Anxiety therapy
When Anxiety is Felt in Your Body, Talking About It isn’t Always Enough
Online somatic therapy for anxiety in Florida and Illinois
When Anxiety Feels Like It Lives in Your Body
Anxiety therapy that includes the body recognizes that anxiety isn't only something you think about. Your nervous system may respond to uncertainty, stress, or perceived danger with a level of activation that feels difficult to control. This can look like constant worry, muscle tension, racing thoughts, panic, difficulty relaxing, or feeling on edge even when you wish you could settle.
Anxiety therapy that includes both mind and body works with your nervous system alongside your thoughts and emotions. The goal is to help your nervous system become less reactive and more flexible over time, creating the possibility for anxiety to soften while also building your capacity to stay present when it does arise.
When Talk Therapy Hasn’t Been Enough
If you've done talk therapy before, you may have gained insight, tools, and support. But if anxiety still shows up in your body, if your thoughts race, your chest tightens, or your mind jumps to worst-case scenarios, you're not alone.
That doesn't mean therapy didn't work. It may simply mean that anxiety isn't only happening in your thoughts. Your nervous system may still be responding as though it needs to stay prepared, alert, or in control.
A mind-body approach helps address this missing piece. By working with your nervous system alongside your thoughts and emotions, we create opportunities for your body to become less reactive over time, making it easier to respond with more steadiness, flexibility, and choice.
Meet Amy Hagerstrom, LCSW, SEP
Hi, I'm Amy Hagerstrom, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner specializing in anxiety therapy for adults. My approach draws on advanced training in Somatic Experiencing, the Safe and Sound Protocol, the Rest and Restore Protocol, and integrative mental health.
Many of the people I work with have already been to therapy. They've learned coping skills, gained insight, and understand that their anxiety isn't always logical, yet they still feel caught in patterns of overthinking, tension, or nervous system reactivity.
My own experience taught me that understanding anxiety wasn't always enough. It wasn't until I began including the body in the process that things started to shift in a deeper way.
I believe anxiety therapy is most effective when we support your nervous system alongside your thoughts and emotions. Together, we help your nervous system become less reactive and more flexible so you can navigate life with greater confidence and self-trust.
How We Work Together
Many of the people I work with have already been to therapy. They've gained insight, learned coping skills, and understand why anxiety shows up. What they're looking for now is a different experience.
Our sessions usually begin with whatever feels most present for you that day. You might come in wanting to talk about a difficult conversation, a stressful week, a relationship, or a feeling you can't quite make sense of yet.
As we talk, I'm noticing patterns, paying attention to how your thoughts, emotions, and nervous system respond, and getting curious about how they may be connected.
Sometimes we stay with what's happening in your thoughts and emotions. Other times, we shift our attention to what's happening in your body. We move between them at a pace your nervous system can work with.
My role is to help you become more aware of what's happening in your nervous system, help you make sense of it, and guide the process in a way that feels responsive to you.
As we explore what's happening in your life, earlier experiences often begin to make sense in a new way. Rather than analyzing them from a distance, we include what's happening in your body and nervous system so those experiences can be processed differently than they were before.
As your nervous system begins having new experiences, you may discover you're capable of more than anxiety once led you to believe. Over time, anxiety often begins to soften as you continue building the capacity to navigate life's inevitable challenges with greater confidence, flexibility, and self-trust.
My Mind-Body Approach to Anxiety therapy
In anxiety therapy, I look at both the mind and the body because lasting support includes both. We stay curious about what anxiety is communicating and how it shows up in your thoughts, emotions, and nervous system. As we follow what's happening in the present, deeper patterns and earlier experiences often begin to make sense naturally.
Some parts of our work focus more directly on your nervous system. Other parts focus on understanding the deeper patterns shaping anxiety. Together, they create the conditions for meaningful, lasting change.
The Foundation of Our Work
Somatic Experiencing: Working with how anxiety shows up in your body while exploring what it may be trying to communicate or protect.
A developmental lens: Understanding how earlier experiences have shaped the way you experience uncertainty, safety, and anxiety. Together, we begin noticing those patterns so new responses become possible.
We may also incorporate
Safe and Sound Protocol: Filtered music that gently supports your nervous system when anxiety keeps you on edge or makes connection feel harder.
Rest and Restore Protocol: Support when anxiety shows up as exhaustion, burnout, or that wired-but-tired feeling.
Supporting the whole person: Looking at lifestyle factors like sleep, movement, nutrition, and daily rhythms that influence how your nervous system functions.
Together, these approaches help your nervous system become more flexible so anxiety can soften while you build greater capacity for life's inevitable challenges.
Looking Beyond the Symptoms
Anxiety isn't always just about what's happening today. Sometimes your nervous system continues responding as though something isn't safe, even when part of you knows you are.
Sometimes those patterns were shaped by earlier experiences, especially when stress, relationships, or safety felt unpredictable. We don't have to search for a specific memory. If those experiences are relevant, they usually emerge naturally as we stay with what's happening in the present.
These patterns can look like:
Struggling to relax, even when nothing is wrong
Reacting more strongly than a situation seems to call for
Feeling anxious when someone is upset with you
Constant worry about what others think
Over-explaining or apologizing
Together, we stay curious about what shaped these responses while helping your nervous system experience greater safety in the present. Over time, many people find themselves responding with more steadiness, clarity, and choice.
What Begins to Shift When Anxiety Softens
As we do this work together, you may begin noticing subtle changes in how you experience anxiety and respond to life's challenges.
Tension in your chest, jaw, or stomach may soften. Your body may feel less on edge, and moments that once felt overwhelming can start to feel more manageable. Instead of reacting automatically, you may find yourself pausing, sensing what you need, and responding with more choice.
At the same time, this work builds capacity. You may still experience strong emotions, anxiety, or uncertainty, but they don't necessarily take over in the same way. Over time, your nervous system may begin discovering that it can move through intensity without shutting down, spiraling, or feeling like you have to push through alone.
Many people notice a growing sense of steadiness in relationships and everyday life. You may find yourself pausing more often, recovering more quickly after stress, and feeling more connected to yourself as you move through the ordinary challenges of daily life.
Online Anxiety Therapy in Florida and Illinois
I offer somatic and integrative therapy primarily online, working with clients throughout Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach. Meeting virtually allows us to do deep nervous system work from the comfort of your own space.
I am also licensed in Illinois and work with clients online in Chicago and across the state.
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From a nervous-system perspective, anxiety is not just a thought pattern. It is a body response shaped by experience, stress, and how your system learned to protect you. You might notice tension, racing thoughts, shallow breathing, or a sense of urgency that feels hard to turn off.
In our work, we pay attention to how anxiety shows up physically and emotionally. Rather than pushing it away, we learn to understand what your nervous system is doing and help it find more steadiness and flexibility.
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Traditional talk therapy often focuses on thoughts, insight, or coping strategies. Somatic therapy includes those elements, but it also works directly with what happens in your body. We slow down enough to notice sensations, patterns of activation, and how your nervous system responds in real time.
This allows deeper patterns to shift, not just be understood. Many people come to this work after insight alone has not created the change they hoped for.
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Relief matters, and many people do feel less on edge as therapy progresses. At the same time, our work also builds capacity. Your nervous system learns how to move through strong emotions or activation without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down.
The goal is not to eliminate intensity from life. It is to help you feel more grounded, more choice in how you respond, and more able to stay present even when things feel challenging.
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I work with adults experiencing chronic worry, overthinking, social anxiety, panic, nervous system overwhelm, and anxiety that feels connected to past experiences or long standing stress patterns.
Many of the people I work with are thoughtful and high functioning. They may understand themselves well but still feel tension, reactivity, or exhaustion in their body. Our work supports both immediate regulation and deeper integration.
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There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, because every nervous system and every story of anxiety is different.
I work with clients in weekly sessions, since consistency is what allows your system to build trust and create lasting change. Some people who come in with a specific trigger notice important shifts within a few months. But many of the people I work with are carrying long-term stress, complex anxiety, or trauma, and they’re ready for deeper healing. For this kind of work, a year or more of consistent therapy is often where the real transformation happens.
During our time together, we’ll bring both mind and body into the process—working with your nervous system to reduce anxiety, and creating space for emotional processing, insight, and growth. This helps you not only find relief from anxiety symptoms, but also build resilience that stays with you long after therapy ends.
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I work primarily with clients online throughout Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach. Meeting virtually allows us to do deep nervous system work while you remain in the comfort and familiarity of your own space.
I am also licensed in Illinois and see clients online across the state, including Chicago.
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Sessions are $200 for 55 minutes.
Payment is due at the time of each session. I accept credit or debit card, HSA, and Zelle.
If you’re interested in adding the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) or Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP), these are offered as additional services with their own pricing. You can read more on the SSP page and RRP page, or we can talk together about whether either is a good fit for you.
Anxiety therapy FAQs
Anxiety Therapy That Supports Real Change
Anxiety can feel exhausting. You may be tired of the overthinking, the tension in your body, or the sense that you have to keep pushing through even when it takes so much effort.
In our work together, we don’t just try to quiet symptoms. We pay attention to how anxiety lives in your nervous system while also making space for the deeper patterns and experiences that shape how you respond to stress. The goal isn’t perfection or constant calm. It’s more steadiness, more choice, and more capacity when life feels intense.
Some people come with clear goals. Others arrive with a sense that something needs to shift. We begin with what’s present and build from there.
You don't have to figure this out alone.
If you're looking for therapy that works with both your nervous system and the deeper patterns shaping anxiety, I'd love to talk with you.