The Ultimate Self Love: Heal Your Nervous System

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung

How Self-Love Supports Nervous System Regulation in Therapy

Self-love and self-compassion are more than just a good time. They are pillars of our physical and mental health. Self-compassion has been found to improve our attitudes and physiological responses to stress and illness. When we unlock our capacity for self-love, we can tap into a deep well of hope, motivation, and change. Self-love is is loving yourself as you are and loving yourself enough to make the difficult changes that make life possible.

In therapy, self-love is not about passively accepting everything as it is. It is about caring for yourself enough to make meaningful, sometimes difficult changes. This might look like setting boundaries, slowing down, asking for support, or finally addressing long-ignored emotional pain. From a nervous system perspective, self-love helps shift the body out of chronic survival states and into patterns of safety, connection, and repair.

What a Therapist Means by “Nervous System Healing”

Our nervous system learns how to operate and regulate from us. That means for people with anxiety, depression, or trauma histories, this system can become stuck in patterns of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown—even when danger is no longer present.

Nervous system–informed therapy works with the body, not against it. Working with the right counselor can help you re-educate your nervous system, and shake off the patterns that no longer serve us. 

Depression Relief Begins With Feeling Safe in Your Body

True depression relief begins with restoring a sense of safety in the body. Many people experiencing depression feel disconnected from their bodies, emotionally numb, or chronically fatigued. Luckily there is medicine for this, but it doesn’t come in a bottle. 

There’s a number of actionable steps that a therapist might prescribe when a patient is trying to feel safe in their body. When you want or need somatic safety, try returning to this list: 

• • Diaphragmatic or 4-7-8 Breathing: Slow, deep breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate and reducing anxiety.
  • 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise: Mindfulness calls us into the present moment, and away from our intrusive thoughts. This exercise challenges us to notice and acknowledge our environment by naming 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste.
  • Body Scan: Lie comfortably and bring awareness to each part of your body, noticing sensations without judgment.
  • Yoga: Yoga invites us to pay attention to our thoughts, movement, and most importantly, breath. Yoga’s unique combination of philosophy, exercise, and mindfulness can have a profound effect in treating anxiety, depression, and trauma, because it helps regulate the nervous system.

When to Seek a Therapist for Nervous System-Based Depression Treatment

Your body often signals the need for support long before your mind does. If you’re experiencing ongoing symptoms that don’t resolve with rest or willpower alone, it may be time to seek therapy that addresses the nervous system.

Common signs include:

• Your pre-existing health conditions are worsening or flaring more frequently
• Persistent sleep issues such as insomnia, oversleeping, chronic fatigue, or feeling unrested
• A noticeable loss of pleasure or interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Digestive symptoms like acid reflux, appetite changes, or unexplained weight shifts

Healing Your Nervous System Through Self-Love: A Therapist’s Perspective

“Many of us spent decades looking outward for love, validation, and security. One of the simplest yet unsexy forms of self-care is to turn our focus inward to regain our freedom in a world that feels increasingly uncertain. Learning how our nervous systems work, how to live with them, and how to remain steady when life feels otherwise out of control can be our greatest path to freedom.  Gaining tools to work with the muscles in our bodies, breath, vision, movement practices that release trauma, and learning about our nervous system’s natural swings are great places to start. Gaining space to choose our responses rather than automatic reactions can be one of the greatest gifts we can bestow upon ourselves. It all starts with nervous system regulation.” — Lauren Mishkin, LMHC. 

Lauren Mishkin is a somatic trauma therapist in St. Petersburg, which means she specializes in healing the psychological wounds that live in our physical bodies. With Lauren, whether you’re getting depression treatment, grief counseling, or ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, she can help you let go of the long-held baggage that’s causing your somatic symptoms.

Finding a St. Petersburg Therapist Who Supports Self-Love and Healing

If you’re considering therapy in 2026, you may be looking for mental health care that helps you feel more grounded, supported, and emotionally balance that doesn’t create additional stress around cost or access. For many people seeking depression treatment or anxiety treatment, the process of finding a therapist can feel overwhelming. Between changing insurance policies, limited availability of therapists, and the vulnerability that comes with starting counseling, it’s easy to feel discouraged before therapy even begins. 

The good news is that effective, accessible therapy in St. Petersburg is possible, and support exists to help you navigate your options.

At Integrative Counsel, we believe that depression relief and anxiety treatment should be sustainable, compassionate, and aligned with your real life. When you schedule an intake appointment, we take the time to understand your goals, preferences, and what you’re hoping to gain from counseling. 

We work to match you with a therapist or counselor who is equipped to support your mental health while also respecting your financial needs. This may include using your insurance benefits, exploring sliding-scale counseling options, providing superbills for out-of-network reimbursement, or helping you connect with a trusted St. Petersburg therapist outside our practice if that’s the best fit. Our focus is on access—clear, supportive guidance toward therapy that strengthens both your emotional well-being and daily stability.

Therapists Who Accept Aetna Insurance

If you have Aetna insurance, you may be eligible for therapy services in St. Petersburg through our practice. Our therapists provide evidence-based counseling for depression relief and anxiety treatment, helping you build emotional resilience, nervous system balance, and long-term mental health support.

Therapists Who Accept Cigna Insurance

Finding a Cigna therapist in St. Petersburg doesn’t have to be stressful. We’ll help you connect with a therapist who accepts your insurance and offers thoughtful counseling for anxiety and depression, supporting healthier relationships, emotional regulation, and overall well-being.

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 both your life and your insurance plan. Our goal is to match you with a qualified therapist or counselor who supports meaningful depression treatment and anxiety treatment, helping you feel more grounded, supported, and emotionally balanced.

Finding A Trauma Therapist In St. Petersburg, FL.

“When we gain simple strategies for walking through life’s fire without fearing our reactions, we attain true sovereignty. Only once we can remain steady, unshaken, unmoveable by the stormy seasons of life, can we step into our authentic power. Nervous system regulation allows us to unapologetically own our truth, our worth, and our voice, regardless of the atmosphere. Learning skills to somatically regulate our nervous systems is the ultimate expression of self-love.” — Lauren Mishkin, LMHC.

If traditional talk therapy hasn’t worked for you, working with a therapist on our team might help. We value creative, out-of-the-box solutions that are backed in science and research. Because trauma gets stored in the part of the brain that is unable to process verbally, we use somatic therapy to help you get in touch with your body’s wisdom and regulate your nervous system so you can move through trauma without getting stuck or re-traumatized. 

Click here to fill out our form and schedule an initial 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.