Trauma therapy

What is trauma, and how does it affect the body?

Trauma happens when an experience overwhelms your mind and body. It can feel like too much, too fast, or too soon for your nervous system to handle.

Trauma can take many forms, from a single overwhelming event to ongoing stress or complex trauma from childhood or even over time as an adult. For some people, these patterns develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which may show up as intrusive thoughts, anxiety, emotional shutdown, or feeling constantly on edge.

Even long after the event, trauma can affect how you feel day to day. Your body may stay on high alert, bracing for danger, or leave you feeling stuck, tense, or disconnected. These are protective responses, even when the threat is no longer there.

Trauma is any experience that overwhelms your nervous system and leaves a lasting impact. PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a diagnosis that can follow a traumatic experience, often involving symptoms like hypervigilance, intrusive memories, or feeling shut down. Complex trauma is different—it usually develops when difficult or unsafe experiences happen repeatedly, often in childhood or over long periods of time, and it can affect both relationships and your sense of self.

Whether you’re navigating PTSD, complex trauma, or unresolved experiences that still feel “stuck,” Somatic Experiencing offers a body-based, integrative approach to healing. In my online therapy practice for clients across Florida and Illinois, including West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Chicago, I help you work with both mind and body so your nervous system can gradually release old patterns and build new capacity for resilience, clarity, and connection.

Two people can go through the same experience, and one may come out of it shaken but steady, while the other feels overwhelmed. The difference often has more to do with how the nervous system responds than with the event itself.

Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, explains that trauma often develops when there isn’t an empathic observer present, someone who can help you process what happened. Without that support, the nervous system can stay in a state of fear or overwhelm long after the event has ended.

Earlier experiences also play a role. When someone has lived through previous trauma or grew up without a strong sense of safety, the nervous system is more vulnerable to being overwhelmed by later events. This is often the case with complex trauma. For others, a single overwhelming event may develop into PTSD if the system couldn’t fully recover.

Yes. Somatic therapy and Somatic Experiencing can help whether your trauma happened recently or many years ago. Trauma often shows up in the way the brain and nervous system keep reacting as if danger is still present, even when it’s not. That’s true for both PTSD and complex trauma.

If your trauma is in the past, this work helps your nervous system complete protective responses that couldn’t happen at the time. By noticing what’s happening now in your body and emotions, you begin to shift old patterns and create more space for resilience, clarity, and connection.

If the trauma is more recent, somatic therapy can support your nervous system before those reactions become deeply ingrained. It helps you process what happened in a safe, manageable way, lowering the chance of feeling stuck moving forward.

No matter when it occurred, somatic therapy offers a gentle, body-based way to reconnect with yourself, work through the impact of trauma, and build the capacity to face life with more strength and confidence.

Somatic therapy, including Somatic Experiencing, can be especially supportive if you’ve tried traditional talk therapy but still feel your body holding onto stress or trauma. Many of my clients come in saying, “I understand my trauma logically, but I still feel anxious, reactive, or shut down.” That’s because trauma doesn’t just live in your thoughts, it lives in your nervous system and body.

If you’re in Florida or Illinois and looking for holistic, mind-body therapy that helps with trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, or the physical effects of long-term stress, this work may be a fit. I guide you to notice what’s happening in your body in the present moment and to develop somatic practices that help regulate your nervous system, ease symptoms, and make it easier to feel connected to yourself and others. A free consultation is a good place to sense whether this approach feels right for you.

Weekly sessions are an important part of this work. Consistency builds trust, creates momentum, and gives your nervous system the steady support it needs. This rhythm is what allows healing and lasting change to take root.

Our sessions make space for what your body has been holding, while also giving room for emotions and insight to be processed. Mind, body, and emotions are all part of the healing process.

On rare occasions, someone may only need a few months of therapy, often when they come in for a single traumatic or overwhelming event. Most people, however, are working through PTSD, complex trauma, or long-term overwhelm. For them, healing and growth unfold over a longer period of time, usually a year or more, with consistent support that allows the work to go deeper.

II currently offer virtual sessions only.

Somatic Experiencing works well online because the focus is on what’s happening in your mind and body. I’ll guide you through the same process and practices I would in person, and they translate easily through the screen.

Being in your own space can add comfort and support. You might settle into a favorite chair, keep grounding items nearby, or even have a pet close. These small things often help you feel more present and supported during the work.

Online sessions are also practical. You don’t have to rearrange your day or commute, and you can log in from wherever you are. That way, you can put your energy into the work itself. I see clients throughout Florida and Illinois, including West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.

Individual 55-minute sessions are $200.

If you’d like to include the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) or Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP), there’s an additional fee. Details are listed on both the SSP and RRP pages. We can talk about whether either of these protocols is a good fit during your consultation or at any point in the work together.

I don’t work directly with insurance, but I can provide a monthly superbill if you’d like to submit for out-of-network reimbursement. Some clients are able to get partial reimbursement depending on their plan.

You’ll always know the cost up front. Under federal law (the No Surprises Act), you’re entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of the expected cost of services. If you ever receive a bill $400 or more above that estimate, you have the right to dispute it.