Phil Enock, PhD

Somatic Therapist

If you're seeking therapy, most likely you are experiencing emotional pain. You may be in a struggle with yourself or others. I’d like to help.I am a somatic therapist who offers remote sessions on Zoom. I help people with mental health and emotional issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues, and conflict with others.I warmly welcome all adults (18+) interested in somatic work to inquire. I also specialize in helping people who are, like me, strong analytical thinkers or highly sensitive people (HSP).Contact me or schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

About Me

My approach is primarily Somatic Experiencing and is informed by clinical psychological science (PhD, Harvard), relational meditation, Alexander Technique (mindful psychophysical re-education and bodywork) and other practices.I am not a psychotherapist by definition. I call myself a somatic therapist. Some would describe me as a mental health coach, somatic mindfulness coach, or somatic practitioner. But "therapy" fits better with how I work than "coaching".

• Detailed training and credentials

Please note that from a legal/regulatory standpoint, I am not licensed, am not a psychotherapist and am not technically offering psychotherapy or treatment of any specific mental health disorders. I am not a healthcare provider, can't take health insurance, and insurances would be very unlikely to reimburse for our sessions out-of-network. What I do have is 4000+ hours of relevant training over 10 years.

• More about me

About Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy builds a new skill set centered around feeling the body and noticing the present moment. These embodiment and mindfulness skills improve one's ability to regulate oneself and meet life’s challenges including mental health, stress, and relationships.Like traditional talk therapy, somatic therapy involves talking 1-on-1 in weekly sessions. The difference is that we bring deeper awareness to the body and enable the processing of emotions and traumas (both great and small).Our goal is that with your enhanced mind-body abilities, you will be able to self-regulate and process your issues long after you have completed therapy with me.

Sessions FAQ

• What are sessions with me like?

If you work with me, our sessions will involve a blend of conversation and guided awareness of your body and emotional experience. I will be authentically present, empathically attuned, listening to and witnessing you, as well as gently coaching you on somatic presence skills. We will work with manageable amounts of uncomfortable states, as well as with pleasant states and imaginings.The sessions may help you directly in healing, as the in-session experiences of somatic presence tend to help. Even more importantly, it's a learning or training process: We will grow your ability to handle and process difficult emotions and triggers on your own. Your expanded capacity will give you more freedom in responding to your issues as they arise in your everyday life.My approach focuses on Somatic Experiencing therapy by Peter Levine, which is designed to heal the emotional wounds of trauma or repeated psychological distress on the body, mind and nervous system. These wounds are the "score" described in the popular 2014 book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.I also draw on my extensive training and experience in Alexander Technique, Circling, and the science of clinical psychology.

• How is somatic therapy different from talk therapy?

We'll still be talking (on Zoom), but we focus on your present-moment experience during the session, including mindfulness of the sensations in the body. I assist you with tracking what is emerging for you (sensations, emotions, thoughts) and how to notice and make use of it.It's okay if it's hard for you to sense anything in your body. (It was like that for me before this kind of practice.)Somatic therapy is quite different from things like psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung, and psychodynamic therapies) and traditional Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), which involve logical analyzing of your thought content and causes of distress, with less emphasis on feeling and experiencing the body and developing embodied skills.The somatic presence therapy that I do isn't about talking through your life events, trauma or mental health issues. Rather, it's learning new skills to handle negative-feeling states in your body that arise for whatever reason. Learning these skills will lead to insights about yourself, but we're not chasing insights, we're building up your abilities.

• Who is somatic therapy for?

Somatic therapy is suitable for the vast majority of people. It provides valuable life skills of emotional processing, being mindfully present, and being in touch with one's feelings and needs, which all help clients address problems and augment progress in any personal growth over time.If you worry that you might not feel much in your body sensations, you're not alone. I started that way too, up in my head. And this type of work was transformational for me to gain an embodied presence. It enormously grew my ability to sense and name my sensations, emotions, thoughts, patterns of relating to myself and other people.Some of the issues somatic therapy helps with are mental health and emotional issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, conflict with others, work stress, relationship issues, chronic pain, life transitions, and general muscle tension.Somatic therapy can help with most issues that are treated by various psychotherapies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-based therapies, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).For your reference, other somatic therapy approaches (which I don't practice) include: Hakomi Method, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, AEDP, Focusing therapy, Gestalt therapy, and psychedelic-related approaches.There are no prerequisites for somatic therapy with me (nor is there anyone too advanced for it). You don't need any embodied abilities to begin, and it's okay to be "up in your head" a lot.

• What if I'm more of a thinker and analyzer?

Yes, somatic therapy is for you, and I specialize in people who are strong analytical thinkers.The reason why somatic therapy can work so well for Thinkers is that it creates fresh skills. It isn't based on the analysis and logic that are already strong--and possibly overactive--for you.The process is about mindfully honing your emotional antennae to tune into what's going on inside you. Then, your emotions can process through your body on a feeling and sensation level, a "felt sense", and not through more verbal analysis and explanation.For more info, see the Thinkers page of my website.

• What if I'm a "highly sensitive person" (HSP)?

Well, me too. And working with other highly sensitive people (HSPs) is a specialty of mine.The concept of the HSP is not widely known. It was first described in The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron.The greater "sensitivity" mostly consists of having more intense emotions, being sensitive and empathic to other people, highly affected by one's environment, and more alert when new situations remind you of old situations (including traumatic ones).It's common. It's not a disorder, it's a personality trait.And I find it more interesting and empowering to discuss and identify with being an HSP than about mental health diagnoses of "anxiety disorders" or "major depressive disorder" for example.For more info, see this summary article, this personal story, or this more in-depth article.For a self-test, see this pdf.

• Is this "psychotherapy", and can I use my health insurance's mental health benefits?

What I offer is technically not "psychotherapy" from a US legal standpoint, and thus I would expect no insurance to cover our sessions.What I offer is different from things like psychoanalysis (e.g., Freud and Jung) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), which involve logical analyzing of your thought content and causes of distress.The somatic mindfulness that we work with isn't about talking over your life events, trauma or mental health issues. Rather, it's learning new skills to handle negative-feeling states in your body that arise for whatever reason.Learning these skills typically leads to insights about yourself today and your past. But we're not chasing insights about your past. Instead, we're building up your embodied abilities to process issues and live your life right now.

• How much do sessions cost?

Your initial 30-minute consultation is free.A 55-min somatic therapy session on Zoom costs $175.If needed, you may inquire for a small discount on a limited number of sessions.(I can't accept insurance, and I don't believe any insurance will reimburse you for sessions.)

Contact

Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me to see if I'd be a good fit for you to address issues of mental health, emotional problems or relating to others in your life.We can talk about your overall picture, including (if desired) suggestions for getting help from other providers, various kinds of psychotherapy, self-help and mindfulness practices.Feel free to contact me below, directly schedule a free 30-minute Zoom, or send an email to "phil@" ending in "penock.com".

For Thinkers

I specialize in working with people with strong analytical minds. Let's chat.If you're such a thinker, my simple sales pitch is:

I can help you because I'm like you.

Who you are:

I think I know where you’re coming from.I imagine you're intelligent. Your mind moves fast.You may give organized, in-depth explanations in everyday conversations.You look for intellectual challenges. You might work or study in tech, engineering, science or academia.You may insist on correctness, notice details, and easily generate solutions to problems.You might be into rationalism (see e.g., LessWrong or the Scout Mindset).You don’t want to waste time in therapy, and you won’t try just any approach that someone claims is helpful. With a healthy skepticism, you see through pseudoscience.Do you want a therapist capable of meeting you at the speed and sophistication of your mind?

I can meet you there.

Who I am:

Before my arriving at embodied mindfulness practices, I was a Thinker and a Thinker alone. I pursued career fields and jobs where a strong analytical mind was the essential ingredient. For 6 years, I was a quantitative researcher completing my PhD at Harvard in the science of experimental clinical psychology, then later a data scientist and a backend software engineer.I had mental health problems of depression and anxiety that weren't getting better despite many treatments. I eventually realized that a lot of intense emotions, triggers and reactions were hidden from me, buried under numbness and overthinking. The key causal factors of my problems were outside of my awareness.And, in fact, the technical diagnoses of things like Major Depressive Disorder or Anxiety Disorder, and studying empirical data about psychiatric treatment outcomes, had given me a false sense of having sufficient understanding. In my ignorance of what was really going on in my emotional system and how to make progress, I felt hopeless for years.I finally found that my body was the key. I needed to deeply get in touch with what was happening in my body to get better. I began the personal journey from existing as a detached mind unaware of the body and my emotions to becoming a connected whole self with mind and body working together. Mindfulness practices, including one of authentically relating to others through embodied presence also brought me into deeper connection with everyone around me.

Somatic therapy for thinkers:

What I'm suggesting is not that you need to do what I did, and I certainly don't think it takes long in somatic therapy to see a noticeable benefit in your mental health, well-being, and emotional processing. But I am saying my experience has equipped me to help you, whether in the short-term with a small number of sessions or in longer term work.The reason why somatic therapy can work so well for Thinkers is that it creates fresh skills. It isn't based on the analysis and logic that are already strong--and possibly overactive--for you.The process is about mindfully honing your emotional antennae to tune into what's going on inside you. Then, your emotions can process through your body on a feeling and sensation level, a "felt sense", and not through more verbal analysis and explanation.Contact me or schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

For Highly Sensitive People (HSPs)

Well, me too. And working with other highly sensitive people (HSPs) is a specialty of mine.The concept of the HSP is not widely known. It was first described in The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron.The greater "sensitivity" mostly consists of having more intense emotions, being sensitive and empathic to other people, highly affected by one's environment, and more alert when new situations remind you of old situations (including traumatic ones).It's common. It's not a disorder, it's a personality trait.And I find it more interesting and empowering to discuss and identify with being an HSP than about mental health diagnoses of "anxiety disorders" or "major depressive disorder" for example.For more info, see this summary article, this personal story, or this more in-depth article.For a self-test, see this pdf.Contact me or schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

SE Training Resources from Phil

Reference gDoc: Phil's clarifying notes on coupling dynamics

SE group consultations:

Other SE workshops, demos: