About Somatic Therapy and EMDR
Thinking and talking aren't enough on their own​
Your body is designed to react more quickly than your mind.
This is essential to your safety and survival, but it means your nervous system (responsible for the body's fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response as well as the rest and digest response) can easily be hijacked.
Imagine: if you were to begin crossing the street only to discover a car coming at you, your body would take over and react quickly enough to keep you safe. You would not have to consciously decide to move, but before you know it your body would mobilize to get out of harm's way.
If instead you had to consciously decide to increase your heart rate, tune out other stimuli, shut down nonessential body processes like digestion, and shunt blood to your arms and legs so you could sprint fast enough to get out of the way, you'd never have enough time.
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Your body works the same way in that scenario as it does in other less-threatening situations.
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So, before you consciously recognize how you feel in times of threat, danger, or even everyday stress, your body and nervous system may already have begun to shift into what's called sympathetic nervous system activation (the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses).
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Your body doesn't differentiate between stress and danger
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Everyday stresses can trigger the same reactions in your body as life-threatening dangers like the car scenario.
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Imagine a time when you've recently felt upset, angry, nervous, or anxious.
Were there telltale signs of the emotion you experienced on a bodily level?
You may have felt your temperature rising, observed tension in your jaw or neck, started sweating, or noticed your pounding heatbeat.
These somatic reactions are a lot different from how your body reacts when you are feeling a sense of joy, ease, or wellbeing.
If you're facing chronic exposure to stress, your body can't function optimally. On a physical, mental, and emotional level, your resources are being overly taxed. Without a reduction in stress (or tools for managing it), you never have a chance to properly recover.
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Here's where somatic therapy and tools such as gentle yoga, simple breath practices, and mindfulness techniques truly shine.
In our sessions, I'll guide you in noticing your body's signals as you process.​​ With practice, this skill will become available to you in everyday life.
That will be the beginning of the shift in your relationship with stress and anxiety.
Working with the body in therapy creates real change.
Find relief from anxiety with somatic therapy​​
Anxiety and panic attacks, which are unfortunately increasingly common today in the US, typically cause distinct and dramatic responses in the body.
However for some people, any hint of an elevated heartbeat, increase in body temperature, or difficulty breathing deeply may be enough to trigger a panic attack or bout of anxiety.​
The power of working with the body in therapy cannot be overstated.
Somatic therapy can teach you to manage the negative symptoms you're experiencing while also getting at the root of what's causing them.
With support you can find a way to understand and even make friends with anxiety so you can live a life of greater satisfaction and meaning.​
Read more about my approach to somatic therapy and anxiety on the FAQs page.
EMDR Therapy for trauma, anxiety, and painful memories
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I am trained in EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and can incorporate this popular and extensively-researched modality in our work together.
Research has found EMDR to be effective in working with a number of issues, including developmental trauma (often stemming from childhood relationships), single-incident traumas such as a car crash or other accident, as well as anxiety. It can also support you in exploring the root of particular behavioral patterns you want to break, such as procrastination, emotional eating, and others.
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EMDR is a powerful tool that can support you in making real changes. This approach is very accessible, and it's particularly effective for clients who are more oriented to internal processing. With guidance in EMDR, you can process a lot with fewer words.
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Read more about how EMDR works on the FAQs page.
The most powerful indicator of change in therapy is your commitment to the process. Take the first step today.
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Click the button below to schedule your complimentary 20-minute phone consultation.
I look forward to connecting with you.
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Somatic therapy often looks like traditional talk therapy...
but you'll feel the difference.
Most of the time, thoughts and words aren't enough to create lasting change. Emotions arise in the body (ever felt hot when you're mad?). ​Somatic therapy engages traditional talk therapy approaches while also fostering awareness of your body in the moment, providing you multiple tools for transformation.