Why Somatic Therapy Works for Survivors of Narcissistic Abuse
Discover how somatic therapy supports trauma recovery for survivors of narcissistic abuse. Learn how body-based healing helps restore safety, self-trust, and emotional regulation.
Understanding the Impact of Narcissistic Abuse
Surviving narcissistic abuse isn’t just about escaping a toxic relationship—it’s about recovering from a deep and often invisible trauma. Narcissistic abuse can lead to long-term psychological wounds, including Complex PTSD (CPTSD), chronic self-doubt, emotional dysregulation, and an impaired sense of safety.
Because the abuse is often covert and manipulative, survivors may question their own perceptions for years. They may struggle with boundaries, experience emotional flashbacks, or remain stuck in cycles of self-abandonment.
Traditional talk therapy can be helpful for insight and validation. But many survivors find that cognitive understanding alone doesn’t shift the body’s lingering sense of danger. This is where somatic therapy becomes essential.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma. It works with the nervous system, physical sensations, and the body’s automatic survival responses. Unlike standard talk therapy, somatic therapy does not rely on analyzing or retelling the trauma story. Instead, it helps you gently reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and build an internal sense of safety (Levine, 2010; Ogden et al., 2006).
At Diverse Paths Wellness, we specialize in somatic-based recovery coaching that integrates body, mind, and nervous system regulation—especially for survivors of narcissistic and relational trauma.
How Narcissistic Abuse Affects the Body
Narcissistic abuse often leads to subtle but profound trauma responses. Survivors may not even recognize that what they’re experiencing is trauma—especially if the abuse was emotional, psychological, or covert.
Common somatic symptoms include:
- Chronic tension or muscle pain
- Digestive issues or fatigue
- Freezing or dissociation during conflict
- A persistent fight-or-flight state
- Difficulty sleeping or relaxing
These responses are not random. They are your nervous system’s attempt to protect you. When abuse is ongoing, your body may become stuck in survival mode—even long after the relationship ends (Porges, 2011).
Why Somatic Therapy Works for Trauma Recovery
Somatic therapy provides a way to release trauma at the level where it lives—in the body. It helps survivors shift from hypervigilance to embodiment, from numbness to awareness, and from self-abandonment to self-trust.
Here’s why somatic therapy is especially effective for narcissistic abuse recovery:
1. It Restores Autonomy and Choice
Narcissistic abuse often involves gaslighting and control, leaving survivors unsure of their own truth. Somatic therapy centers your body’s wisdom. It supports agency by helping you recognize and respond to your own signals, rather than overriding them.
2. It Regulates the Nervous System
Through techniques such as grounding, orienting, breathwork, and co-regulation, somatic therapy helps move your body out of chronic fight, flight, or freeze. This regulation is foundational for long-term healing (Porges, 2011).
3. It Rebuilds a Felt Sense of Safety
You don’t have to talk about the trauma to heal from it. Somatic therapy focuses on building moments of safety in your body—breath by breath, moment by moment. Over time, this rewires your system to tolerate peace, rest, and connection.
4. It Heals Shame at a Root Level
Narcissistic abuse often instills deep shame and self-blame. Somatic work helps you move beyond intellectual understanding and into embodied self-compassion. Posture, movement, and voice can shift how you feel about yourself from the inside out (Levine, 2010).
A Trauma Therapy Approach Rooted in the Body
If you’ve felt stuck in therapy, unsure why you “still feel the same,” or disconnected from your body and emotions—somatic therapy may be the missing piece.
At Diverse Paths Wellness, we work with clients who have experienced relational trauma, including narcissistic abuse, and guide them gently toward nervous system healing, safety, and empowerment.
Begin Your Somatic Healing Journey
You don’t need to relive the past to heal from it. You need to reconnect with the parts of yourself that never stopped trying to keep you safe.
Book a free consult today and discover how somatic-based recovery coaching can support your healing: https://diversepathswellness.ca/book-now
Explore somatic-based trauma recovery coaching: https://diversepathswellness.ca/therapists
Read more on trauma recovery and nervous system healing: https://diversepathswellness.ca/diverse-paths-blog
References (APA Style)
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books. Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W.W. Norton. Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W.W. Norton & Company.