Anxiety Isn’t All in Your Head — It Lives in the Body, Too: Therapy for Women in ORegon
Trauma Therapy and Somatic Healing for Women and Highly Sensitive Adults
If you’ve ever been told to “just think positive” or “calm down,” you know how frustrating and isolating anxiety can feel. Maybe you’ve tried deep breaths, mantras, or mindset work—and it helped, but only a little. The truth is, anxiety isn’t just in your mind. It’s in your nervous system. It lives in your body.
Anxiety is often a survival response—not a personal flaw. It can show up as racing thoughts, trouble sleeping, looping worries, or a constant feeling of being “on alert.” But it can also appear as muscle tension, digestive issues, chronic fatigue, or a tight chest. These are all ways your body tries to protect you from danger, even when there’s no clear threat.
When we grow up in environments where we had to stay hyper-aware, perform for love, or push down our needs, our bodies adapt. For many women, especially those who are neurodivergent or highly sensitive, anxiety is a learned way of staying safe. But it’s not sustainable. Over time, it can lead to burnout, disconnection, and even autoimmune symptoms.
Many of my clients have come to therapy feeling like they were anxious about everything but for no particular reason, as if there was just something wrong with them. But as we slowed things down, they would notice how their body felt uncomfortable, like tightness in the chest, every time they would have to ask for help. Underneath that anxiety was a lifetime of feeling unsafe to need anything, to take up space authentically. Their bodies weren’t malfunctioning. They were remembering. And once we listened to this with care, things began to shift.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash
The good news? You don’t have to stay stuck in fight-or-flight mode forever.
Somatic therapy helps you understand what your anxiety is trying to tell you—without judgment. It offers gentle tools to reconnect with your body, release built-up tension, and create new patterns of safety. Unlike talk therapy alone, somatic work invites the whole nervous system into the healing process.
In my practice, I blend trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, Brainspotting, and yoga therapy to support women and neurodivergent folks who are ready to break old cycles and build new pathways of self-trust. Together, we explore how your body holds your story—and how healing doesn’t mean fixing yourself, but remembering that you were never broken.
You don’t have to overthink your way to peace. You can feel your way there—slowly, safely, with support.
What to Expect in Somatic Therapy for Anxiety
In our work together, we move at your body’s pace—not anyone else’s. Sessions may include grounding practices, gentle movement, breathwork, or guided awareness of where anxiety lives in your body. You’ll learn how to notice your cues of overwhelm and create safety from the inside out. There’s no pressure to push through—only an invitation to come home to yourself, one breath at a time.
If your anxiety feels like it’s running the show, I invite you to connect.
I offer virtual therapy, EMDR and Brainspotting intensives, and somatic support for women, trauma survivors, and sensitive adults who are ready to heal from the inside out.
ways to work with me:
Online counseling for clients located in Bend, Oregon and the state of Oregon. Click here to schedule a free consultation.
Read more about how EMDR can help with anxiety stored in the body here and an embodiment approach here.
1:1 Yoga Therapy online, for clients located globally. Click here to schedule.
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