welcome
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Welcome to SomaEducate-where the wisdom of the body meets the curiosity of the child.
Somatic Educational Therapy (SET) integrates neuroscience, movement, and mindfulness to support optimal learning and development. Through sensory rich, play based exercises, children strengthen their ability to self-regulate and integrate new skills with greater ease.
SET engages the body-mind connection through activities involving movement, rhythm, creativity, touch, breathwork, and vocalization. These activities stimulate neural pathways that promote functional integration across the sensorimotor, emotional, and cognitive domains strengthening:
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Gross and fine motor coordination
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Ocular-motor and visual-auditory processing
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Spatial organization and bilateral integration
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Attention, memory, and executive function
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Self regulation and attuned nervous system
When the nervous system feels safe and supported children can learn, create, and relate with ease. Whether your child is working through sensory sensitivities, learning and focusing challenges, anxiety and stress, or simply seeking more connection and ease, SET offers a path towards increased well being.
about
how SET works
Personalized Plan: After a thorough intake and evaluation, your child receives a program tailored to their nervous system, developmental needs and learning style.
Consistent Sessions: Most children meet with the therapist 1–2 times per week for 60–75 minutes to build momentum and create lasting change. Committing to a 10 session unit is highly encouraged.
Parent Collaboration: The last 15 minutes of each session often include the parent, strengthening the parent–child attunement and ensuring consistency between sessions and home life.
Home Practices: Simple + playful activities are provided for practice at home, as repetition is key to reinforcing new neural pathways.
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fees
15-Minute Intro Call — No charge
Let’s connect and see if SET is the right fit for your child.
Intake + Evaluation — $250
A comprehensive assessment to understand your child’s unique needs and create a personalized program.
Individual Sessions — $180
Sessions are 60–75 minutes, with the last 15 minutes often including the parent.
sliding scale available
why SET matters
The heart of this work is a simple but profound truth: children flourish and learn best when they feel truly seen, safe, and supported. SET creates a space where they can explore, express, and build new skills to strengthen their ability to return to balance and build trust in their own inner guidance while learning tools that create a solid foundation for life. A regulated nervous system will support them to focus and engage in their life long learning. When children feel supported, valued and capable, they become adults who are grounded, compassionate, kind and resilient- exactly the type of humans our world needs to lead us toward a more connected and caring future.
Kate Loukes, MA
Kate Loukes founded her practice in Somatic Educational Therapy (SET) in 2005. She blends extensive training in education, somatic psychology, neurodevelopment, vision therapy, creative arts, and healing modalities into private sessions, workshops, and online courses.
Kate studied education and special education at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and expanded her studies internationally in China and the United Kingdom. In 2006, she participated in the intensive training, “Creating a Revolution in Education,” alongside 12 global educational leaders, based on the work of J. Krishnamurti. She also designed and taught a program called “Be Creative” for the Santa Barbara School District, teaching creative exercises to optimize learning. Kate was trained as a Vision Therapist and worked in private practice with a Behavioral Optometrist in Santa Barbara. This work deepened her curiosity about the brain’s neuroplasticity and inspired her to pursue further study.
She earned her Master’s degree in Somatic Psychology from Santa Barbara Graduate Institute in 2008. For her thesis, she studied with Aboriginal Elders in Australia, exploring indigenous ways of being and presented her work along with a short documentary, “Reclaiming the Lived Experience.” Kate completed an addtional 2-year certification program in Relational Somatic Psychotherapy with Dr. Michael Sieck.
Kate has studied in person with leading experts, including Dr. Dan Siegel (The Whole Brain Child), Dr. Daniel Amen (How to Teach Kids and Teens to Think Positive and Feel Good), Temple Grandin (Thinking in Pictures), Dr. Marshall Rosenberg (Nonviolent Communication), and Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way). She is also a certified Kundalini yoga teacher and lifelong student of yoga and meditation, integrating these practices into her work.
Kate has learned some of her most profound insights through mothering her two highly sensitive children. She draws inspiration from thought leaders in innovative and human centered education, including Báyò Akómoláfé (Parenting at the Intersections and These Wilds Beyond Our Fences), Akilah Richards (Raising Free People), and Peter Gray (Free to Learn), integrating these philosophies into her approach to supporting children’s growth and autonomy.
Dr. Briana Rivera, OD, FCOVD
"Kate’s positive, enthusiastic attitude is truly inspiring and has such an impact on the motivational level and behavioral aspects of her clients. She has a unique ability to seek out their individual needs and successfully cater their therapy for maximum results.”
R. N. Goleta, CA
“Kate showed great patience with my son, and constantly challenged and encouraged him. Kate constantly maintained a positive and kind attitude, which made therapy sessions fun.”
B.O. Santa Barbara, CA
"Our son's coordination and motor skills improved significantly since working with Kate. His handwriting has improved so much that his teacher commented that it looked like the work of a different child..."
