Somatic Therapy: a great NYC Anxiety Treatment
Somatic therapy is a wonderful treatment for dealing with anxiety, stress, trauma, and more. Using the body, somatic therapy allows you to listen to the wisdom and messages your body sends you rather than fight against them.
Through nervous system regulation, somatic therapy techniques, and tools to calm anxiety, you’ll be able to calm your anxiety and navigate the somatic symptoms that come with those feelings.
What are somatic therapy techniques?
Somatic therapy techniques vary from practitioner to practitioner. At our practice, Third Nature Therapy, a somatic therapy practice based out of Brooklyn, NY, we use Polyvagal Theory as the foundation of our somatic therapy work.
Polyvagal theory is based on the wisdom of the vagus nerve.
As humans, our biology is all similar.
We’re all wired to respond in similar ways. Our reactions are often normal responses.
Yet, our society is so far removed from ways that support our nervous systems that when we respond with normal stress responses, usually coming from our bodies to our brains, we are made to believe that something is wrong with us instead of trusting the wisdom that is coming through.
Your vagus nerve controls your brain and body connection.
Quite literally, it controls everything you do. It runs from the back of your brain stem down through the middle of your chest towards your belly.
It’s the brain-gut connection.
Your vagus nerve controls the pace of your breathing, heart rate, digestive system, and intestines.
It controls your ability to connect with the world and take in information.
Working with a trained trauma therapist allows you to understand the messages your vagus nerve is telling you and begin to learn how to manage somatic anxiety instead of pushing it away.
What does somatic therapy mean?
[somatic] adj: of, relating to, or affecting the the bodyAs the famous book title so eloquently states, The Body Keeps the Score.
Our bodies, or soma, store the messages of our past. We are wired to respond to threats from our past to stay safe in the present.
Somatic therapy helps send messages to both your body and brain that you are safe and okay in the present so you can heal from the past.
Oftentimes, the feelings of anxiety that our body experiences are from triggers in our past.
By working with a somatic therapist, you will learn how to listen to these cues from your body and calm your anxiety in the present.
How does somatic therapy work as treatment for anxiety and stress?
By working with a trained trauma therapist, you will gain practical tools to help calm your somatic anxiety.
Listen to your body
You’ll learn about the different states of your nervous system and how to calm your somatic symptoms of anxiety.
Gain practical, self-soothing tools
You’ll learn practical tools to help soothe your anxiety, like:
Placing a hand on your heart to help calm down.
Square breathing to give your anxious mind something to do.
Focusing on the exhalation to relax (the inhalation is an activating breath, and the exhale relaxes).
Can somatic therapy be done online?
Somatic therapy can be done both online and in person. We offer somatic therapy sessions in person in Brooklyn and remote sessions for anyone in New York City, or the state of New York.
Somatic therapy sessions are similar both online and in person.
In person, you might use tools in the therapy office to help soothe your nervous system.
Online, you might use tools in your home.
Both have equal values.
As long as you are in a safe, comfortable, and private space, somatic therapy can be done online.
Somatic Therapy Exercises for Anxiety & Stress
Helpful and free somatic NYC anxiety treatments:Box breathing
Square breathing is a great tool to use if you need a quick way to quiet your mind and calm your anxiety. You're essentially making a square with your breath, inhaling, exhaling, and holding your breath for an equal amount of time.
It gives your mind something to focus on AND quickly soothes your nervous system.
Here’s what to do:
Inhale at a steady pace for 4 seconds
Hold your breath in for 4 seconds
Exhale at a steady pace for 4 seconds
Hold your breath in for 4 seconds
And repeat…
If you forget the breath count, visualize making a SQUARE with your breath, making the length of your inhales, exhales, and holds the same.
You can practice this anywhere, anytime. Doing this cycle 2-3 times is enough to soothe your nervous system and give you a quick reset.
Practice this breathing pattern for as long as you need.
Focus on your exhalation
When feeling anxious, our mind can play a trick on us, thinking we need to take a full breath in, rather than focusing on the calming breath of the exhale.
If you are feeling anxious, focus on your exhalation.
The inhalation activates your sympathetic nervous system, the same system that makes you feel anxious.
The exhalation activates your parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that helps calm anxiety in your body.
If all else fails and you forget what to do when feeling anxious, focus on the exhale.
Use your senses
While it might not seem like an obvious somatic exercise, connecting with your senses is a great way to calm anxiety.
Your senses live in the body.
Yes, touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste—different body parts activate these—are all somatic tools to calm anxiety.
Utilize them to help bring your mind and body into the present moment of safety and out of anxiety.
Remind yourself that your ability to connect with your senses is a sign that you are, in fact, safe and okay. If there was a threat (i.e. a tiger or a fire), you would not be able to pause and connect with your senses.
Somatic Approaches to Anxiety
If you’re looking for a holistic approach to anxiety, we offer somatic therapy in NYC for anyone in the state of New York and in-person in Brooklyn, NY.
Somatic therapy is a great way to gain control of your life, your nervous system and start listening to the wisdom of your body.
Book a call with a somatic therapist in Brooklyn, NY, today, or access our free somatic therapy dashboard, loaded with tools to help calm your anxiety.
Meet our somatic therapists in NYC
Michelle Pinel, MHC-LP
I offer individual and couples therapy for adults moving through anxiety, OCD, trauma, relationship strain, life transitions, and the emotional weight of chronic health conditions—especially GI-related illness. My core specialty lies right at the intersection of mind and body.
Living with chronic, unpredictable symptoms takes a heavy toll on your nervous system, your identity, and your connections with others. My aim is to help you feel grounded, resourced, and genuinely empowered. Together, we’ll explore how stress, trauma, and bodily symptoms interact—without ever minimizing or oversimplifying your medical reality. We honor what your body is experiencing while gently supporting the nervous system through the pain, fear, and uncertainty that often accompany it.
Jenn Henry, LMHC
I come to this work from a multidisciplinary background in the arts and neuroscience. That blend of creative intuition and scientific curiosity guides how I help clients repair and deepen the bond between mind and body. This work is also deeply personal to me. Having navigated my own trauma therapy, I know firsthand what it requires to walk this path—and how vital it is to have an empathetic, steady guide beside you.
In our sessions, we weave together relational, psychodynamic, and experiential modalities. While psychodynamic exploration helps us understand how past survival strategies formed, experiential tools like IFS (Internal Family Systems) and EMDR invite somatic resolution—engaging your body’s natural capacity to release and heal.
I have a particular passion for supporting LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent individuals, fellow creatives, and adults healing from complex trauma (C-PTSD). To help therapy fit sustainably into your life, I offer flexible scheduling, including evening hours.
Jenna Burr, LCSW
My path to this work grew out of my own healing journey and a deep reverence for human connection—values that have anchored my practice for over ten years.
I believe deeply that healing takes place in relationship. Though we are often hurt in connection with others, it is through safe, trustworthy bonds that we rebuild and return to wholeness. My approach blends somatic awareness, mindfulness, and heart-centered guidance to help you reconnect with your authentic self.
As a certified Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) provider, I love bridging modern science with time-tested wisdom. Within a grounded and supportive container, ketamine can serve as a powerful catalyst—helping you gently move through stuck patterns, uncover profound insights, and experience lasting shifts.
Together, we’ll explore how past experiences continue to live in your body and shape your relationships today. We don’t ask “What is wrong with you?” Instead, we lead with compassion and curiosity, honoring the innate wisdom your body already holds. My role is simply to walk beside you as you reclaim it.
Adriana Ricci, LMHC
I belief that life’s challenges create new opportunities, My role is to partner with you to uncover your natural resilience, clear the roadblocks in front of you, and chart a purposeful path forward.
A secure, trusting therapeutic alliance is at the heart of lasting change. As a collaborative, compassionate, and results-oriented therapist, I support adults navigating pivotal life transitions, relationship challenges, and trauma recovery.
Having transitioned to mental health counseling after a successful corporate career, I bring a pragmatic understanding of high-pressure environments alongside deep clinical training. My lived and professional experience makes me uniquely equipped to support high-achieving professionals, ambitious young adults, and individuals navigating complex, multicultural identities.
To honor your distinct story, I tailor an integrative framework combining Psychodynamic insight, Cognitive Behavioral strategies, Relational depth, Mindfulness, and EMDR—ensuring our work is as actionable as it is deeply restorative.
Julie Goldberg, MA, LMHC-D
Hopelessness, grief, loneliness, and depression are not signs that you are broken; they are natural, human responses to an abnormal world.
Guided by a personal spiritual path that began in my teens, I look at healing through both an individual and collective lens—believing that as we heal our own personal and ancestral wounds, we ripple that healing outward. My practice bridges Eastern wisdom traditions with Western clinical frameworks, blending evidence-based psychotherapy, somatic coaching, and spiritual depth.
Together, we work to help you befriend your nervous system rather than fight it, cultivate deeper self-trust, and navigate shifting relationship dynamics. To support this work, I bring specialized training as a licensed EMDR therapist and provider of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and psychedelic integration.
Grounded by my daily yoga and mindfulness practices, I move comfortably between conventional spaces and “woo-woo” worlds. You don’t have to edit or filter who you are here—every part of your experience is welcome.
More notes on somatic therapy:
Julie Goldberg is a licensed therapist and the founder of Third Nature Therapy. Her practice focuses on helping individuals better understand their inner world, befriend their nervous system (instead of working against it), and navigate changing relationships. She offers somatic therapy, EMDR intensives, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Brooklyn, NY.