The Body Holds What Words Can’t Express: How Bottom-Up Approaches to Therapy Can Help You

When most people consider therapy, they might imagine talk therapy. Telling your story matters and making sense of your experience through verbal processing is really powerful and that’s why many people seek out this type of therapy. However, it doesn’t always allow a person to get to the depths of their healing. That’s because trauma, grief, and overwhelming experiences don’t just live in your thoughts. They live in your body. The body holds what words can’t always express. The tension in your jaw, the racing heartbeat, the feeling of being on edge, or feeling completely shut down are all ways your body holds on to what words can’t fully express.

This is where bottom-up approaches (a body first approach) to therapy can be an effective tool to healing trauma and addressing emotional distress. The body holds what words can’t express so let’s take a look at how bottom-up approaches to therapy can help you.

Why Talking Alone Isn’t Always Enough

If you’ve gone through infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, or the challenges of postpartum, you know the truth of this. Even when you want to move forward, your body may still feel like it’s stuck in the moment of loss or fear. 

This happens because your nervous system remembers the experience. It reacts before your mind has a chance to catch up. That’s why you might feel overwhelmed, numb, or easily triggered in ways you can’t always explain.

Bottom-up approaches to therapy begin with your body and help you gently process what has been carried beneath the surface. 

What Are Bottom-Up Approaches?

“Bottom-up” or “body based” therapy focuses on your body’s sensations and nervous system responses as a starting point for healing. Instead of only asking, “What happened?” it also asks, “What do you notice in your body right now?”

My favorite bottom-up therapy approach is brainspotting which is a science backed psychotherapy technique. Brainspotting works with the deeper part of your brain which is out of reach of your conscious mind. It focuses more on the connection between your experiences and where they are being stored in your brain. Because of this deeper access to the brain, it enables you to locate, focus, process and release experiences that have deeply and negatively affected you. 

In a brainspotting session, we access the deep brain and body where emotional experiences are stored using specific eye positions or “brainspots” to identify unprocessed trauma stored in the brain. When your eyes are focused on a specific spot, you will be encouraged to notice any bodily sensations. Where you look affects how you feel because the eye spot is connected to uncomfortable memories or emotions. The beauty of brainspotting is that it taps into the midbrain which is responsible for the fight or flight response. So, if you are someone who frequently feels like you’re in a constant state of distress or heightened state of fear, brainspotting could be a very effective way to process and release those emotions. 

How a Bottom-Up Approach to Therapy Helps You

• Releases what words alone can’t. Instead of staying stuck in endless talking, you give your body a way to let go.
• Restores your sense of safety. Trauma and loss often disconnect you from your body and bottom-up therapy helps you reconnect gently.
• Brings you back to the present. Instead of being pulled into the past, you learn to ground and find steadiness in the here and now.
• Supports real, lasting change. Your nervous system learns new patterns, shifting you out of survival mode and into healing.

How This Shows Up in My Work

In my 3-hour therapy intensives, I often integrate bottom-up approaches like brainspotting with traditional talk therapy. This extended format allows us the time and space to slow down, notice what your body is holding, and move through it safely and with care.

For women navigating infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, or postpartum struggles, this can be especially powerful. Instead of leaving sessions feeling like you’ve just re-opened wounds, you leave with a greater sense of relief, understanding, and connection to yourself.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’ve ever felt like words aren’t enough, that no matter how much you talk about it, your body is still carrying the weight then this is your sign to try something different.

Healing doesn’t just happen in your mind. It happens in your body, too. My intensives are designed to help you access both, so you can begin to feel lighter, safer, and more whole again. Learn more about my therapy intensives here.