--- title: "Somatic Therapy in Virginia | Harlan Therapy" description: "Somatic therapy with Leah Harlan, MA, LPC: working with the nervous system and the body through titration and pendulation, not talking alone." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://leahharlan.com/#leah-harlan", "name": "Leah Harlan", "honorificSuffix": "MA, LPC", "jobTitle": "Licensed Professional Counselor", "telephone": "804-395-5362", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Harlan Therapy LLC", "@id": "https://leahharlan.com/#harlan-therapy" }, "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "6610 Commons Drive, Suite C", "addressLocality": "Prince George", "addressRegion": "VA", "postalCode": "23875", "addressCountry": "US" }, "areaServed": { "@type": "State", "name": "Virginia" } }, { "@type": [ "MedicalBusiness", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://leahharlan.com/#harlan-therapy", "url": "https://leahharlan.com/", "name": "Harlan Therapy", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://leahharlan.com/logo-harlan-therapy.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 }, "image": "https://leahharlan.com/og-harlan-therapy.png", "telephone": "804-395-5362", "priceRange": "$300 - $2,500", "founder": { "@id": "https://leahharlan.com/#leah-harlan" }, "knowsAbout": [ "Birth trauma", "Traumatic birth recovery", "Perinatal and postpartum anxiety", "Pregnancy after loss", "Brainspotting", "Internal Family Systems", "Somatic therapy" ], "availableService": { "@type": "MedicalTherapy", "name": "Birth trauma therapy" }, "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "6610 Commons Drive, Suite C", "addressLocality": "Prince George", "addressRegion": "VA", "postalCode": "23875", "addressCountry": "US" }, "areaServed": { "@type": "State", "name": "Virginia" } }, { "@type": "Service", "serviceType": "Psychotherapy for birth trauma and the perinatal window", "provider": { "@id": "https://leahharlan.com/#harlan-therapy" }, "areaServed": { "@type": "State", "name": "Virginia" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://leahharlan.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Approach", "item": "https://leahharlan.com/approach" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Somatic Therapy", "item": "https://leahharlan.com/approach/somatic-therapy" } ] } ] --- Accepting new patients in-person or virtually across Virginia. [Harlan Therapy](/) - [Birth Trauma](/specialties/birth-trauma) - [Who I Help](/who-i-help) - [Services](/services) - [Individual Therapy](/services/individual-therapy) - [Therapy Intensives](/services/therapy-intensives) - [Rates](/rates-and-insurance) - [Facts](/faq) - [Blog](/blog) - [Resources](/resources) - [About](/about) [Request a consultation ](/contact#intake)Menu ![A folded cream linen blanket over the arm of a chair in warm light, somatic therapy in Virginia](/assets/approach-somatic-1920-D5-V354L.webp) Approach # Somatic Therapy Your body has been keeping score the whole time. This is where we finally include it in the conversation. Somatic therapy works directly with the nervous system and the body, alongside whatever thoughts and stories are present. Chronic stress, trauma, and burnout aren't only mental events, they show up as bracing, exhaustion, a racing heart, a jaw that won't unclench. ## Why Talking Alone Often Isn't Enough You can understand exactly why you're anxious and still be anxious. That gap is common, and it's not a failure of insight. Your nervous system responds to felt experience, not explanation. Somatic work gives us a way to address the felt experience directly, rather than only discussing it. ## Titration and Pendulation Titration means working with small, manageable amounts of activation at a time, rather than opening everything at once. Pendulation means moving between activation and settling, back and forth, so your system learns it can return to steadiness rather than staying flooded. Together, these keep the work from being overwhelming, which matters a great deal when you already feel like you're barely holding it together. ## What a Session Might Include We might track sensation as it arises, notice where tension sits, or work with breath and posture in a very ordinary way. There's no performance involved and nothing that requires flexibility, fitness, or comfort with touch, since this isn't a hands on therapy. It's attentive, gradual, and paced by what your body can tolerate that day. You won't be handed generic advice. This approach often works well alongside Brainspotting and Internal Family Systems, since all three take your body and your parts seriously rather than asking you to think your way out of what you're feeling. Related Reading [ ### Brainspotting Read more ](/approach/brainspotting) [ ### Internal Family Systems Read more ](/approach/internal-family-systems) [ ### Stress and Burnout Read more ](/specialties/stress-and-burnout) [ ### Perinatal Anxiety Read more ](/specialties/perinatal-anxiety) [ ### Services and Rates Read more ](/services) ## A Conversation First The consultation is free and there is no pressure in it. We talk for a short while, you ask what you want to ask, and you decide afterwards. [Request a consultation ](/contact#intake)[Or send a note](/contact) Harlan Therapy 6610 Commons Drive, Suite C Prince George, Virginia 23875 [804-395-5362](tel:8043955362) [Request a consultation ](/contact#intake)![Proud member of the ABB Collective, A Brighter Birth](/__l5e/assets-v1/a0c7ddc9-14e0-4b02-a93f-76b9dec6cdaa/abb-collective-badge.webp) Specialties - [Birth Trauma](/specialties/birth-trauma) - [The Motherhood Wound](/specialties/the-motherhood-wound) - [Traumatic Birth Recovery](/specialties/traumatic-birth-recovery) - [Perinatal Anxiety](/specialties/perinatal-anxiety) - [Postpartum Anxiety](/specialties/postpartum-anxiety) - [Postpartum Depression](/specialties/postpartum-depression) - [Pregnancy After Loss](/specialties/pregnancy-after-loss) - [See All Specialties](/specialties) Who I Help - [Who I Help](/who-i-help) - [Professional Mothers](/who-i-help/professional-mothers) - [First Generation Professionals](/who-i-help/first-generation-professionals) - [Therapists and Helping Professionals](/who-i-help/therapists-and-helping-professionals) Approach - [How I Work](/approach) - [Brainspotting](/approach/brainspotting) - [Internal Family Systems](/approach/internal-family-systems) - [Somatic Therapy](/approach/somatic-therapy) Service Areas - [Service Areas](/service-areas) - [Northern Virginia](/service-areas/northern-virginia) - [Richmond](/service-areas/richmond) - [Virginia Beach](/service-areas/virginia-beach) - [Charlottesville](/service-areas/charlottesville) - [Telehealth Across Virginia](/telehealth-in-virginia) - [Prince George Office](/therapy-in-prince-george) - [The Tri-Cities](/therapy-in-the-tri-cities) Practice - [Rates and Insurance](/rates-and-insurance) - [Private Pay in Virginia](/rates-and-insurance/private-pay-therapy-in-virginia) - [Fees and Facts](/faq) - [Contact](/contact) - [For Providers](/refer) - [Blog](/blog) - [Resources](/resources) - [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy) - [SMS Terms](/sms-terms) - [Good Faith Estimate](/good-faith-estimate) Services - [All Services](/services) - [Individual Therapy](/services/individual-therapy) - [Therapy Intensives](/services/therapy-intensives) - [Child and Adolescent Therapy](/services/child-and-adolescent-therapy) - [Family Therapy](/services/family-therapy) - [About Leah](/about) * * * Serving Prince George, the Tri-Cities, and by telehealth [across Virginia](/service-areas). - [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy) - [Terms](/terms) - [SMS Terms](/sms-terms) - [Disclaimers](/disclaimers) - [Good Faith Estimate](/good-faith-estimate) - [Cookie Policy](/cookie-policy) Harlan Therapy LLC Leah Harlan, MA, LPC · Licensed Professional Counselor #0701013658 (Virginia) If you are in crisis, call or text 988. In person in the Tri-Cities area and by telehealth throughout Virginia. This website is informational and is not therapy, and it is not a place to share clinical details. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911. Therapy outcomes vary from person to person and no particular result is promised or guaranteed. © 2026 Harlan Therapy. All rights reserved.