Somatic Experiencing: When Your Body Holds the Key to Healing

Oct 20

You’ve done so much to hold things together. From the outside, it may look like you’re managing well, but inside, it might feel very different. Your body may stay tense or restless even when you try to relax. Sleep doesn’t always leave you rested. Maybe you notice your chest tighten or your stomach clench during stressful moments. Sometimes emotions flood in so strongly that you feel them through your whole body before you even have time to think.

It can be confusing when you’ve already worked hard to understand yourself. Maybe therapy gave you insight, mindfulness helped for a while, and you’ve done your best to take care of yourself. Yet somehow, your body still feels like it’s carrying the weight of everything you’ve been through.

This isn’t because you haven’t tried enough. It’s because healing doesn’t happen through insight alone. Your body remembers, and it’s been protecting you in ways that made sense at the time. Somatic Experiencing helps you begin to work with those protective patterns so your body can finally start to feel safe, connected, and at ease again.

Understanding Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing is likely different from other approaches you may have tried. It isn’t a set of techniques or exercises, but a responsive process that follows what’s happening in your body moment by moment. In sessions, I pay close attention to how your body responds, helping you notice the sensations that point to what your nervous system needs in that moment.

Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing works with your body’s natural ability to restore balance. Sometimes that means slowing things down and noticing what’s happening right now. Other times, we may revisit a painful experience when it’s already feeling present or on your mind. When that happens, we move slowly and stay connected — mind and body — so your system can process what’s coming up safely and completely.

This approach recognizes that experiences that were too much, too fast, or too soon can leave a lasting imprint. Your body might still react as if those moments are happening now, even when your mind knows you’re safe. Somatic Experiencing helps your system complete those protective responses so your body can begin to feel settled, resilient, and at ease again.

The Art and Science of Working Together

Somatic Experiencing is gentle, collaborative work that unfolds through our connection. It’s not something you do alone. In sessions, I pay attention to what’s happening in your body — your breath, posture, and the subtle ways tension or emotion show up. This kind of moment-to-moment awareness helps your body feel supported and safe enough to start finding its way back to balance.

Each session can look a little different. We draw from different parts of the work depending on what’s happening in the moment — what your body needs, what feels available, and what feels like too much.

Here are some of the ways that process might take shape:

Titration
We take things one small step at a time. When something feels intense or emotionally charged, I may slow you down so your body can stay present instead of pushing through. Working in small pieces helps you process safely and build confidence in your ability to handle more over time.
Pendulation
We move gently between what feels hard and what feels more comfortable — maybe between a place of pain or tension and a spot that feels a little easier. This back-and-forth rhythm teaches your body that it can shift, that you’re not stuck in one state forever.
Grounding and Resourcing
These are the simple ways we help your body find steadiness and safety, whether that’s noticing your feet on the floor, the support of the chair beneath you, or remembering a place or person that feels safe. Grounding and resourcing help you come back to yourself when things feel big, and they also help you notice what feels good or nourishing.
Discharge and Completion
Sometimes your body holds on to tension from past experiences — the energy of needing to fight, flee, or freeze that never got to finish. As your body starts to let go, you might notice natural signs like a sigh, a tear, a tremble, or a release of warmth. These are ways your system resets and finds relief.
Integration
Healing happens gradually. As we go slowly and your body experiences safety in new ways, your mind and emotions begin to adjust too. Over time, feeling settled and connected becomes something your body knows how to do on its own.
Trust and Tuning In
You begin to develop a different relationship with your body — one of curiosity instead of frustration. You learn how to listen to what your body needs and how to respond with care, building a steady sense of safety and trust inside yourself.

Somatic Experiencing is both an art and a science. It meets you where you are, helping your body move out of survival mode so you can rest, connect, and live with more ease and capacity.

How Your Body Holds Onto Stress

When something overwhelming happens, your body immediately shifts into survival mode — fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. These are intelligent, automatic responses designed to keep you safe.

Freeze is especially complex. It’s what happens when your system is trying to mobilize (fight or flee) and shut down at the same time — like having one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. That mix of energy and immobility can leave your body holding a lot more than you realize.

In the moment, these reactions are lifesaving. The challenge is that in our modern lives, we rarely get to complete them. When a difficult meeting or a tense conversation triggers that same surge of energy, you can’t run away or shake it off like an animal might. So that energy stays in the body — held in your muscles, breath, and nervous system — long after the moment has passed.

Over time, this can show up in subtle but persistent ways, like:

Muscle tension that never fully releases
Restless energy or exhaustion that doesn’t match what’s happening around you
Digestive discomfort or sleep that feels off, even when you’re doing everything “right”
Emotional reactions that feel bigger than the situation
A sense of shutting down or going blank when you need to act or speak up

Your body isn’t broken — it’s trying to protect you the same way it always has. The work of somatic experiencing helps that unfinished survival energy complete its cycle so your body can finally rest, respond, and feel safe again.

Why Talking Alone Sometimes Isn't Enough

Talk therapy can be powerful. It helps you make sense of your experiences, notice patterns, and connect the dots between past and present. But when stress and overwhelm live in your body — as tension in your shoulders, a racing heart, or a sense of constant alert — insight alone doesn’t always bring relief. You can understand exactly why you feel anxious and still feel it.

Somatic Experiencing works differently. Instead of starting with thoughts and trying to reach the body, we start with what’s happening in the body and let that guide the work. By paying attention to sensations, breath, and subtle shifts, we can reach the part of your nervous system that talking can’t access.

That’s the key difference. While traditional therapy helps you understand why you feel anxious, Somatic Experiencing helps your body release what it’s been holding. We bring your mind and body into the same conversation, so emotions can move and resolve instead of staying stuck.

As your nervous system settles through this work, emotional processing becomes easier. Feelings that once flooded you start to feel tolerable. You can stay with what’s happening without shutting down or spinning out. Over time, that creates a deeper sense of calm and trust in your ability to handle what comes.

What Actually Happens in a Session

When we work together, each session looks a little different. I stay present with you moment by moment, paying attention to the small cues that show how your body is responding, like the rhythm of your breath, the way you hold your posture, or the tone of your voice. As we follow what’s happening, the session unfolds naturally based on what you need and what feels possible that day.

You might notice things like:

A tightness in your chest when we touch on certain topics
A flutter in your stomach or a lump in your throat
Heaviness or tension in your limbs
A sense of warmth, ease, or grounding as your body begins to settle

We move gently with whatever shows up, always at your pace. Sometimes that means pausing and staying with a sensation a little longer so your system can build tolerance for what feels uncomfortable. Other times, we might follow what your body seems to want, like pressing your hands into your thighs for grounding, gently squeezing your fists, wrapping yourself in a blanket, or standing up to sway. These small movements or adjustments help your body find a way to release tension or feel supported in the moment.

There’s also room for talking and processing emotions, thoughts, and experiences. That often happens naturally as we include the body in the work. As your system feels safer, emotions that were once overwhelming begin to move and make sense in a new way.

I may guide you toward sensations that feel steadier or more resourced, helping you shift between what feels activated and what feels calm. Over time, this builds capacity. Your body learns that it can stay present even when emotions or sensations are strong.

Throughout our work, I offer co-regulation, which is the experience of steady, grounded presence. Your nervous system learns through connection, and my role is to help your body experience what safety and ease can feel like in real time.

You always have a choice in what we do and how far we go. The pace, direction, and depth of the work are guided by your comfort and readiness.

Who This Work Helps

I work with adults throughout Florida (including Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach) and Illinois (including Chicago) who notice that stress or trauma has settled into both their mind and body.

You might recognize yourself in some of these experiences:

The physical toll of stress

Chronic tension that never seems to release
Sleep that leaves you tired, even after a full night
Stomach knots, digestive discomfort, or headaches that come and go
A sense that your body is always “on,” even when you want to relax

Emotional patterns that feel stuck

Anxiety that feels wired into your system
Shutting down or going numb when you want to stay connected
Strong emotional reactions followed by guilt or shame
Feeling detached from yourself or from people you care about

The lingering effects of trauma or overwhelming experiences

Events that still carry a charge, even years later
Stress that’s built up slowly over time
Times when you had to hold it together instead of getting support

Many of the people I work with appear grounded and capable on the outside. You’ve built a solid life — career, family, responsibilities — but inside, you’re running on fumes. The tension won’t let up, and the mind-body strategies that used to help don’t reach as deeply anymore. You’re looking for something that goes beyond understanding, an approach that helps your body and emotions find real, lasting relief.

What makes this work different is how it brings your whole self into the process. We’re including both your mind and your body, helping them work together instead of in separate lanes. Over time, as your system begins to regulate and trust safety again, you may notice real changes in how you move through life.

You might find:

More capacity to handle stress without becoming overwhelmed
The ability to stay present even when emotions feel big
Feeling less reactive and more grounded in your responses
A deeper sense of connection with yourself and with others
A genuine ease and comfort in your body

Healing through this kind of work doesn’t mean you’ll never feel anxious or stressed again. It means those experiences no longer define you or take over. Your body learns that it can shift and recover, that it’s safe to move between challenge and calm. That growing flexibility — in both mind and body — is what lasting resilience feels like.

Next Steps and Practical Details.

Before beginning, we’ll schedule a brief 10-minute consultation to see if this approach feels like a good fit. It’s simply a chance to connect, ask questions, and get a sense of what it’s like to work together.

If we move forward, sessions are held weekly. Consistency is important in this kind of nervous system work because your body learns safety and regulation through repetition and steady support. Over time, that rhythm helps the work deepen and integrate.

Between sessions, you’ll have the option to explore small practices that build on what we do together. These might include noticing sensations that feel grounding, paying attention to moments of ease, or experimenting with gentle ways to support regulation in daily life. None of it is forced or prescriptive — just opportunities to help your system keep settling between sessions.

I work exclusively online with adults in Florida and Illinois, creating space for you to do this work from your own environment — somewhere you already feel comfortable and at ease.

My approach integrates several modalities, including:

Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) (optional)
Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) (optional)
Integrative Mental Health (optional)

Each of these can be incorporated if and when they feel supportive. We’ll decide together what makes sense for your goals and what your nervous system is ready for.

Finding Your Way Back to Yourself

Your nervous system learned to protect you for good reasons. The patterns of tension, reactivity, or shutdown you experience aren’t flaws. They’re intelligent responses that once helped you get through difficult moments. But when those same patterns start to keep you from feeling present, connected, or at ease in your own life, it may be time for a new way forward.

Somatic Experiencing helps your nervous system shift from protection into connection, from survival into aliveness. This process supports your body in remembering what safety feels like so that rest, connection, and emotion become experiences you can move toward instead of brace against.

The shame after emotional reactions, the exhaustion of holding everything together, the frustration of feeling stuck, all of it makes sense given what your nervous system has been managing. With the right support and a gentle, body-based approach, these patterns can begin to soften, creating more room for calm, capacity, and genuine connection.

You don’t have to push through or figure it all out on your own. As your nervous system finds safety and regulation, healing unfolds naturally. When your body can rest, reconnect, and feel safe again, life begins to open up. There’s more room for connection with others, for clarity in your choices, and for a steadier sense of who you are. You can meet challenges without losing yourself, and experience moments of ease that once felt out of reach.

If you’d like to explore how Somatic Experiencing can support that process, you can schedule a brief consultation at www.amyhagerstrom.com

Amy Hagerstrom