Somatic Therapy for Stress, Anxiety, and Emotional Regulation
Sometimes you understand what is happening intellectually, but your body still feels anxious, tense, overwhelmed, or on alert.
Somatic therapy is a body-aware approach to counseling that recognizes the connection between thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and nervous-system responses. Stress and anxiety are not experienced only as thoughts. They may also show up as muscle tension, restlessness, difficulty settling, emotional reactivity, fatigue, or a persistent sense of being on edge.
For people who have gained insight into their concerns but still find themselves reacting in ways that are difficult to change, incorporating body awareness and nervous-system regulation strategies can add another dimension to therapy.
I provide somatic therapy for adults in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as through Telehealth for clients throughout Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida. Limited in-person counseling is also available in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, near Bradenton and Sarasota.
How Somatic Therapy Works
Somatic therapy brings attention to the physical and physiological responses that accompany thoughts and emotions. The goal is not simply to analyze what is happening, but to become more aware of your responses and develop greater capacity to regulate them.
Somatic therapy may include:
• Noticing physical sensations associated with stress or emotion
• Recognizing patterns of activation, reactivity, or shutdown
• Learning grounding and nervous-system regulation strategies
• Using breathing, movement, orienting, or other body-based practices when appropriate
• Developing greater capacity to remain present with uncomfortable emotions
• Integrating body awareness with reflection, insight, and practical change
Somatic work does not require you to force yourself into uncomfortable experiences. Strategies are introduced collaboratively and adapted to your needs, comfort level, and goals.
An Integrative, Neuroscience-Informed Approach
Somatic therapy is not the only approach I use. I integrate body-based and nervous-system-informed strategies with other evidence-based and clinically informed approaches depending on the needs of each client.
Our work may incorporate:
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Attachment-informed therapy
• Neuroscience-informed approaches
• Trauma-informed care
• EMDR when appropriate
This allows us to consider not only what you think about an experience, but also the emotional, relational, and physiological patterns that may influence how you respond.
When Somatic Therapy May Be Helpful
Somatic therapy may be useful if you:
• Feel chronically tense, anxious, or overwhelmed
• Understand your concerns intellectually but still have difficulty feeling calm
• Notice stress or anxiety showing up physically
• Become reactive, flooded, or shut down during difficult situations
• Have difficulty settling after something stressful happens
• Want practical strategies for emotional and physiological regulation
• Recognize that earlier experiences or relationship patterns continue to affect your responses
• Prefer an approach that incorporates both insight and body awareness
Somatic Therapy for Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety is one area where somatic approaches can be particularly useful. You may know logically that you are safe or that a situation is manageable while your body continues to respond as though something is wrong.
Rather than treating this as simply a thinking problem, we can look at both the thoughts that contribute to anxiety and the physiological responses that accompany them.
Somatic strategies can be integrated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, attachment-informed work, and other approaches to help you recognize patterns, develop regulation skills, and respond with greater flexibility.
Learn more about Anxiety Therapy.
Somatic Therapy and Earlier Experiences
Our responses in the present can sometimes be influenced by experiences and relationship patterns from the past. You may notice that certain situations trigger reactions that feel stronger than the present circumstances seem to warrant, or that you repeatedly respond in ways you understand but have difficulty changing.
Somatic and attachment-informed approaches can help us explore these patterns while paying attention to both emotional experience and the body’s responses.
When appropriate, EMDR may also be incorporated into treatment. Learn more about Somatic EMDR Therapy.
Christian Somatic Therapy — When Requested
For clients who want faith to be part of counseling, Christian beliefs and values can be thoughtfully integrated with somatic and other clinical approaches.
Faith integration may include considering how your relationship with God, beliefs, values, and spiritual practices relate to what you are experiencing while also addressing psychological, relational, and physiological factors.
Experiencing anxiety, stress, or difficulty regulating your emotions does not mean that you lack faith or simply need to “trust God more.”
Christian counseling is always optional. Faith is never assumed, pressured, or required.
Learn more about Christian Counseling.
Somatic Therapy in Louisville, Kentucky
I provide in-person somatic therapy for adults in Louisville, Kentucky. I have more than 30 years of counseling experience and am a Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) in Kentucky.
Somatic therapy may be used as a primary part of counseling or integrated with CBT, attachment-informed therapy, EMDR, and other approaches depending on your needs.
Online Somatic Therapy in Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida
I also provide somatic and nervous-system-informed counseling through secure Telehealth for adults throughout Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida.
Telehealth can work well with many somatic strategies because the work focuses on awareness and practical skills that can be practiced in your own environment and incorporated into everyday life.
Limited In-Person Somatic Therapy in Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Limited in-person counseling is also available at my Lakewood Ranch office near University Town Center (UTC), convenient to Bradenton and Sarasota.
Because Lakewood Ranch appointments are available on select dates, ongoing weekly or biweekly in-person counseling is not offered at this location. Monthly in-person appointments may be available during some months.
Learn more about Counseling in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Getting Started
If you are interested in somatic therapy, I offer in-person counseling in Louisville, secure Telehealth throughout Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida, and limited in-person counseling in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Private-pay Telehealth appointments and in-person appointments in Louisville may be scheduled through my online appointment calendar. For in-person appointments in Lakewood Ranch, please use the Contact form to ask about availability.
For clients who are residents of Indiana or Florida only and using eligible insurance benefits through Headway, insurance eligibility and scheduling are handled through the Headway platform. See Rates and Insurance for more information.
If you would like to determine whether counseling with me may be a good fit, you may also request a complimentary 15-minute video consultation.
Visit Rates & Insurance for additional information about fees and insurance.
Somatic therapy can provide another way of understanding and working with patterns that may be difficult to change through insight alone, helping you develop greater awareness, flexibility, and steadiness in how you respond.