Before Your First Session
One of the most common questions new clients ask is: how do I prepare? The honest answer is that very little preparation is needed — and that's intentional. Somatic therapy works with wherever you are on the day you arrive, not where you think you should be.
What to Wear and How to Prepare
Wear comfortable clothing you can move easily in — loose layers are ideal, since body temperature can shift during a session as the nervous system regulates. You don't need to do anything special the morning of. Eating a light meal beforehand is fine.
If you have a particular experience or concern you'd like to share, you're welcome to bring it. But there's no need to prepare a narrative or organize your thoughts. The session will find its own direction.
What You Don't Need to Do
You don't need to retell your story. You don't need to know your diagnosis. You don't need to be able to articulate what's wrong. Many of the most profound sessions happen when a client arrives saying "I'm not sure what to talk about today." The body always has something to say — SE helps us listen to it.
What Happens During a Session
A session at 32 Degrees Wellness is 60 minutes. Here is a general sense of what that time looks and feels like — though every session is different, because every nervous system is different.
The Opening Check-In
Jessica will begin by checking in with you — how you're feeling today, what's been happening since the last session (or, for a first session, a gentle exploration of what brought you here). This isn't a clinical intake. It's the beginning of a conversation that will gradually move from words toward body awareness.
Tracking Sensations: What This Means in Practice
At some point, Jessica may invite you to bring your attention inward — to notice what's happening in your body right now. Not emotions or interpretations, but raw physical sensations: warmth, pressure, tingling, tightness, expansion, movement. You might notice your breath shifting, your hands wanting to move, a heaviness in your chest.
There is no right way to track sensations. If you say "I don't feel anything," that's information too. Jessica will gently guide you toward noticing more — or simply sit with you in the not-feeling, which is itself a kind of body-based experience worth attending to.
If Touch Is Part of Your Session
If co-regulating touch seems like it would be supportive, Jessica will explain what she is considering and ask for your explicit agreement before any contact is made. You can say yes, no, or "let's try and see" — and you can change your mind at any point during the session, for any reason. Touch is never assumed or routine. It is always a choice that belongs entirely to you.
Titration, Pendulation, and Discharge
Three key SE concepts you may encounter in sessions:
Titration
Working with small, manageable doses of activation — approaching the edge of difficult experience without flooding the system.
Pendulation
The natural rhythm of moving between activation and settling, between charge and discharge, between difficulty and resource. SE follows this rhythm rather than pushing through it.
Discharge
The release of stored survival energy — which can take the form of trembling, tears, warmth, spontaneous movement, yawning, or a deep breath. These are signs of healing, not distress.
What You Might Feel Afterward
Why Fatigue or Emotion Can Arise Post-Session
It's common to feel tired after a somatic session — sometimes deeply so. This is not a sign that something went wrong. The nervous system has done significant work, and it may need rest to integrate what happened. Many clients report sleeping more deeply the night after a session than they have in months.
Emotions may surface in the hours or days following a session — grief, unexpected relief, irritability, tenderness. This is part of the integration process. The nervous system continues processing after the session ends.
Integration: The Days Following Your Appointment
Jessica will often suggest simple integration practices for after your session — a slow walk, time in nature, gentle movement, or simply allowing yourself rest. These aren't homework so much as invitations to stay with the process the session began.
How Many Sessions Will You Need?
What a Course of Care Typically Looks Like
There is no universal answer. Nervous systems are as individual as fingerprints, and healing is not linear. Some clients experience meaningful shifts within three to five sessions. Others benefit from ongoing work over months or years, particularly when addressing deep developmental trauma.
What Jessica can offer is honest feedback about what she observes in your sessions — where the nervous system seems to be moving, what is opening up, and what might support deeper work. You will never feel pressured into a particular number of sessions. This is your process.
Session Pricing at 32 Degrees Wellness
$150 per session — 60 minutes, in-person in Albuquerque, NM.
Private pay. Payment is due at the time of your appointment. Jessica is not currently credentialed with insurance panels.