Feel Safe In Your Body

“Can we address the elephant in the room? Things are feeling a bit unhinged at the moment. In a world where fewer things are certain, where discord is the norm, and the pseudo security blanket of assumed national invincibility feels more like a raggedy thread than comfort, learning how to create our own felt sense of safety is more of a mental health survival strategy than a luxury. The good news is somatic therapy can help us stay in a more regulated system regardless of what the world throws our way. 

Somatic therapy offers us tools to cope with life’s stressors, process overwhelming experiences in our bodies by naming the sensations, and by naming parts of ourselves being activated by upsetting events- rather than getting caught up in negative storylines.” – Lauren Mishkin, Somatic Therapist.

Our bodies are vessels that bare scars from their experiences. They were not meant to be piloted unblemished, they are suited for stormy seas, leaky nights, and vigilant attention. If we do not take care to plug the leaks, darn the sails, and otherwise keep our vessel in order, it will wobble and sink even under a clear blue sky. But if we care for our vessel as it demands to be cared for, it will take us everywhere we need to go.

Why Feeling Safe in Your Body Is Essential for Anxiety Treatment

“Overwhelming life experiences get stored in our bodies. The more painful our past experiences are, the more our Anterior Cingulate Cortex detects threats causing us to perceive peril when we aren’t actually in grave danger. Our bodies ramp up to fight a bear when we have simply seen a disturbing headline, replayed an upsetting conversation from 2 months ago, or thought about a looming deadline at work. The nervous system’s response is the same. This can cause us to act out aggressively or avoidantly in ways we later regret.” – Lauren Mishkin

When we ignore the painful emotions that live in our body after traumatic experiences, they tend to build up and intensify. Like water traveling downhill, your emotions will find an outlet from which to escape, and wreak havoc on your behavior, relationships, and even physical health.

• Trauma therapy helps address the root causes of anxiety. When you work with a body-conscious therapist, you can finally address the issues that are too gnarled to untangle on our own. Your therapist helps simplify what feels complex or overwhelming  by asking you what’s happening in your body and listening with curiosity the stories that you tell yourself based on your body’s sensations.
• When the body feels safe, the brain becomes more receptive to anxiety counseling and insight-based therapy. If you’ve ever seen a therapist, but just couldn’t relax enough to make comfortable progress, there might be a message that your body is trying to send. Physically tuning in to the body’s sensations and relaxing the different muscles in your body sends the signal to your mind  that you are safe. 

• Effective anxiety treatment focuses on helping you feel safe enough to rest, connect, and engage with daily life. We can do better than just treating your symptoms. Therapy gives you the tools to find satisfaction and success, not just survival. Our therapists teach you tools that work specifically for you, helping you build a map for your nervous system so that you can have the tools to access your anchors whenever you need them. These anchors can be as simple as reminding yourself to come to your breath, or having a safe space that you visualize, a hand on your heart, or an hour-long yoga session. Working with a therapist can help you have a better understanding of what your unique nervous system needs. 

How Somatic Therapy Supports Long-Term Depression Treatment

Depression lives in your body just as much as it lives in your mind. In fact, aches and pains are some of the most common symptoms we see in patients with depression.

Somatic therapists target the pain left in your body from emotional anguish. By working through your pain at its source, therapists can offer relief to the unexplained symptoms you thought you’d never be free of.

Why Somatic Therapy Is Essential for Long-Term Depression Treatment

Lasting healing rarely comes from insight alone. Tightened shoulders, shallow breaths, and heavy limbs are all symptoms of a nervous system that has forgotten how to rest. Somatic therapy invites your body back to the conversation as a full-voiced participant, not a captive passenger.

Why Long-Term Depression Treatment Requires Body Awareness

Of the mental illnesses that we could be chanced to encounter, depression is one of the most physical. Genetic and epigenetic factors have a huge impact on whether or not someone’s sorrow develops into full-blown depression. In order to be aware of your depression, you must also be aware of how it affects your body.       

How Body-Based Depression Treatment Addresses Chronic Pain and Fatigue

Chronic pain and exhaustion are often depression’s quiet companions. Somatic therapy approaches these symptoms not as separate problems to be managed, but as messages waiting to be understood. When it no longer must carry the burdens of your heart and mind, the pain in your body can finally be set free.

How KAP Can Treat Depression and Anxiety In Your Body

Psychedelics are finding more and more uses when it comes to treating patients with somatic symptoms. The state-change driven by ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has helped many patients make a breakthrough when it comes to their anxiety and depression. 

KAP is a newly legal treatment, but it is a proven and safe treatment for your mental health. We have more data on the medical potential of ketamine than we do many other prescription drugs. If your mental health has resisted other forms of treatment, ketamine therapy could help you make a breakthrough.

• Ketamine therapy can support anxiety treatment by increasing nervous system flexibility, helping your body shift out of chronic fight-or-flight and into states of safety, rest, and regulation.

• Psychedelic therapy emphasizes set, setting, and safety, creating a supportive environment where your body can explore new emotional patterns and experience meaningful depression relief without overwhelm. 

• Working with a trauma-informed St. Petersburg therapist can help you safely reconnect with your body as part of anxiety treatment. KAP works on both the mind and body, supporting somatic therapy principles by helping patients access emotions, memories, and physical sensations that may be difficult to reach through talking alone.

Actionable Steps For Depression Treatment From A Florida Therapist

When we’re lost in a cloud of anxiety and depression, we can get almost entirely disconnected from our bodies. This is our body trying to protect us from an overstimulating physical experience, but to find lasting relief, we need to return to our bodies. 

Lauren Mishkin is a trauma specialist who can help you step back into your body with comfort and security. This is what she recommends for patients who are seeking somatic safety:

1. Rub your feet on the ground for 5-10 seconds. 
2. Place a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly. 
3. Take a few deep inhales, pause at the top, a few longer exhales, pause at the bottom. Then, imagine roots growing from the bottom of your feet into the earth while
4.  Repeat to yourself  “I am safe in this moment. I choose to release what could happen. I am staying in what is actually happening now- in this breath in this moment I am safe.” 
5. Feel into your heartspace. Feel the rise and fall of your belly as you inhale and exhale. 
6. Send some love, gratitude, and compassion to your body-for all it has experienced, all it has endured, all it has witnessed, and all the ways your body shows up for you each and every day without even thinking about it. 

“If you feel overwhelmed in a freeze: get up and dance. Put on your favorite song and scream out the lyrics. Get the energy flowing again. If anxious, overstimulated, irritated, or flooded with energy-standing up and shaking out your muscles to music can release excess energy in the body. Remember in fight/flight, your body is gearing up to fight a tiger even though you are not currently in grave danger. Mindfully and intentionally releasing excess energy can offer some immediate relief. Having an active physical fitness routine can do wonders for our mental health during tumultuous seasons.” – Lauren Mishkin, LMHC.

Affordable Depression Treatment From An In-Network Therapist

If you’re considering somatic therapy in 2026, one of the first things you may be seeking is balance—not just in your thoughts, but in your body. Somatic therapy focuses on helping you feel more regulated, grounded, and safe in your nervous system, while also finding care that works with your insurance. Unfortunately, locating somatic therapy that is both accessible and financially sustainable can feel overwhelming. Between changing insurance policies, limited availability of somatic therapists, and the vulnerability of beginning body-based therapy, the process itself can feel dysregulating. The good news is that it is possible to find somatic therapy that supports your whole body while respecting your financial reality.

No matter who your insurance provider is, we’re here to help you access therapy that feels sustainable and aligned with your needs. When you schedule an intake appointment, we’ll work with you to match you with a therapist trained in somatic and body-based approaches who understands your goals, your preferences, and what balance feels like in your body. This may include using your insurance benefits, exploring sliding-scale options, providing superbills for out-of-network reimbursement, or helping you connect with a trusted somatic therapist outside our practice if that’s the best fit. At Integrative Counsel, our focus is on access—clear, compassionate guidance toward somatic therapy that supports both your nervous system and your day-to-day stability.

SOMATIC THERAPISTS WHO ACCEPT AETNA INSURANCE

If you’re covered by Aetna, you may be eligible for therapy services through our practice. Our somatic therapists work within your benefits to offer evidence-based, body-centered care that helps regulate the nervous system, release stored stress, and build long-term emotional balance and resilience.

SOMATIC THERAPY FOR PEOPLE WITH OPTUM

If you’re insured through Optum Oscar, Optum Oxford, or United Optum, we can help you find therapy that fits into both your life and your plan. Our goal is to match you with a somatic therapist who is covered by your insurance and aligned with what you need to feel more grounded, supported, and regulated in your body.

How a St. Petersburg Therapist Can Help You Feel Safe in Your Body Again

Sometimes the best way we can take back our power when things feel out of our control, unfair, or uncertain is by somatically regulating our nervous systems. Relaxing the muscles in our bodies, opening our peripheral vision, taking long deep full breaths can be immediate self-regulation techniques to help tip us back into our window of tolerance in any given situation, while reading any headline, or facing any challenges life throws our way. – Lauren Mishkin, LMHC.

 If you feel stuck on your healing journey, working with a therapist can help. Based on your needs, our intake specialist will help you get matched up with your perfect therapist. Click here to schedule a consultation.

Sunny Ebsary is an educator, multi-modal artist, and writer specializing in the intersection of myth and mental health. Sunny’s writing walks the line between poetic and logical, giving readers a chance to interface with the mind and imagination. Sunny’s been putting pen to paper since he was a child, writing everything from albums, novels, and plays, to essays, interactive games, and of course, many articles! While studying both psychology and writing, he realized his real passion in life was helping others unlock their creative spark. Whether he’s leading a D&D game, directing a production, or diving deep into the brain, you can be sure Sunny will be ushering you toward finding meaning in your life.