About Amy Hagerstrom
Helping you reconnect with yourself through somatic and integrative therapy
Somatic Experiencing • Safe and Sound Protocol • Rest and Restore Protocol • Integrative Mental Health
I know what it’s like to feel reactive, in pain, and disconnected from yourself and unsure how to find your way back.
What changed everything for me was including my body in my mental health healing. Bringing the body into the therapy process made all the difference.
That experience shaped how I work today, honoring the whole of who you are — and that includes your body. I help people reconnect with themselves through mind-body therapy, building the capacity to stay present and grounded when life feels hard, while supporting healing, growth, and a fuller experience of connection and joy.
Hi, I’m Amy.
If you’ve been pushing through the days, doing your best while carrying more than anyone realizes, you’re not alone. I know what that’s like.
Therapy that included my body helped me understand what was really happening underneath, the tension, emotions, and patterns I couldn’t think my way out of. It gave me space for all of me and helped me meet myself with compassion and clarity. I learned to understand my needs and stay with difficult feelings without losing myself in them.
Now I support clients across Florida and Illinois in doing the same through a holistic approach that honors your lived experience and supports your nervous system.
Together, we look at what supports your healing physically, emotionally, and mentally so you can move through life with more steadiness, connection, and capacity for what matters most. This work helps you rebuild trust in yourself and your body, so you can meet both ease and challenge with more clarity and confidence.
Somatic therapy, including Somatic Experiencing, the Safe and Sound Protocol, and the Rest and Restore Protocol, supports your brain and body in recognizing safety again. We work gently with your nervous system and physiology, allowing the patterns that are ready to shift to do so and helping new ones take root.
Because healing is also influenced by how you live, we can include attention to sleep, movement, nutrition, and other daily rhythms. This integrative lens helps you understand how your habits and health affect how you feel mentally and emotionally. As a Certified Integrative Mental Health Provider, I weave these elements in when they support your goals, always at a pace that feels right for you.
This therapy is whole-person work. It supports your nervous system while honoring your mind, emotions, and lived experience. Healing often begins when we meet what’s happening inside with curiosity and care. From there, new possibilities open, not by changing who you are but by helping you return to yourself.
Many of the people I work with have tried talk therapy.
They’ve gained insight—but still feel stuck. They want to feel less reactive, reduce physical tension or pain, and stop shutting down in moments that matter. But they’re not sure how to get there.
This kind of work offers a different starting point. It doesn’t ask you to talk through everything. Instead, it helps you reconnect with yourself, notice what’s happening underneath, and create real shifts—from the inside out.
What Holistic Therapy with a Mind-Body Approach Can Offer You
If talk therapy hasn’t been enough, you’re not alone. Insight can be helpful—but it doesn’t always change how your body reacts under pressure. That’s where somatic work can make the difference—because it involves listening to your body, not just analyzing your thoughts. That’s because stress, overwhelm, and shutdown often live in the body—not just the mind.
Through somatic therapy, you can:
Feel more connected to your body and emotions—and clearer about what you need.
Stop getting swept up in triggers and start responding in ways that feel more like you.
Face pressure, relationships, and uncertainty without spiraling or shutting down.
Work with your nervous system to create lasting change—without having to push or power through.
This approach includes:
Somatic Experiencing (SE) – a gentle, body-based method that helps your system release built-up stress and find more ease.
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) – a listening therapy using specially filtered music that helps your system recognize when you’re safe, making it easier to feel calm, connected, and present.
Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) – a music-based experience designed to support deep rest and regulation, especially if you’ve been stuck in survival mode for a long time.
Together, these practices offer a different way forward—one that supports you from the inside out.
In our work together, we’ll start with where you are—and move at a pace that feels right for your system.
My approach is informed by:
Personal experience. I’ve done this work myself, and I know how vulnerable it can feel to slow down and really listen to what your body is saying.
Years of mind-body training. Before becoming a therapist, I spent years immersed in yoga, massage, and body-based healing. These earlier experiences deeply inform how I approach somatic work—supporting the nervous system and helping clients feel more connected to their bodies.
A developmental and attachment-informed lens. My graduate training was rooted in child development and early relational experiences. That work continues to shape how I understand not just nervous system patterns, but how we come to experience ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Professional education. I hold a Master’s in Social Work and certifications in Somatic Experiencing, Safe and Sound Protocol, and Rest and Restore Protocol—integrative approaches that support emotional and physical wellbeing through the body.
This work is grounded in care, collaboration, and deep respect for your process. It’s not about pushing through. It’s about helping you reconnect with yourself in a way that feels sustainable and real—with more space to show up as the person you know you are.
Let’s explore how this approach can support you. Reach out today to take the first step.
The Perspective I Bring as a Therapist
Education & Licensure
Master’s in Social Work from Erikson Institute, Chicago, with a focus on Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (continues to shape my developmental and attachment-informed perspective)
Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from Indiana University
Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Florida (#SW23332) and Illinois (#149026921)
Specialized Training & Certifications
Completed three years of Somatic Experiencing Training, resulting in SEP certification
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) — Trained and Certified Provider
Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) — Trained and Certified Provider
Clinical Applications of Polyvagal Theory with Dr. Stephen Porges and Deb Dana
Trauma Coupling Dynamics with Kathy Kain
Developmental Trauma: Later Developmental Stages with Raja Selvam
Advanced Nutritional and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health Professionals with Dr. Leslie Korn
Nutrition Essentials for Clinicians: Culinary Medicine to Improve Mood, Sleep, Attention, and Focus with Dr. Leslie Korn
Completed training requirements in Integrative Mental Health certification, becoming a Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional
Earlier Body-Based Training
Diploma in Therapeutic Massage from The New School of Massage, Chicago (formerly licensed in Illinois)
200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (CYT-200) from Cityoga, Indianapolis
Therapy Qualifications
Outside of Therapy
After years in Chicago, I recently moved to South Florida—trading one kind of waterfront for another. I’ve always loved city energy, but over time, I’ve come to appreciate a slower pace, smaller communities, and being near big bodies of water. The sound, the movement, the vastness—it grounds me in ways that words can’t.
Most days, I walk to clear my mind and reconnect. I’ve also started learning to shuffle dance—equal parts humbling and fun.
I love good food, really old buildings, and great conversation—especially when it dives into what shapes us, what we hold, and how we make sense of being human.
And of course, I spend a lot of time with my dog, Fergus. He keeps life playful and reminds me to stay present, even in the small moments.
Get Help from Holistic, Mind-Body Therapist
When stress, tension, or disconnection builds up over time, it can leave you feeling off—physically, emotionally, and in ways that are hard to name. You might be holding it together on the outside, but inside, you’re tired of pushing through.
Somatic therapy—an approach that works with both mind and body—can help you understand what’s happening beneath the surface and begin to respond in ways that feel more aligned with who you are and how you want to live.
You don’t have to keep operating in survival mode. With a holistic, somatic approach, we’ll work together to create real change—on your terms, and at your pace.