EMDR & SOMATIC THERAPY

You may understand exactly why you struggle with anxiety, people-pleasing, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, or difficult relationships.
You may have spent years in therapy developing insight into your past.
Yet despite understanding your patterns, you still find yourself reacting in ways that don't make sense.
You know setting a boundary is healthy, but your body fills with fear.
You know a relationship isn't in your best interest, yet you still struggle to let go.
You know you are safe, yet anxiety, shame, panic, or emotional shutdown continue to take over.

This happens because many of our most painful experiences are not stored only as thoughts or memories. They are carried in the nervous system and reflected in the body's automatic survival responses.

At The Belonging Practice, I integrate EMDR and somatic therapy to help clients move beyond insight and create lasting change.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process experiences that remain emotionally and physiologically unresolved. When overwhelming experiences occur, the nervous system can become stuck in patterns of protection. These protective responses often continue long after the original danger has passed. EMDR helps the brain and body process these experiences so they no longer feel as emotionally charged or activating.

Clients often report:

  • Reduced anxiety and emotional reactivity

  • Greater emotional regulation

  • Increased self-confidence

  • Improved relationships

  • Less shame and self-criticism

  • Greater ability to remain present during stress

EMDR is commonly used for trauma, but it can also be effective for attachment wounds, emotional neglect, relationship difficulties, grief, anxiety, and longstanding negative beliefs about oneself.

Somatic therapy recognizes that emotional experiences are reflected in the body.

Many clients arrive in therapy feeling:

  • Constantly anxious or on edge

  • Emotionally overwhelmed

  • Numb or disconnected

  • Stuck in cycles of overthinking

  • Unable to access their emotions

  • Exhausted from chronic stress

Rather than focusing only on thoughts, somatic therapy helps clients develop awareness of nervous system states, bodily sensations, and survival responses.

This work helps create greater flexibility within the nervous system and supports the development of a deeper sense of safety, connection, and emotional resilience.

My Approach

My work is grounded in attachment theory, polyvagal theory, and nervous system regulation.

I help clients understand how past emotional experiences continue to influence present-day thoughts, emotions, relationships, and bodily responses.

Together we work to:

  • Understand nervous system patterns

  • Increase emotional regulation

  • Develop greater self-compassion

  • Strengthen secure attachment

  • Reduce chronic anxiety and overwhelm

  • Process unresolved emotional experiences

  • Build a greater sense of safety within the body

While EMDR can be a powerful tool, I believe preparation and stabilization are essential. Rather than rushing into trauma processing, I help clients build the resources and regulation needed for deeper healing.