How Somatic Therapy Helps With Anxiety You Can’t Explain

You’re not sure why your heart races in quiet moments, or why you can’t sleep even when there’s nothing urgent on your mind. You might feel tension in your chest, a knot in your stomach, or sudden waves of panic that seem to come from nowhere. When someone asks, "What’s wrong?" you have no clear answer.

This is the kind of anxiety that doesn’t always come with a story. And it’s more common than most people think. At Scarlett’s Solutions, we often work with clients who say, "I feel anxious all the time, but I don’t know why."

For this kind of anxiety, traditional talk therapy can help, but sometimes it doesn’t go deep enough. That’s where somatic therapy comes in.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to mental health that focuses on the connection between the mind and body. It’s rooted in the understanding that trauma, stress, and emotional experiences are not just stored in our thoughts but also in our nervous system and physical body.

Somatic therapists work with both the verbal and non-verbal parts of experience. That means tuning into bodily sensations, breath, posture, and movement patterns to help release stuck energy and regulate the nervous system.

Why Anxiety Can Be Stored in the Body

Anxiety isn’t just a mental process. It’s a physiological response. Your brain’s job is to keep you safe, and when it senses danger (even if it’s emotional or historical), your body reacts.

For example:

• You may clench your jaw or fists without realizing it

• You may hold your breath or experience shallow breathing

• Your stomach might churn or tighten

• Your chest might feel heavy or your throat might feel blocked
  

These responses are your body’s way of saying, "Something doesn’t feel right." But when that tension isn’t released, it can turn into chronic, unexplainable anxiety.

When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough

Many clients at Scarlett’s Solutions come to us saying they’ve tried therapy before and understood their issues on an intellectual level, but still felt anxious.

That’s because some anxiety is pre-verbal or somatic in nature. It may come from:

• Early childhood experiences you don’t consciously remember

• Intergenerational trauma passed down through family systems

• Cultural or systemic stress that you’ve learned to tolerate but never processed

• Accumulated stress in high-pressure environments
  

Somatic therapy helps address what the mind can’t access on its own.

How Somatic Therapy Works

Somatic therapy sessions are gentle and guided. You don’t have to "do" anything dramatic. A trained therapist may invite you to:

• Notice and describe sensations in your body

• Explore how certain thoughts create physical tension

• Track where anxiety "lives" in your body

• Use grounding techniques like breathwork, slow movement, or visualization

• Release stuck energy through subtle movement or expressive work
  

The goal is not to avoid anxiety, but to understand its patterns and build the capacity to be with it without being overwhelmed.

Benefits of Somatic Therapy for Anxiety

Clients often report:

• Feeling calmer without needing to explain why

• Less physical tension and better sleep

• Greater awareness of their emotional triggers

• Improved boundaries and emotional resilience

• More ease in relationships and daily life
  

For many, somatic therapy helps bridge the gap between knowing they’re anxious and understanding what to do with it.

Who Can Benefit from Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy can be especially helpful for:

• First-generation clients navigating cross-cultural stress

• Adults with high-functioning anxiety or perfectionism

• People who "shut down" instead of reacting emotionally

• Trauma survivors who feel numb or hyper-aware

• Clients who’ve tried talk therapy but still feel stuck
  

At Scarlett’s Solutions, we integrate somatic work with trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care. That means we’re attuned to how cultural identity, language, and history shape your emotional and physical experience.

How Somatic Therapy Is Different From Other Modalities

While traditional therapy focuses on thoughts and behaviors, somatic therapy focuses on:

• The nervous system’s regulation

• Releasing physical symptoms of stress

• Building mind-body awareness
  

We often combine somatic work with:

• Individual Therapy

• Art Therapy

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
  

This integrative approach allows for deeper healing especially when anxiety seems to have no clear cause.

What a Session Might Look Like

Each session is tailored to you. A somatic therapy session may include:

• A short check-in to name how you’re feeling

• Guided breathwork or grounding to connect to the body

• Exploration of physical sensations linked to emotions

• Slow, intentional movement to release built-up tension

• Mindful reflection on what you notice
  

You don’t need to be “good at” mindfulness or have any prior experience. Your body already knows how to heal we just help you listen to it.

Why Choose Scarlett’s Solutions

We offer somatic therapy as part of our commitment to whole-person healing. Our team includes:

• Culturally attuned, trauma-informed therapists

• Specialists in anxiety, burnout, and trauma

• Therapists who speak Mandarin, Spanish, and Russian

• Online and in-person sessions in Chicago and Northfield
  

We know that anxiety doesn’t always come with a clear cause and that healing doesn’t have to come with perfect words.

Final Thoughts

If you’re living with anxiety that you can’t explain, it doesn’t mean it’s not real. Your body might be carrying experiences your mind can’t name. Somatic therapy can help you release, reconnect, and finally feel safe in your own skin.