy for adults experiencing anxiety, chronic stress, trauma-related patterns, dissociation, and disconnection.
In person in Brooklyn and online across New York.
Your body may be responding long before you have words for what is happening.
Somatic therapy creates room to listen to those responses with care - not as problems to eliminate, but as information that can help us understand how you have learned to protect yourself, connect with others, and move through the world.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-aware approach to psychotherapy. We still speak about your relationships, history, present concerns, and the patterns you want to change. At the same time, we include what is happening physically: shifts in breath, posture, tension, temperature, sensation, movement, numbness, or the impulse to move closer, pull away, become smaller, or take up more space.
The word somatic simply means relating to the body. It does not describe one single technique. In my practice, somatic work may draw from Dance Movement Therapy, trauma-informed psychotherapy, Authentic Movement, grounding and orienting practices, and careful attention to the nervous system. The work is responsive rather than formulaic. You do not need to arrive knowing which method you need.
Somatic therapy is not based on the idea that every sensation has one hidden meaning. A tight chest may reflect fear, grief, exertion, illness, or something else entirely. We approach the body with curiosity rather than certainty, and we remain attentive to when a physical symptom should also be evaluated medically.
What concerns can somatic therapy support?
Adults often seek somatic therapy when they understand their patterns intellectually but continue to experience them physically. You may know that you are safe and still feel braced. You may recognize that a relationship is different from one in the past and still find yourself shutting down, becoming highly alert, or losing contact with what you need.
Somatic therapy may support people navigating anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, trauma-related reactions, dissociation or disconnection, difficulty identifying emotions, relationship patterns, creative blocks, body mistrust, and a persistent sense of being on edge. It may also be meaningful for artists, performers, dancers, actors, musicians, and writers who naturally experience the body as part of expression, identity, and work.
No approach is right for everyone, and outcomes vary. Somatic therapy is not a guaranteed way to release trauma, permanently reset the nervous system, or cure a medical or psychiatric condition. When a more structured or specialized treatment is indicated, I will discuss that openly and help you consider the appropriate level of care.
What happens during a somatic therapy session?
A session may begin in a familiar way: we talk about what has been happening and what feels most important. As we speak, I may invite you to notice how the experience is showing up in the present moment. Perhaps your shoulders rise when you describe a boundary. Perhaps your breathing changes when you speak about being seen. Perhaps you feel nothing at all—and that absence itself becomes something we can approach gently.
An invitation might involve noticing the support of the chair, orienting to the room, adjusting your posture, following a small gesture, or experimenting with more physical space. We may move between words, silence, sensation, imagery, and reflection. You always retain the ability to decline, pause, modify, or return to conversation.
The purpose is not to produce a dramatic release. Often the work is quieter: recognizing a response sooner, staying present for a few more seconds, discovering that you have a choice, or learning that your body can be listened to without being overwhelmed by it.
Other common questions
No. Somatic therapy does not require dance training, flexibility, coordination, or comfort performing. Movement may be extremely small, entirely seated, or absent from a particular session. Stillness, hesitation, self-consciousness, and the wish not to move are all valid information. If more expressive movement feels useful, we can explore it collaboratively.
Touch is not required in somatic psychotherapy. Most somatic work can happen through conversation, awareness, movement, and attention to your experience. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a separate, hands-on service that uses light, still touch and has its own consent process. We will never assume that touch is appropriate simply because you are interested in body-based therapy.
Yes. Somatic therapy can be offered by secure video to adults located throughout New York State. Online sessions may include conversation, noticing bodily cues, using the support of your chair or floor, movement within your available space, and working with objects or resources already present in your environment. Some clients feel more comfortable beginning from their own home; others prefer the structure and privacy of the Brooklyn studio. Virtual therapy is not appropriate for every clinical situation. We will consider privacy, technology, current symptoms, safety needs, and whether in-person or a higher level of support would be more suitable.
Somatic therapy and talk therapy are not opposites. I do not ask you to choose between understanding your story and listening to your body. The difference is that we do not treat physical responses as background noise while the ‘real’ therapy happens through words. Breath, gesture, tension, stillness, and movement can become part of how we understand and work with the pattern. Some sessions will be primarily verbal. Others may include a movement exploration or a longer period of noticing. The balance changes according to what you need, not according to a rigid protocol.
This work may be a strong fit if you are reflective and curious, have already gained insight through therapy but feel that something remains unchanged, or want a less purely cognitive way of working. It may also suit people who feel disconnected from bodily experience, live with persistent activation or shutdown, or find that emotion is difficult to access through language alone. It may not be the right fit if you are seeking a highly structured, skills-only model, need intensive psychiatric stabilization, or are currently in a crisis requiring immediate or higher-level care. A consultation gives us space to speak honestly about fit.
I am a New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist with more than 20 years of clinical experience, including 16 years in inpatient psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital. I am also certified in Authentic Movement and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, trained in trauma-informed and somatic approaches, and a provider of the Safe and Sound Protocol and Rest and Restore Protocol. My approach brings together clinical assessment, the depth of long-term psychotherapy, and a dancer’s understanding of movement and embodied communication. I work with presence and precision rather than forcing a particular outcome.
In-person somatic therapy is available at 109 N. 12th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Virtual somatic therapy is available to adults located throughout New York State. Some clients also work with me somatically while continuing with an existing therapist who holds another dimension of their care, when collaboration is clinically appropriate and everyone is informed.
