So many people growing up or living in Utah learn early that strength means composure. That being steady, grateful, or “put together” is the safest way to belong. That family expectations, spiritual expectations, achievement, and emotional restraint are simply part of being a good person.
But your nervous system remembers everything your mind tried to manage alone.
It remembers the moments you pushed down fear because there wasn’t room for it. The pressure to be pleasant, capable, spiritual, high-performing, or endlessly available. The way you learned to override your limits because pausing felt like letting someone down.
It remembers the exhaustion.
The hypervigilance.
The perfectionism.
The shutdown.
The loneliness that came from being praised for your strength while silently needing support.
And it remembers that small, steady ache in your chest — the “I can’t keep living like this” you may not have said out loud.
Somatic therapy offers a different path. Instead of trying to think your way toward relief, we slow down and listen to your body with curiosity rather than judgment. We explore what your system has been carrying — stress, trauma, emotional suppression, spiritual pain, relational strain, or the long-term effects of managing too much for too long.
This work is not about reliving old wounds. It’s about helping your body finally exhale.
Together, we unwind survival patterns like:
People-pleasing or conflict avoidance
Perfectionism and self-criticism
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Hyper-responsibility and burnout
Effects of religious trauma or spiritual pressure
Freeze responses or dissociation
For many of my LDS, post-LDS, and spiritually diverse Utah clients, this work becomes a way back to themselves — slowly, steadily, and without pressure. A place where you don’t have to be impressive, agreeable, productive, or spiritually certain. A place where your body gets to soften after years of being on guard.
Relief doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. The body wants to heal. It wants room to breathe, feel, rest, and reconnect with the parts of you that have been waiting for attention.
If you’re tired of carrying everything alone, or your body is telling you it’s time for support, I’m here.
I now offer secure telehealth therapy for clients throughout Utah.
When you’re ready, we can begin wherever you are — gently, respectfully, and at your pace.
If you’re interested in relief that’s real and want to learn more about healing support for Utahns and more, we invite you to visit one of our many informative therapy pages here: Trauma & Somatic Therapy For Utah Residents, Trauma Therapy, Religious Trauma & Spiritual Abuse Therapy, CBT Therapy, Self-Reclamation Therapy, IFS Therapy, Somatic Therapy, and more!
If you are ready to step into a new space of hope, we’re here to support you, one gentle step at a time.
When you’ve spent years trying to be strong, composed, or “good,” your nervous system often carries the weight in silence. This blog shares how somatic therapy offers a tender, body-based place to soften, breathe, and come home to yourself—now available to clients across Utah.
Childhood trauma doesn’t disappear just because we grow up. Our nervous system, relationships, and beliefs often carry the imprint of early experiences long into adulthood. In this article, I explore how childhood trauma shapes emotional patterns, attachment, and stress responses—and why your reactions make sense. With evidence-based insights from somatic therapy, attachment science, and neuroscience, you’ll learn how these patterns form and why healing is absolutely possible.
There’s a kind of hope that denies, suppresses, and belittles. And then there’s the hope that grows slowly, tenderly, from the cracks of your real life. This piece is an invitation to let down the first—and discover the second.
Living with pain changes more than your body—it shifts your sense of safety, connection, and even identity. I know because I live it. If you’ve ever felt unseen in your pain, this is for you. 💜
Sometimes we come to therapy thinking the real work will begin when we start talking about “the hard stuff.” But the truth is, for trauma survivors, the real work begins when safety starts to take root.
If the thought of having to relive your trauma in therapy feels overwhelming and scary, you’re not alone—and you have options. Discover gentle, proven approaches that can help you heal without forcing you to tell your story in painful detail or re-experience what hurt you.
