Somatic Experiencing: Gentle Trauma Healing and Nervous System Support

Find relief from overwhelm and physical symptoms while building resilience with Somatic Experiencing—all from the comfort of home.

Online therapy for individuals in Florida and Illinois

Life feels overwhelming, whether it’s rooted in difficult experiences from the past, new trauma, or something harder to define. Even if you don’t connect with the word trauma, the stress, reactivity, or tension in your body is still there.

It’s making it harder to show up for responsibilities, connect with others, or focus on what matters most.

You might notice yourself shutting down, avoiding things that feel too hard, or reacting in ways that don’t feel like you. The heaviness or unease stays with you, no matter how much you try to push through.

But here’s the truth…

It doesn’t have to stay this way.

Somatic Experiencing offers a gentle, body-centered approach to help you break free from these patterns without retraumatization or overwhelm.

Together, we’ll work to calm your nervous system, build resilience, and reconnect with a sense of ease, clarity, and confidence—helping you feel more grounded, steady, and in control, no matter what life brings.

Headshot of Amy with nature in the background. Somatic Experiencing Florida

Hi, I’m Amy!

Stress and overwhelm can feel relentless.

You might feel out of control, with emotions running high or shutting down entirely. Maybe you’re reacting to people or situations in ways that don’t feel like you. And the discomfort in your body, like bracing or heaviness, are difficult to bear.

You just want to feel better—like yourself again.

This is where I come in. Together, we’ll work to help your mind and body feel safe and reconnect with the steadiness and clarity you need to move forward.

You deserve a life where old wounds or difficult experiences don’t have the final say, and today’s challenges feel manageable again.

If you’re ready to take the next step, schedule a free 20-minute consultation today.

Florida Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

What is Somatic Experiencing?

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-focused therapy that helps release the stress and tension your body has been carrying, often without you realizing it.

Instead of revisiting every detail of the past, SE focuses on what your body is experiencing in the moment.

It helps you notice where stress, bracing, or a sense of collapse is getting stuck and gently guide your system toward relief. Whether it feels like a constant heaviness, emotional exhaustion, or reactions that feel bigger than the moment calls for, SE can help.

This approach helps you feel more grounded and steady—giving your body the space to settle and feel more in sync with the life you’re living.

How Somatic Experiencing Can Help you Find Relief

  • Man sitting by water with hands on head and elbows on knees. Somatic Experiencing Therapist Florida

    Ease Anxiety

    Constant fears, worries, and anxiety can feel overwhelming, showing up as tightness in your chest, knots in your stomach, or a relentless sense of restlessness.

    Somatic Experiencing helps your nervous system recognize when it’s safe, allowing you to feel more confident in speaking up, making decisions, and being present in the moment.

  • woman sitting on chair with feet on chair and arms around shins. She is looking out the window. Somatic Experiencing Florida

    Release Trauma

    Trauma can leave you feeling stuck, constantly on edge, or even completely shut down. These lingering effects are often held as emotional and physical tension in the body.

    Somatic Experiencing gently works with your nervous system to release the trapped energy of trauma, helping you feel safer, calmer, and more connected to yourself and others.

  • Woman sitting on couch with hand on forehead and look of pain on her face. Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Florida

    Relieve Chronic Pain

    Chronic pain often goes beyond physical injury or illness; it can be intensified by stress, trauma, and emotional overwhelm.

    Somatic Experiencing helps ease your body’s response to stress, which can reduce the intensity of pain and open the door to greater relief and freedom in daily life.

How Somatic Experiencing Can Help You

If you often feel overwhelmed, reactive, or like you’re shutting down, Somatic Experiencing (SE) can help your body find balance. It teaches your nervous system how to sense safety again, so you spend less time stuck in fight/flight/freeze and more time feeling steady and connected.

Woman sitting on couch not feeling well. SE Therapy in Florida

When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, you might notice:

  • Physical symptoms like pain, stomach issues, or tension that don’t don’t have a clear medical explanation

  • Turning to coping habits like zoning out or a nightly glass of wine, only to find they only provide some temporary relief

  • Reacting more strongly than you’d like, or shutting down completely in stressful situations

  • Feeling disconnected, lost, or unsure of how to move forward

SE helps with anxiety, PTSD, chronic stress, chronic pain, depression, fibromyalgia, and more. Even if you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed by what’s happening inside, SE offers a way to reconnect with yourself, feel more at ease, and gain a sense of control again.

In our work together, we’ll focus on helping you feel more at ease with your body. Instead of overthinking or trying to solve everything in your head, Somatic Experiencing helps you tune into your body’s signals—like hunger, the need to move or rest, emotional activation, and even moments of ease.

We’ll work together to build your ability to be present with both what feels pleasant as well as difficult, so you can feel more grounded and capable—even when life feels hard or overwhelming.

This approach offers a new way to work through stress and pain, especially if talking it out hasn’t brought the relief you’re hoping for.

What to Expect in Somatic Experiencing Sessions

In our sessions, we’ll create space to notice how your emotions are showing up in your body—whether it’s tension, heaviness, or something else. We’ll also make room to tune into what feels good and spend time there, giving your body the practice it needs to shift out of stress mode and recognize what’s pleasant.

You don’t need to know what to do; I’ll guide you through the process, always giving you the choice to tune into or step back from what you’re feeling.

There’s no right or wrong way to show up, and every part of you is welcome—your feelings, your thoughts, and even the moments when connecting with your body feels hard.

Why This Work Matters

Somatic Experiencing helps you reconnect with yourself in a way that brings clarity, balance, and relief. By releasing the stress your body has been holding onto, you’ll find it easier to handle life’s challenges, trust your instincts, and move through the world with greater resilience and ease.

Person looking out at sunset over vast land. SE Therapy Florida.

 Somatic Experiencing FAQs

  • Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based therapy that works from the inside out. It’s designed to help with trauma, anxiety, stress, and the physical symptoms that come with them. SE focuses on helping your nervous system reset so you can better sense what’s truly safe and what’s not. Trauma—whether big or small—can confuse these signals, making you feel like you’re in danger even when you’re safe.

    SE helps calm your nervous system and resolve trauma-related reactions like feeling tense, stuck, or shutting down. It helps you manage stress better by reducing what triggers you and teaching your body to tell the difference between real danger and things that just feel threatening. Over time, it helps you feel stronger and more capable.

    This process widens your ability to stay calm when things get tough, giving you more space to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting out of instinct. By working through stored stress and trauma, SE helps you handle life’s challenges with more ease and resilience.

  • Somatic Experiencing (SE) focuses on the body and how it holds onto trauma and stress, rather than just talking about your experiences. Instead of spending a lot of time revisiting the past or analyzing your thoughts, SE helps you tune into physical sensations and reactions. This allows your body to release built-up tension and reset your nervous system, helping you feel calmer and more balanced. SE is a gentle, body-based approach that works alongside or as an alternative to talk therapy.

  • Yes, but it’s not like traditional talk therapy. While we’ll spend some time talking about your experiences, the main focus is on how those experiences show up in your body. You’re always welcome to share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with—there’s no pressure to dive into every detail of your past. Some sessions, you might not feel like focusing much on your body, and that’s okay too. The most important thing is that you feel in control and have a say in how the session unfolds, so it works best for you.

  • Yes, absolutely! Many people find that Somatic Experiencing (SE) complements traditional talk therapy. While talk therapy focuses on exploring thoughts, emotions, and past experiences through conversation, SE works directly with your body’s responses to stress and trauma. The two approaches can work together to support your overall healing—talk therapy can help you understand your experiences on a mental level, while SE helps you process and release tension stored in your body. Combining the two often leads to deeper and more lasting change.

  • I currently offer virtual sessions only, and Somatic Experiencing (SE) can be just as effective online as in person. During our online sessions, I’ll guide you through the same process of tuning into your body’s sensations and responses to stress. When appropriate, I’ll guide you through somatic practices, which can easily be done through the screen. The most important part of SE is helping you connect with what’s happening in your body, and we can do that just as well in an online setting, ensuring you feel safe and supported throughout.

    Being in your own space makes a big difference too. You can settle into a favorite chair, keep comforting items nearby, or even have your pet close by—all of which can help you feel more relaxed and at ease. Feeling safe in your own environment enhances the effectiveness of the therapy and allows us to focus on your healing.

    Plus, virtual sessions are much more convenient. You don’t have to take time off work, battle traffic, or worry about parking. It’s therapy that fits into your life, with less hassle and more comfort, so you can focus on what truly matters—your healing.

  • Sessions are $180

    While I don’t accept insurance, I’m happy to provide receipts that you can submit to your insurance provider for possible reimbursement.

    If you're interested in incorporating the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) into your sessions, it’s available for an additional cost, which you can find listed on the SSP page. We can talk about whether SSP might be a good fit for you during our consultation or at any point as we work together.

Sun setting over the mountains. Somatic Experiencing Therapy South Florida

Get help from a Florida Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

Sometimes, it feels like you’re carrying more than you should—reacting in ways that don’t feel like you, or caught in cycles of stress and tension that leave you feeling drained. It can be hard to imagine finding relief when so much feels stuck.

With Somatic Experiencing, we’ll work together to help you release what’s been holding on, so you can reconnect with yourself—this time with more balance and without needing to push so hard to get through the day. You deserve to feel steady, supported, and more like yourself again.