Summer in Carlsbad and San Diego immediately reminds me of beach days, bonfires, packed calendars, sunshine, cool breezes, and great food. While summer can be a wonderful time to reconnect with nature, it can also bring pressure to stay busy, productive, and social as adults, especially since the Southern California weather can give summer vibes year-round. As therapists who have been living and working in San Diego for some 15+ years, we see high levels of stress and burnout

In recent years, there has been a major shift in how society understands and responds to conversion therapy. Laws banning this practice in many places have marked an important step forward for LGBTQ+ rights and mental health. However, as ignorance spreads, these laws are under constant evaluation, and the rights of minorities are vulnerable. To truly understand what comes next, we have to look at the aftermath, not just in the laws and policies, but in our own nervous system

Have you ever noticed how, in moments of conflict with someone close to you, your reactions seem to outpace your intentions? You may find yourself trying to suppress a surge of emotion, or struggling to make sense of why something relatively small feels disproportionately intense. This experience, while disorienting, is more common than it appears. In somatic therapy, this is understood as somatic hypervigilance. A state of protection and alertness in the nervous system that

When our lives continue to operate at a pace that isn’t sustainable, the burnout, reactivity, and disconnect remove us from what actually matters. This is how trauma imprinting works, even if it was trauma from decades ago or last year, if the survival imprint never got relief, it compels the personality, the psyche, and the nervous system to carry on AS IF those survival strategies are still needed. Even so much as to project the map of threat onto present-day scenarios that

As a new year begins, many of us naturally drift to a time of change or transformation: asking ourselves What do I want to change? What do I want to feel? For some parents and partners, those questions often run deeper than “eat healthier” or “get organized.” It's normal to want connections that feel nourishing, peace that feels long-term, and relationships that match the love we crave and deserve. If you’ve ever found yourself making a resolution only to watch it fade by F

The holidays often bring cheer, warmth, and togetherness. Lights sparkle, families gather, and we expect joyful moments. But for many, the holiday season also comes with a quieter, deeper challenge: when your nervous system is on high alert, when your body is already scanning for Threat or expecting pain or stress. That's the place of somatic hypervigilance —and it can quietly block the healing, connection, and rest you may crave. In this post, we'll explore: What somatic hyp

Oftentimes, healing can begin with learning to listen to the quiet and true voice of the body. When we talk about somatic therapy, one of the first doorways into healing is learning the language of sensations. Sensations are the language in which the nervous system speaks. Our emotions are usually a mixture of complex sensations that our brain interprets and names “sad”, “angry”, “happy”, “grief”, “connected”, etc. Learning to listen to and become aware of our sensations is t

What is EMDR? EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a technique used in psychotherapy to treat anxiety, depression,...

Have you ever had the experience of feeling like your body was tense or a pounding headache at the end of a stressful day? Or feeling...

Trauma, boundaries, and your voice are all interconnected. Childhood trauma can seriously impact your ability to set boundaries with...

Somatic therapy encompasses numerous modalities, including Somatic Experiencing™ (SE), Somatic Trauma Resolution™ (STR), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting, hypnotherapy, breathwork techniques, and more. When you experience trauma, your nervous system is designed to protect you and it can only respond in certain ways to keep you safe. A word about trauma here before I continue. When people hear the word trauma, they often think of things like

By Linda Rankin, AMFT/SEP Developmental trauma defines the psychological and physiological consequences of repeated exposure to stressful...

By Mallory Burggraaf Have you experienced the feeling of being on high alert, waiting for something terrible to happen? This could look...

Somatic therapy helps people understand their attachment styles and strategies. Adult attachment dynamics can be confusing. This article...

Somatic therapy can help individuals and relationships understand their attachment styles. Understanding the certain dynamics of how you...

Written by: Mallory Burggraaf, LSW, SE and IFS Therapist What is Hyper-Vigilance? Hyper-vigilance is often thought of as being on guard, paying extra attention to what may shift in your surroundings, or scanning for danger or threat. This can be a common experience for folks who have experienced trauma or extreme stress. Read on to see how somatic therapy can help by focusing on the body’s responses to these feelings, guiding individuals to release stored tension and gradua

Written By: Erin B. Rupert, Somatic EMDR Therapist It's a cool, sunny day, right before the snow starts flying for a long winter. Not...

Even as a somatic therapist , I am not immune to stress and anxiety. I was plagued with it growing up. Panic attacks, dread, rumination,...

For people with trauma, PTSD, or C-PTSD, the relationship with the body is complicated. The body becomes more like a burden, nuisance, or...

A re you in search for a new therapist? Are you interested in seeing if somatic therapy is a good fit for you? I am glad you are taking...