Somatic Interventions for BIPOC Clients Navigating Trauma and Anxiety

For many therapists working with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) clients, traditional talk therapy can sometimes fall short in addressing the embodied effects of trauma. Dr. Chinwé Williams, a certified EMDR therapist and co-author of Seen, invites us to consider a more integrative path: somatic therapy that centers the nervous system and honors the lived experiences of racialized stress.

Why the Body Matters in Therapy

When clients present with symptoms of anxiety (think: racing hearts, tight chests, chronic stomach pain), we’re witnessing more than a mental health diagnosis. These are signs of a nervous system in distress. For BIPOC clients, somatic symptoms often reflect not only personal stressors but also the cumulative toll of systemic racism, discrimination, and cultural invisibility.

As Dr. Williams highlights, "We don’t just think anxious thoughts—we feel anxiety." That’s why body-based interventions can be especially powerful for BIPOC clients who may carry layers of generational and racial trauma in their physiology.

The Unique Burden of Racialized Anxiety

Studies show that while BIPOC populations may experience lower lifetime rates of mental illness than white populations, when symptoms do appear, they’re often more severe, chronic, and debilitating. Experiences of daily discrimination—even subtle acts like being treated with less courtesy—can trigger sustained hypervigilance and elevate allostatic load (the cumulative wear-and-tear on the body due to chronic stress).

For example, Black women show an average allostatic load 22% higher than white women. Latinx and Native communities also bear disproportionately high burdens, with stressors related to immigration, intergenerational trauma, and historical oppression.

This embodied stress response doesn’t just live in the mind. It reshapes the body, primes the nervous system for threat, and makes healing more complex without an integrated somatic approach.

Centering the Nervous System in Therapy Sessions

Dr. Williams encourages therapists to incorporate body-based practices from the very first session. One foundational intervention is the Four-Point Self-Awareness Practice, a mindfulness-based exercise that invites clients to gently observe:

1. Body awareness – Where are they holding tension or alertness?
2. Breath – Is their breathing shallow, held, or rapid?
3. Mind – Are thoughts racing or sluggish?
4. Emotions – What feelings are surfacing in the moment?

This simple practice helps clients begin to identify early signs of dysregulation and introduces the idea that their bodies can offer important cues and ultimately, healing.

Therapists are also encouraged to educate clients on nervous system regulation and tailor self-care strategies to the client’s cultural context and personal resources. As Dr. Williams reminds us, “We all need different things to return to regulation.”

Somatic Therapy as Racial Justice

Offering somatic tools to BIPOC clients is more than a clinical technique: It’s a form of validation and empowerment. By addressing the very real, embodied impacts of racial trauma, therapists can help clients reclaim a sense of agency, safety, and connection in their bodies.

Whether it's grounding through breath, tracking sensations in EMDR, or noticing micro-movements in a session, somatic interventions invite clients to reoccupy their bodies in a world that often seeks to disconnect them from it.

As therapists, we must recognize that healing racial trauma requires more than insight. It requires presence, embodiment, and an unwavering commitment to culturally responsive care.