Somatic Therapy

in Hudson, OH and all of Ohio Online

Have You Tried Therapy And Read Countless Self-Help Books, Yet Still Feel Stuck?

Do You Have Full Understanding Why You React The Way You Do, But Struggle To Translate Insight Into Relief?

Many individuals who have already tried to “figure it out” cognitively may be insightful, articulate and informed, yet they may still feel stuck if a gap remains between what they understand and what they experience. You may know why you react the way you do, yet your body still tightens, your heart still races, your sleep is still disrupted. You may worry that something is fundamentally wrong with you, as you struggle with chronic anxiety, relational conflict, burnout, or trauma symptoms that don’t resolve through talk alone.

Or Maybe You’re Relationally Exhausted, Continuing Patterns You Vowed Never To Repeat?

Perhaps in relationships you find yourself again and again over-functioning, people-pleasing, withdrawing, or erupting. You long for connection yet brace against it, with your nervous system reacting faster than your intentions. This can create shame, leaving you to ask: “Why do I keep doing this?” or “Why can’t I just calm down?”

Some live with a constant undercurrent of tension - jaw clenched, shoulders raised, breath shallow. Others swing between overwhelm and numbness, fear loss of control of emotions, or conversely, feel cut off from feeling anything at all. This unpredictability can make you doubt your resilience, competence, or even your sanity.

“The body has a language of its own. When we learn to listen, it tells us what it needs to heal.”

— Peter A. Levine

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You May Long To Feel Safe And At Peace In Your Own Body.

Whether rooted in developmental trauma, chronic stress, or cumulative life strain, your nervous system may no longer reliably signal safety. Without that foundation, rest feels elusive, intimacy feels risky, and even success can feel fragile.

At your core, you want relief - but more than that, you desire coherence and predictability. You want your body, mind, emotions, and spirit to feel aligned. You want to inhabit your full self without bracing, fighting, or fleeing.

You Are Not Alone….

Chronic Stress, anxiety, trauma exposure, attachment wounds, and burnout are not fringe experiences - they are widespread in modern life. Large-scale surveys and reports consistently show high rates of anxiety disorders, traumatic stress symptoms, sleep disruption, and stress-related health concerns. Even among people without a formal diagnosis, many live with persistent nervous system dysregulation: feeling “on edge,” exhausted but wired, emotionally reactive, or numb.

When Stress Is Chronic, The Nervous System Can Get Stuck

Part of why these issues are so common is that the human nervous system evolved for short bursts of threat followed by recovery. Today, stressors are often chronic and psychological rather than acute and physical - financial strain, political instability, relational tension, digital overload, productivity pressure. The body, however, does not distinguish sharply between a charging predator and an overwhelming inbox. It mobilizes for survival. With no relief from constant stress, the body can get stuck in patterns of hyperarousal (anxiety, irritability, vigilance) or hypoarousal (shutdown, depression, disconnection).

Nervous System Responses Are Protective, Not Pathological

You respond as you do because your reactions are adaptive, not defective. You may over-function because you learned early that competence ensured safety. You may withdraw because doing so helped you survive environments where visibility invited harm. Emotional numbing can be a brilliant strategy when feelings once felt intolerable. These patterns persist not because people lack insight or willpower, but because the body encodes experience implicitly - below conscious control.

Shame can further compound a person’s struggle, particularly in a culture that values self-control and productivity, and misinterprets nervous system responses as weakness, something to ignore, or to push past. This misunderstanding keeps many people stuck in cycles of self-criticism, which further activates stress physiology.

Understanding these reactions as protective adaptations can reframe the problem. What feels irrational or frustrating is often the nervous system doing exactly what it was created to do - protect at all costs.

Somatic Therapy: The Body Is Not The Problem - It Is The Doorway Home

A somatic-spiritual therapy approach can be deeply effective for the kinds of chronic stress, trauma, anxiety, and relational patterns described here because it works at the level where these struggles actually live: in the nervous system and in meaning-making. When people feel unsafe in their bodies or disconnected from themselves, insight alone is rarely enough. Change becomes more sustainable when the body is included and when experience is placed within a larger framework of purpose, values, and connection.

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Somatic-Spiritual Therapy Helps Regulate The Body While Connecting To Deeper Meaning And Purpose

Somatic work helps regulate the body and nervous system directly. Through guided awareness of sensation, breath, posture, impulse, and pacing, you’ll learn how activation arises and falls. Rather than overriding symptoms, you’ll build the capacity to stay present with them in manageable doses. Over time, therapy can help restore flexibility in your somatic experiencing - moving out of fight, flight, or shutdown more easily.

When spiritual dimensions are gently integrated and client-led (whether grounded in faith, contemplative practice, or a broader sense of interconnectedness), clients often access a stabilizing perspective that reduces shame and isolation. They begin to experience themselves not as broken, but as adaptive and inherently worthy.

What To Expect From Somatic Therapy Sessions

You can expect to learn how to track your internal state, recognize early cues of dysregulation, and cultivate practices that support grounding and expansion. As an experienced somatic therapist who’s also a certified yoga teacher, I’ll help you develop language for bodily experience, tools for co-regulation and self-regulation, and a clearer understanding of how past adaptations shape present reactions. We’ll also explore how your beliefs, values, and longings can inform your healing.

My integrative somatic therapy approach is collaborative, paced, and respectful of each person’s window of tolerance, as I prioritize safety, consent, and attunement. We’ll move slowly enough for the nervous system to integrate change, not overwhelm. I see symptoms as intelligent strategies and work to honor their protective role while expanding choice. The goal is not to eliminate difficulty, but to foster embodied resilience, coherence, and a lived sense of connection - within oneself and beyond.

How I Can Help

Between 2024-2025, I completed Levels I and II (100+ hours) of the Integrative Psychology Institute’s certification as an Integrative Trauma Therapist, using somatic therapy interventions, thereby further deepening the trauma-informed lens that has shaped my work for decades. This advanced training builds on more than 26 years of clinical experience supporting individuals through anxiety, trauma, grief, relational strain, and major life transitions.

What this means for you is that you are not bringing your pain to someone who is surprised by it or intimidated by its complexity. I understand how trauma lives in the nervous system, how protective patterns form, and how healing unfolds - gradually, relationally, and with care. My therapy approach integrates current trauma science with somatic experiencing, while adding a spiritual dimension of meaning and connection.

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Still Not Sure My Approach To Somatic Therapy Is Right For You?

I’m Afraid That Engaging In Somatic Experiencing Work Will Be Overwhelming.

Many people worry that somatic or trauma-focused therapy will mean diving into painful memories too quickly or reliving experiences they’ve worked hard to contain. This fear makes sense. However, effective somatic counseling is intentionally paced. We’ll focus first on building safety, stability, and nervous system regulation before approaching anything intense. You are always in control of the speed and depth. The goal is not to flood you with emotion, but to expand your capacity gradually so that difficult material can be processed without re-traumatization. With a customized therapy plan, somatic healing happens within your window of tolerance, not outside it.

I Don’t Want Anything Imposed On Me Spiritually.

When somatic therapy includes a spiritual dimension, some clients worry about being judged, preached to, or pressured into beliefs that aren’t theirs. A somatic-spiritual approach does not require adherence to any doctrine. “Spiritual” simply refers to meaning, values, connection, and the larger context that gives your life coherence. If faith is important to you, I want to honor that in our work together. If it isn’t, we’ll work in a way that respects your worldview. Your autonomy and belief system are always central.

What If Somatic Therapy Doesn’t Work For Me Either?

Many clients arrive discouraged or doubtful after trying other approaches. It can feel risky to hope again. Somatic counseling differs in that it works directly with the body’s patterns, not just thoughts. Often people who felt stuck in purely cognitive work find new traction when somatic experiencing and the nervous system are included in therapy. While no therapy is a quick fix, somatic healing offers practical, learnable skills and measurable shifts in regulation, resilience, and relational ease. Change may be gradual, but it is very possible - and you do not have to navigate it alone.

There is real hope here. With steady guidance, it is possible to feel safer in your body, less governed by old patterns, and more aligned with your values.I f you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or simply longing for more ease, you don’t have to face it alone. I offer compassionate, trauma-informed support that honors your pace and your whole self. Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation to explore what’s possible. Healing begins with one courageous step.