Somatic Therapy in Fort Lauderdale

Mind-body support to help ease overwhelm, calm emotional reactivity, and restore a sense of steadiness.

Online Therapy for Residents of Florida and Illinois

Beach and ocean and sunrise. Somatic Experiencing Delray
Beach and ocean at sunrise. Somatic Therapy Delray

Do you feel like you have big reactions to small issues, inconveniences, or disagreements?

Do you shut down easily when things feel overwhelming, struggling to stay present or engaged?

Maybe you’ve been dealing with chronic pain, digestive issues, headaches, or fatigue—especially during stressful times.

You’ve tried talk therapy or spent countless hours thinking your way into feeling better, but something still isn’t clicking.

Somatic psychotherapy goes beyond talk therapy by including your body—not just your thoughts and emotions. Instead of trying to think past stress, it helps you work with your body’s natural responses, like fight, flight, or freeze.

When overwhelm, shutdown, or strong reactions take over, it’s not just in your head—your body is involved too. Somatic therapy helps you stay present, build capacity for stress, and regain a sense of control.

If talk therapy hasn’t been enough, this approach can help you move forward with more ease.

If you’re ready for a different approach, I’m here to help.

With somatic therapy, like Somatic Experiencing and if you choose, Safe and Sound Protocol, we’ll work together to help you feel more calm, connected, and at ease, even when your mind is telling you otherwise. This process can also help you better understand what’s really behind the anxiety or intense reactions, so you’re no longer stuck in the same patterns.

This work isn’t just about feeling better—it’s about creating the space to move through life with more clarity, confidence, and connection to yourself.

Hi, I’m Amy!

I’m really glad you’re here.

Reaching out—especially when life feels overwhelming or something needs to change—can be a big step.

I work with people stuck in patterns they can’t seem to break—strong reactions to small things, shutting down under stress, or avoiding hard tasks and conversations.

Maybe you’re burned out from pushing through, only to spiral into anxiety, lash out, or shut down. It’s exhausting trying to hold everything together when stress keeps piling up.

With a holistic approach, I help you heal and build the capacity to handle life’s challenges.

Together, we’ll break the patterns keeping you stuck, so you can feel more grounded, connected, and in control.

Fort Lauderdale Somatic Therapist

Woman walking on beach. Somatic Therapy Florida
  • PTSD

  • Anxiety

  • Burnout

  • Chronic Pain

  • Chronic Illness

  • Life Transitions

  • Guilt and Shame

  • Complex Trauma

  • Family/Relationship Conflict

  • Emotional Reactivity/Overwhelm

  • Substance use and/or other addiction

Common Issues and Concerns of People Seeking Somatic Therapy

Healing from the Inside Out: My Approach to Somatic Therapy

Even after talk therapy, stress and emotional pain can linger—showing up as tension, restlessness, or feeling stuck in overdrive. While talk therapy offers insight, it doesn’t always address how your body holds onto stress.

Through Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), we’ll work to release what’s been weighing you down so you can feel calmer, more connected, and better equipped for life’s challenges.

Somatic therapy helps you:

  • Tune into your body’s signals and respond in supportive ways.

  • Release stored tension and stress.

  • Build capacity to stay steady in difficult moments.

  • Reconnect with what truly matters.

We’ll go at a pace that feels right, focusing on what helps you feel more at ease and aligned in your life.

Let’s explore this deeper work together.

Dive Into Somatic Experiencing and Safe and Sound Protocol for Lasting Change

  • Woman relaxed in chair. Mind-body therapy

    Somatic Experiencing

    Somatic Experiencing is a gentle yet effective therapy that helps release stored trauma and stress from your body, calming your nervous system and restoring balance.

  • Headphones on a flowery plant. Body-based therapy

    Safe and Sound Protocol

    Safe and Sound Protocol uses specially filtered music to calm your nervous system, helping you sense safety and feel more grounded in your daily life.

How Somatic Therapy Can Help

Stress, emotional weight, and physical discomfort don’t just affect your mind—they show up in your body too. This body-based approach focuses on helping you understand and release what’s been holding you back.

  • Compassionate Exploration: We’ll look at how stress has shaped your life and what your body is telling you, always with care and understanding.

  • Mind-Body Connection: By listening to how your body holds tension, you’ll learn to respond in ways that feel more aligned and in control.

  • A Safe, Supportive Process: This work happens at your pace, with no pressure to dive into anything you’re not ready for.

If you’re ready to move beyond the overwhelm and reconnect with yourself, let’s connect. I’m here to support you as we explore what’s next.

Somatic Therapy FAQs

  • Somatic therapy, like Somatic Experiencing (SE), focuses on the body’s responses to stress and trauma, rather than just talking about your thoughts and feelings. It helps you tune into what’s happening in your body, so you can release built-up tension and feel more grounded.

    SE is the foundation of my approach, and even if you choose to include the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), our work together will still be guided by SE’s principles. You can choose to explore SE, SSP, or a combination of both, depending on what feels right for you.

  • Yes, as long as you’re open to becoming more connected with your body.

    I’ll be there as a supportive presence, guiding you through the process at a pace that feels right for you. Sometimes, it’s helpful to avoid tuning in too deeply at the start or to focus on noticing what feels comfortable or neutral. The most important thing is feeling safe, and that often means taking things slowly. We’ll use plenty of practices to support you along the way.

  • Yes, absolutely! Many people find that somatic therapy complements traditional talk therapy. While talk therapy focuses on exploring thoughts, emotions, and past experiences through conversation, somatic therapy works directly with your body’s responses to stress and trauma. It’s not only about releasing stored stress, but also about supporting your nervous system in learning how to better differentiate between safety and danger—something that often gets confused due to past life experiences.

    The two approaches—talk therapy and somatic therapy—can work together to support your overall healing. Talk therapy can help you process things on a mental level, while somatic therapy addresses the body’s role in holding onto stress and trauma. Together, they often lead to deeper, more lasting change.

  • I currently offer virtual sessions only. Somatic therapy works just as well online because you’re in a space that feels familiar and safe. Being at home means you can settle into your favorite chair, have your pet nearby, or keep comforting items close, which can make you feel more at ease during our work together. Feeling safe and comfortable in your own space helps make the therapy more effective and allows us to really focus on your healing.

    Plus, online sessions make life easier—you don’t have to take time off work, deal with traffic, or worry about finding parking. It’s therapy that fits into your routine, with less stress and more convenience.

  • Individual 55 minute sessions are $180.

    **If you feel like somatic psychotherapy could be the missing piece in your healing but cost is a barrier, I offer a limited number of reduced-fee spots based on availability. If a lower fee would help make this work more accessible, let’s talk and see what’s possible.

    I don't accept insurance; however, I'm happy to offer a receipt that you can submit to insurance for potential reimbursement.

    There are additional costs for those who choose to do Safe and Sound Protocol. Those will vary depending on whether or not clients listen outside of sessions. See the SSP page for a breakdown of those costs.

Get help from a Fort Lauderdale Somatic Therapist

You’ve worked hard to build a successful life, but despite everything you’ve accomplished, so much still feels unresolved. The weight of stress, intense emotions, or physical discomfort has left you feeling stuck and disconnected from the life you want to be living.

It doesn’t have to stay this way.

With somatic therapy, we can go beyond talking and thinking through the challenges to address what’s happening beneath the surface. By releasing the tension you’ve been carrying and tuning into the signals your body is sending, you can reconnect with yourself and start creating a life that feels more grounded, meaningful, and in alignment with what truly matters.

You deserve this kind of relief and clarity, and I’m here to support you every step of the way.

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Reach Out Today

Fill out the form below or click on the link to set up a consult call to get started.

https://calendly.com/amy-amyhagerstrom/consultation

If you don’t see a day and time that fits your schedule, send a message on the form and we will find a time that works for both of us.