Somatic Therapy for Anxiety: Why Sometimes You Need More Than Talk Therapy

If you live with anxiety, you might already understand why you feel anxious — but your body still reacts with tension, racing thoughts, or a constant sense of alertness.

That’s because anxiety isn’t just about thoughts. It also lives in the nervous system.

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach that helps you notice and gently shift how anxiety shows up physically. Instead of only analyzing thoughts, somatic therapy helps you connect to where you are in the present moment and build regulation, safety, and resilience from the inside out.

I’ve personally experienced the disconnect between what I was feeling internally and what was being addressed in traditional talk therapy. On the outside, I could mask and present as “fine,” while internally I was experiencing activation and anxiety. At times, it felt like there was a mismatch between what I needed and what was happening in sessions.

Like many of my clients now, I knew I was insightful and self-aware — but insight alone didn’t change how my body was responding. That experience is part of what led me to deepen my own work with somatic-based therapy and later integrate it into the way I practice therapy today.

When I deepened my own work with somatic therapy, I began to experience the changes I had been hoping for. I felt more accurately met where I was emotionally and physically, and I learned practical tools to help self-soothe, regulate my nervous system, and manage anxiety in daily life.

Somatic therapy can be especially helpful if you are high-functioning, insightful, or have tried therapy before but still feel stuck in anxiety patterns. Many people who seek somatic therapy for anxiety notice that their symptoms live strongly in the body — like chest tightness, stomach drops, muscle tension, or feeling constantly “on edge.”

If any of this resonates with you, somatic therapy may be a supportive next step. Therapy for anxiety does not have to be limited to talking about symptoms — it can also include working directly with your nervous system and helping your body learn that it is safe.

If you’re interested in somatic therapy and want to see if it feels like a good fit, you’re welcome to schedule a consultation. We can talk about what you’re experiencing, what you’ve tried before, and what you’re hoping will feel different moving forward.