Somatic Therapy in Brea & Online Across CA + AZ
Helping shift CHRONIc stress, anxiety, & trauma in the body.
You’ve spent a lot of time trying to feel better.
Maybe you’ve tried talk therapy, self-care rituals, or “thinking positively.” Maybe some of it helped… but your body still feels off.
Deep down, you know there’s more going on than your mind alone can reason through, and insight alone can only take you so far.
That’s where somatic therapy comes in.
Somatic therapy supports the parts of you that intellect doesn’t reach, helping you cultivate deep self-awareness, presence, and clarity.
So you don’t just understand yourself better… you finally start to feel better.
More regulated.
More grounded.
More connected to your body.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing that works with the nervous system and mind-body connection. It recognizes that stress and trauma don’t only live in your mind, they also show up in the body as sensations like tension, overwhelm, numbness, or feeling disconnected from yourself.
Rather than relying on insight alone, somatic therapy helps you tune into your internal experience of sensations, your breath, posture, impulses, and the way your body responds to life, allowing stuck or thwarted energies to begin to shift.
Somatic therapy can help you:
• Increase access to rest, pleasure, and internal safety
• Build a more trusting and attuned relationship with your body
• Develop a deeper sense of connection and presence in your daily life
• Expand your stress resilience so you feel less overwhelmed
Somatic therapy doesn’t force change, it supports the internal conditions where change can happen naturally, when the body finally feels safe enough to soften and exhale.
Body-Based Therapy That Actually Yields Relief
When trauma happens, the body’s natural survival responses—like fight or flight—don’t always get to complete themselves, leaving the nervous system stuck in a heightened or frozen state. Over time, these unresolved responses may show up as hypervigilance, difficulty relaxing, disassociation, or even persistent physical symptoms. In the case of developmental and complex trauma, these patterns can also shape how we see ourselves and others, sometimes leading to identity distortions, self‑blame, or a feeling of being “stuck” in survival mode.
By addressing the impact of stress and trauma in the body, somatic therapy works with the deepest levels of our experience, helping your nervous system reestablish regulation, self‑trust, and relief that goes beyond insight alone.
Somatic therapy can be especially helpful when you’ve tried talk therapy but still feel “off,” dysregulated, or disconnected inside.
While doing somatic work, you won’t have to relive painful memories or push yourself past your limits. In that sense, somatic therapy is gentler on the nervous system than verbally processing traumatic experiences with a therapist; it focuses on the here and now, meeting you where you are and helping your system gradually restore balance without overwhelming or retraumatizing your system.
Who Can Benefit From Somatic Therapy?
generally, Anyone can benefit from somatic Therapy. I work with People who are chronically stressed, Disconnected, or high-functioning & ARE ready for a different way of relating to their body and life.
If you recognize yourself in any of these experiences, somatic therapy might be a good fit:
Wired, Tense & Always “On”
Your body runs faster than your mind can settle, and rest doesn’t come easily even when you’re exhausted. You may feel braced, tense, busy in your head, and unable to turn “off,” no matter how much you try. Somatic therapy helps your nervous system slow down, unwind, and finally soften.
Shutdown, Numb, or Disconnected
You might feel “out-of-body,” flat inside, or like you’re moving through life on autopilot. When the body holds what the mind can’t, shutdown becomes protection. Somatic therapy gently reconnects you to sensation, emotion, and presence, so you can feel more alive, safe, and embodied.
High-Functioning, Struggling Internally
You appear put-together from the outside, but inside, you’re tired, stretched thin, and holding more than anyone sees. You may over-function, people-please, push through, or keep it together because you’ve had to. Somatic therapy offers a place to exhale, feel supported, and move from survival into something more sustainable and self-honoring.
My philosophy on somatic healing:
Healing begins when we listen to our bodies, helping us reclaim a sense of safety and self.
In my practice, I primarily use two somatic modalities:
Somatic Experiencing® (SE)
SE helps your body complete stress responses that were interrupted or never fully resolved, allowing your nervous system to shift out of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn and into a more steady, regulated state.
With gentle, paced awareness, SE can help you:
• Tune into your body’s signals with more clarity + confidence
• Soften survival responses that developed during overwhelming or traumatic experiences
• Release emotional tension physically stored in the body
• Feel more alive and deepen your emotional expression
NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM)
NARM is a present-focused approach for developmental and complex trauma that explores how early experiences shape your sense of self and connection to others, and tracks for where how those patterns show up now.
With compassionate awareness, NARM can help you:
• Soften long-held adaptive survival strategies that perpetuate helplessness and stuckness
• Deepen connection to yourself, others, and your internal experience
• Increase tolerance for discomfort + uncertainty
• Feel more emotionally available and attuned
What a Somatic Therapy Session Feels Like
Somatic therapy sessions are paced to your nervous system’s capacity.
While we talk about your experience, we’re also paying close attention to how your body is responding moment to moment through your breath, posture, muscle tension, or subtle shifts like the urge to pull away, shut down, or move toward something.
Rather than staying only at the level of insight, we slow things down enough to notice what’s happening in real time.
At times, this might look like:
orienting to the room
noticing small changes in your body
following a sensation as it shifts
allowing gentle movement that helps your system release tension
As we work together, we also explore how familiar relational patterns—especially around connection, boundaries, self-worth, and agency—may still be shaping your present experience.
There’s no way to do it “wrong.” We move at a pace your system can actually integrate, with an emphasis on safety, choice, and respect for your internal rhythms.
Over time, many people notice their system begins to shift. You may feel less on edge, less shut down, and more able to stay present with yourself and your life without needing to brace or push through.
Why Somatic Therapy With Me?
I specialize in working with high-achieving adults, people-pleasers, perfectionists, and those who have spent years in survival mode. I understand the pressure you carry — the part of you that pushes through, performs, shows up, and holds it together even when you’re overwhelmed or exhausted. Therapy with me is designed for the nervous system that hasn’t learned how to slow down… yet.
My work integrates Somatic Experiencing® and the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) — two body-oriented approaches that complement each other in meaningful ways. SE supports the nervous system in releasing stored survival energy and restoring a sense of safety in the body. NARM helps you gently shift long-standing relational and identity patterns shaped by early experiences, so you can relate to yourself with more compassion, capacity, and choice.
This means we’re not only working with symptoms — we’re working with what lives beneath them.
Rather than focusing solely on regulation or insight, my approach brings together:
body-based attunement and nervous system repair
relational and identity-level healing that supports lasting change
a therapeutic space where you don’t have to perform, manage, or hold everything together
I don’t push, force, or rush your process. We move at a pace that honors your nervous system’s capacity — sensing, noticing, and allowing your body to lead. Your system already holds the intelligence for healing; my role is to help create the safety and support that allows it to unfold.
Over time, there’s more room to breathe.
More room to soften.
More room to simply be.
FAQs About Somatic Therapy
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Somatic therapy is a therapeutic approach that recognizes the connection between your mind, body, and nervous system. Rather than focusing only on thoughts or emotions, it also explores how stress, anxiety, and past experiences are held in the body.
Through gentle awareness of physical sensations, emotions, and patterns, somatic therapy can help you develop greater regulation, resilience, and a deeper sense of safety within yourself. The goal isn't to force your body to relax, but to help it rediscover the flexibility and ease that chronic stress often takes away.
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Anxiety isn't only experienced in your thoughts—it often shows up in your body first. You might notice a racing heart, muscle tension, shallow breathing, restlessness, difficulty relaxing, or the feeling that you're always "on."
Somatic therapy helps you understand these responses through the lens of your nervous system. Instead of fighting anxiety or trying to think your way out of it, you'll learn to work with your body's signals, gradually building the capacity to feel calmer, more grounded, and less overwhelmed in everyday life.
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No. While past experiences may naturally become part of our work together, somatic therapy does not require you to relive or retell traumatic events in detail.
We move at a pace that feels manageable, focusing on helping your nervous system develop more safety, flexibility, and resilience in the present. Many clients find this approach feels gentler than repeatedly revisiting painful memories before they feel ready.
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Every session looks a little different because it's tailored to your unique needs. Along with conversation, we may explore your present-moment experience by noticing physical sensations, emotions, breathing, movement, or patterns that arise as we talk.
There is no pressure to perform exercises or "do it right." My role is to help you slow down, become more aware of your nervous system, and develop greater capacity to respond to life's challenges with more choice and less automatic survival-driven patterns.
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Somatic therapy may be a good fit if you often feel anxious, overwhelmed, emotionally disconnected, stuck in patterns of overthinking or people-pleasing, or as though your body is constantly carrying stress.
Many of my clients are high-functioning adults who appear capable on the outside but feel exhausted from always holding it all together. If traditional talk therapy has helped you understand your patterns but you're still finding it difficult to create lasting change, a somatic approach may offer another path toward feeling more grounded, connected, and at ease.
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Yes. I offer somatic therapy both in person in Brea, California, and virtually throughout California and Arizona. Somatic therapy can be highly effective over Telehealth because much of the work involves increasing awareness of your internal experience rather than relying on physical touch or in-office interventions. Many clients find they appreciate practicing these skills from the comfort and familiarity of their own home. Learn more about online therapy here.
Ready to Feel More Connected and At Ease in Your Body?
Schedule a free consultation with me to learn more about how Somatic Experiencing® (SE) and NARM can help you restore a sense of safety, balance, and presence in your daily life.
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Somatic Therapy in Brea, CA
I offer somatic therapy in-person in Brea, California, as well as online for California and Arizona residents. Telehealth allows you to engage in meaningful, effective therapy from the comfort of your own space while still receiving relational, depth-oriented care.
265 S Randolph Ave, Brea, CA 92821
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