Somatic Therapy and the Embodiment of Pleasure: A Blog in Honour of Pride Month
“Pleasure is the measure of our liberation.”
Adrienne Maree Brown
As Pride Month comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the deep connection between somatic therapy and the concept of pleasure — especially for those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Many of the clients I work with teach me what it means to live fully in the body. Their stories remind me how radical it can be to feel joy, comfort, or even safety in a world that hasn’t always made room for their full expression.
This month I found myself returning to the writings of Adrienne Maree Brown and her exploration of Pleasure Activism — the idea that feeling good, experiencing joy, and reclaiming pleasure can be acts of resistance and healing. In the context of therapy, this resonates deeply.
Somatic therapy is about more than reducing symptoms — it’s about coming home to the body. Not just to feel “better,” but to feel alive. To experience pleasure, sensuality, safety, connection, creativity — all the things that make us human.
Many clients come to therapy after years of talk-based work, still feeling disconnected or uneasy in their bodies. Somatic work offers something different: an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and learn how to be with oneself in new ways.
Imagination, creativity, and self-expression are central to this process. For those who have felt pressure to conform, somatic therapy becomes a space where there’s no mold to fit into — only room to discover and embrace who you truly are.
For me, Pride is not only a celebration of visibility, but of vitality. It’s about reclaiming joy in our bodies and choosing to live fully.
At New Pathways, we honour that healing is not just about processing trauma — it’s about making space for pleasure, for play, and for the full range of human experience. That’s the heart of this work.
