Anxiety Therapy in Santa Monica
Somatic therapy for adults who look calm on the outside and feel wound tight underneath. In person in Santa Monica and online across California.
When the Mind Won't Quiet
You're managing. That's what you do. But underneath the competence, there's a hum that won't stop: the racing thoughts at 3am, the tightness in your chest, the way small decisions start to feel high-stakes.
You might have tried therapy before. Maybe it helped you understand where this comes from. But understanding hasn't made it stop.
That's because anxiety doesn't live only in the mind. It lives in the body, in patterns that formed long before you had language for them. Insight alone can't reach what's held there.
A Different Approach To
Anxiety Therapy
This work is slower and quieter than what you may be used to. We're not rushing toward breakthroughs or loading you up with coping strategies. We're helping your body learn that it's safe to rest.
I'm trained in Somatic Experiencing, a body-based approach developed by Peter Levine over four decades of clinical research. I completed the full three-year certificate program and continue to study with Dr. Levine. That depth of training matters when we're working with patterns this entrenched.
In session, we talk. We also pay attention to what's happening beneath the words: the tension you're feeling, the breath you didn't notice you were holding, the moment something shifts. With practice, you learn to catch the activation earlier and let it discharge before it spirals.
Why Somatic Therapy for Anxiety?
Anxiety isn't just worried thoughts. It's a body locked on alert.
You might notice it as tightness in your chest, shallow breathing, a jaw that won't unclench, or a low hum of dread that doesn't match anything happening in the moment. These aren't signs that something is wrong with you. They're signs your body adapted, somewhere along the way, to staying vigilant.
Talk therapy can help you understand this. Somatic therapy helps your body unlearn it. We work directly with the signals underneath, building your capacity to settle even when old patterns get triggered. Over time, the window of what you can handle widens, and the baseline shifts from braced to steady.
Where This Pattern Comes From
Anxiety often has roots in early relationships. As children, some of us learned that staying vigilant kept us safe. Maybe a parent was unpredictable, emotionally volatile, or checked out. Maybe the emotional temperature in the house changed without warning. Your nervous system adapted by staying on alert, scanning for threat, working overtime to manage what felt unmanageable.
That vigilance served you then. It kept you attuned to shifts in mood, helped you anticipate needs, taught you to be hyperresponsive. You probably became very good at reading rooms, managing other people's emotions, staying one step ahead.
But the alarm never turned off. What was adaptive in childhood became the baseline in adulthood. Even when nothing is actively wrong, your body still braces for impact. The hypervigilance that once protected you now exhausts you.
This is what attachment researchers call a hyperactivating strategy. The system learned that the only way to stay safe was to stay activated. Calm felt dangerous. Letting your guard down meant missing something critical.
Somatic therapy works directly with this pattern. We're not trying to think our way out of it or override it with willpower. We're teaching your nervous system, gradually and safely, that it can rest. That there's room to breathe without threat. That calm doesn't mean danger is coming.
What Changes
Clients often describe it as “having more room.” The thoughts still come, but they don't take over. Sleep gets easier. Conversations feel less loaded. Decisions don't carry the same weight.
The steadiness starts to hold outside the therapy room, in the moments that used to throw you.
You might notice it first in small ways. A difficult conversation doesn't send your heart racing. You can sit through a meeting without your jaw clenched. The Sunday night dread starts to ease. When something does trigger the old pattern, you catch it sooner and have tools to work with it instead of white-knuckling through.
This isn't about never feeling anxious again. It's about building enough capacity that anxiety doesn't run your life. The system learns it can handle more, come down faster, and return to baseline without the same level of effort.
What Makes This Work Different
This isn't exposure therapy, where we're flooding your system to desensitize it. It's not cognitive work, where we're challenging anxious thoughts. We're working at the level where the anxiety lives: in the nervous system itself.
The work is precise. We track what happens when activation starts to build. We notice the moment before the spiral begins. And we practice letting it discharge right there, in that moment, building your capacity to stay present instead of launching into fight or flight.
Over time, your window of tolerance widens. What used to send you into overwhelm becomes manageable. The baseline shifts from braced to grounded. And that steadiness starts to inform everything: how you show up in relationships, how you make decisions, how you move through your day.
This is depth work. It takes time. But the changes hold.
Who This Work Helps
This work tends to resonate with adults who appear calm and capable on the surface while managing a constant inner hum of tension. Often they've built successful careers and relationships, but at a cost they're only starting to name.
Sometimes it's a specific moment that brings them in: a health scare, a relationship under strain, a professional success that felt hollow. Sometimes it's just the quiet recognition that they've been white-knuckling for a long time.
What the Research Shows
Here's what's encouraging: your early experiences shaped you, but they don't have to define you. Attachment researchers have found that people who learned to stay hypervigilant in childhood can develop what they call "earned security" through new relationships. Therapy, at its best, is one of those relationships.
This isn't about techniques or insights, though those matter. It's about what happens when someone consistently pays attention to what's actually going on underneath your carefully managed surface. Over time, your nervous system learns a different possibility.
Questions You Might Have
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No. We build steadiness first. You choose what to share and when.
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You'll leave with practical tools, and we'll also address the patterns underneath. The aim is change that lasts, not strategies that fade when life gets busy.
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Many clients notice early signs within weeks: easier sleep, fewer spikes, a calmer conversation. We keep the work focused so improvements build over time.
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Talk therapy often focuses on thoughts and insights. Somatic therapy includes the body's role in anxiety, helping your nervous system settle so that change isn't just intellectual but something you carry into daily life.
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No. The goal isn't to dampen your motivation. Many clients find that when their nervous system is steadier, they perform better and enjoy their lives more.
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Timelines vary by person and goals. Most of my clients work with me for one to three years, and some stay longer. This work isn't quick, but it's meant to last.
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No. Many clients come with what might look like "manageable" anxiety from the outside. They're functioning, even thriving professionally, but the internal cost is high. You don't need a crisis to benefit from this work.
Location & Access
In person in Santa Monica and online for California residents.
Address
720 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 204
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Contact
Phone: (310) 377-8798
Ready to Begin?
If something here resonates, I'd be glad to hear from you.