What exactly is anxiety and why does it present so differently? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we define anxiety by what happens in the body and we measure the severity of that anxiety by how it manifests physically.
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Polyvagal theory, created by Stephen Porges, has distilled cutting-edge research about the nervous system into language that helps people make sense of their moment to moment living experience within their bodies, environment, and in relationships.
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People can cause themselves suffering when they judge, avoid or try to suppress what they perceive as negative emotions or unpleasant feelings, and fare better when they learn to make peace with them.
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Do you feel resistance to processing your emotions through your body? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we believe in the healing through the body with the awareness that it can be quite fear-inducing for most.
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Medical trauma is any trauma that happens in connection with a medical or health experience. Like other traumas, it overwhelms the body, putting it in a state of fight, flight, or freeze. The form it takes is as diverse as the experiences of the people who endure it.
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If both individuals in a couple lean toward an avoidant attachment style, a therapist may be helpful in helping to draw out the feelings gently over time from each partner one at a time.
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Generally speaking, “Yes”, says therapist Stefan Allen-Hickey of Downtown Somatic Therapy in New York City: “the success of a relationship with this attachment style configuration relies on the couple coming to understand the emotions that underlie their partner’s response to stress”.
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Trauma-informed therapy refers to a therapeutic style that aims to avoid re-traumatization over the course of treatment by emphasizing a person-specific approach.
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When we feel shame we may withdraw from others, avoid intimacy, or become defensive or angry.
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Our therapists help you identify what is getting in the way, move past blockages and help you access your true emotions, needs and desires.
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The name of the game in your healing journey is to thrive as well as survive, it’s essential to gear more toward the powerful nature of positive emotions.
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In somatic therapy, we make space for ancestral grief, gifts and burdens, and honor the inherent worth that grief conveys upon ourselves and our lineages.
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Due to its mindful, body-centered approach, somatic therapy can be an effective way to address and resolve a host of issues related to sex.
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Self-protective responses to shame can be a source of misunderstanding and lead to ruptures in relationships. We explore shame in relationships in this article.
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If you feel ambivalent about being in therapy, this could be a portal into more transformative work with your therapist or it could be a sign that you’ve outgrown them.
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If you feel ambivalent about being in therapy, this could be a portal into more transformative work with your therapist or it could be a sign that you’ve outgrown them.
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How befriending your emotions impacts your day-to-day experiences and your ability to work with your emotions rather than feeling controlled by them.
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Here are strategies to help you cope with a panic attack.. The expectation is to soften how frightening the symptoms are by making the situation feel a bit more controlled.
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EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) focuses on emotions connected to memory with bilateral stimulation, like tapping on the body.
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