Somatic Awareness in Space Holding With Tal Sharabi

Psychedelic-assisted therapy helps us explore the depths of our psyche, unlocking hidden emotions, providing us insights into the parts of ourselves we are blind to, and allowing us to heal from trauma. 

However, the transformative potential of these substances relies not only on the medicine itself but also on the context in which the experience unfolds. In this context, the art of holding space and the role of the facilitator become essential.

“Our nervous system comes equipped with the ability to track, communicate, and respond to subtle signals. A psychedelic facilitator can use their own body in a way that holding space becomes a nuanced embodiment practice.”

— Tal Sharabi, LPC, MA

We spoke with Tal Sharabi, LPC, MA (she/her), a licensed professional counselor in Colorado and Oregon, about the importance of somatic awareness in space holding within the context of psychedelic therapy. Tal is a lead educator at the InnerTrek training program and is a psychedelic service facilitator under the Oregon Measure. 

She is actively involved in ongoing training in psychedelic facilitation, having graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Psychedelic Assisted Therapies and Research program. She has also completed the MDMA Assisted Therapy training by MAPS (Parts A to D) and is currently participating in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy under the guidance of Polaris Insight Center. 

Additionally, Tal is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy at Levels 1 and 2. As a somatically trained psychotherapist, Tal emphasizes the essential connection between body, mind, and spirit. Drawing from over twenty years of mindfulness practice, she integrates present-moment mindfulness-based techniques with body-centered and trauma-healing modalities alongside a strengths-based perspective and transpersonal approach to her work.

She is one of the instructors for the Women Healers in Psychedelic Practice: Sacredness and Embodied Ceremonial Wisdom course. Tal teaches how to explore the connection between the therapist’s relational awareness, somatic awareness, and capacity to self-regulate, attune, and resonate with the client.

What is Somatic Awareness?

Tal explained that somatic awareness refers to the capacity to notice and understand the intricate interplay between one’s physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts. But it also involves cultivating a deep sense of presence within the body, recognizing the subtle nuances of bodily experiences, and understanding how these experiences relate to our internal states and interactions with the world. 

“I see embodied facilitation, aka somatic awareness, as a remembering process, reconnecting with abilities we tuned out over our modern evolution. But, like with any technology we use, there is a way to use it at any given time and place. I help students be aware of how and when to use these skills,” explains Tal.

Somatic Awareness in Clinical Care For Body Distress

A 2008 paper explored the role of somatic awareness in clinical care, emphasizing its importance for patients with body distress. Body distress refers to physical symptoms that may not have a clear medical explanation but are linked to emotional or psychological stress. 

The article discusses signs of body distress that clinicians should watch for, including the following:

• Jaw tightness (teeth clenching, grinding)
• Dysfunctional breathing (shallow and irregular)
• Fast-talking
• Poor sleep quality
• Tight neck and elevated shoulders
• Clenching fists
• Tense facial muscles

Symptoms of body distress often include non-cardiac chest pain, persistent headache, fatigue, fibromyalgia, or gastrointestinal issues. Body distress connects to the interplay between mind and body, where unresolved emotional or mental health challenges manifest through physical discomfort. This understanding highlights the need for an integrated approach to care that addresses both the physiological and emotional aspects of health.

Somatic awareness involves recognizing and interpreting bodily sensations and is crucial in understanding psychosomatic conditions. Specifically, the authors explained that enhancing patients’ awareness of the connection between their emotions and physical symptoms can improve emotional regulation, communication, and overall health outcomes. The article underscores the value of clinicians fostering their own somatic awareness to better attune to patients’ needs.

“Somatic awareness involves directing a patient’s attention to interoceptive or body experience and associated feelings for the purpose of self-healing and achieving health. The use of this healing heuristic in primary care would advance the understanding of how the body self-heals. Somatic awareness serves as a powerful clinical tool to facilitate communication and humanistic care between physician and patient.”

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What Does “Holding Space” Mean?

“Holding space” refers to creating a supportive, nonjudgmental environment where people feel safe expressing emotions, processing experiences, and navigating challenges. It involves empathy, active listening, and the ability to remain grounded and present without trying to fix or control the situation.

The term gained popularity with Heather Plett’s 2015 blog post, where she described “holding space” as offering unconditional support, particularly during her mother’s palliative care. Her lessons include allowing others to trust their intuition and life experience rather than rigid protocols. 

Holding space involves sharing only what the other person can process and avoiding overloading them with information during vulnerable moments. Respecting autonomy is crucial when holding space as it empowers the individual to make their own decisions instead of undermining them. 

Plett explained that setting aside one’s ego allows one to focus on the other person’s needs without centering oneself. Other aspects of holding space include normalizing failure, creating a safe space to make mistakes and express complex emotions, providing support that respects their dignity, and honoring differences without judgment.

Divya Robin, a psychotherapist and mental health educator based in New York City, shared with Well+Good that it is also possible to hold space for ourselves:

“[Holding space for ourselves] looks like being open, accepting, and non-judgmental about your own thoughts, feelings, and experience…Acknowledging that you are human, and with that comes flaws, imperfections, and not always knowing the answer. It’s being real with yourself about what your experience is instead of being defensive or avoiding the tough stuff.”

Divya explained that this could mean taking 15 minutes daily to mindfully check in with our physical being without any interruptions or distractions. We should ask ourselves what our body feels like, where it feels physical discomfort, and what it needs.

Two Perspectives of Somatic Awareness: Client and Facilitator

Tal explained that she teaches two different perspectives of somatic awareness in psychedelic facilitation. The first involves using awareness and mindfulness in the present moment with the client as it can aid preparation, integration, building skills, providing ways to attend to trauma, and resourcing. Emphasizing somatic awareness in this context focuses on the body-mind connection and how it relates to nervous system healing.

The other approach focuses on the facilitator’s role and how they can benefit from enhancing their own somatic awareness. Tal shares that this perspective has not been discussed or explored much in the field. 

“This approach [from the facilitator’s perspective] says that as a psychedelic facilitator, you are not just “holding space,” but rather you are the space you are holding. [It] is based on my training in sensorimotor psychotherapy, interpersonal neurobiology, and polyvagal theory and incorporates mindfulness practices as well…I feel confident in teaching both tracks; they are not separated and complement each other well, but the focus of the teaching is different in each,” explains Tal.

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The Role of Somatic Awareness in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Somatic awareness — the ability to tune into bodily sensations and cues — allows therapists to remain grounded, present, and attuned to the client’s nonverbal expressions. In the non-ordinary states induced by psychedelics, where words may fall short, the body often becomes the primary storyteller. Understanding and responding to these somatic narratives is integral to supporting the client’s journey through moments of catharsis, release, or profound insight.

We asked Tal how somatic awareness can enhance the therapeutic experience in a psychedelic-assisted session. She believes we are not tapping into the full capacity of our nervous system when we prepare clients for their journey. The nervous system is a fine-tuning sensing network that can capture many things in our environment. Tal shares:

“Our nervous system comes equipped with the ability to track, communicate, and respond to subtle signals. A psychedelic facilitator can use their own body in a way that holding space becomes a nuanced embodiment practice. Being mindfully present with our nervous system, we are able to attend to ourselves, the client, and even the environment using the different aspects of the nervous system mindfully”.

Holding Space and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

We asked Tal to explain why somatic awareness is crucial in space holding in the context of psychedelic-assisted therapy. She shared that somatic awareness allows the facilitator to remain grounded and attuned to both their own internal landscape and the subtle shifts occurring in the client and within the therapeutic field itself. 

Beyond tracking the client and providing deep attunement, Tal suggests that there is an ability to tune into and attend to the emergent quality that brings forth another layer of the experience. This embodied presence allows for a deeper understanding of the emergent field arising in the session.

Tal adds that because the nervous system equips us to track nonverbal subtleties in ourselves, others, and the environment, this presence is essential for navigating the inherent mystery of the psychedelic experience without imposing external frameworks or interpretations. 

“Deep attunement is an embodied practice, and this approach helps to take psychedelic facilitation to the next level,” says Tal.

Therefore, somatic awareness deepens the practice of holding space in psychedelic therapy; it can be incredibly helpful for therapists to understand and cultivate this embodied skill.

References

Bakal, D., Coll, P., & Schaefer, J. (2008). Somatic awareness in the clinical care of patients with body distress symptoms. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0759-2-6.

Epstein, S. (2023, May 25). What Does It Mean to Hold Space? Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/between-the-generations/202305/what-does-it-mean-to-hold-space/.

Estrada, J. (2023, March 10). What “Holding Space” for Someone Means and How To Do It. Well+Good. https://www.wellandgood.com/holding-space/.

Plett, H. (2024b, July 18). What It Means to “Hold Space” for People, Plus Eight Tips on How to Do It Well. Heather Plett. https://heatherplett.com/2015/03/hold-space/.