The Science of Presence: How Your Energy Speaks Before You Do
The Science of Presence: How Your Energy Speaks Before You Do
Your body broadcasts emotion, energy, and intention before you ever say a word. Learn how the heart’s electromagnetic field, nervous system regulation, and somatic awareness impact your relationships, communication, and emotional well-being.
Did you know your heart emits an electromagnetic field up to three feet outside your body?
That’s not a metaphor; it’s measurable. Research from the HeartMath Institute has shown that the heart produces the strongest rhythmic electromagnetic field in the body. And this field is not only real; it shifts and responds based on your emotional state.
This means that even before you speak, your presence is already communicating.
Your energy precedes your words.
Your body is telling a story long before you open your mouth.
You Are Always Communicating, Even in Silence
So often, we think communication starts with words. But in reality, it begins in the nervous system.
When you’re calm and grounded, your body signals safety to others. When you’re anxious, guarded, or overwhelmed, your heart rate, posture, facial expressions, and even your subtle energy field broadcast those cues outward, whether you’re conscious of it or not. This is called neuroception, your body’s ability to detect safety or danger without conscious awareness (Porges, 2011). It’s how we pick up on “vibes,” even when nothing explicit is being said.
The Body as a Field of Wisdom
Your body is more than just flesh and bones. It is a living, breathing broadcast of emotion, energy, and intention. When you walk into a room, your nervous system is already engaging with others. Your presence becomes a form of communication.
When you feel regulated, aligned, and authentic, you naturally emanate calm and clarity.
When you’re dysregulated, fragmented, or disconnected from your truth, that too is felt.
In somatic therapy, we teach clients how to listen to these signals, not just in others, but in themselves. Because embodiment is the first step to congruent communication. When you know what you’re feeling and can stay with it, you can offer your presence without distortion.
Regulating Your Nervous System to Shift Your Energy Field
Want to change how others experience your presence? Start by regulating your nervous system. Here’s how:
1. Breathe Coherently
Slow, rhythmic breathing (like inhaling for 4 counts, exhaling for 6) balances the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system (McCraty & Zayas, 2014).
2. Ground Through the Senses
Feel your feet on the floor. Notice the sounds around you. Sensory awareness anchors you in the present moment, which translates to a more grounded presence.
3. Feel Without Judgment
Allow emotional sensations in the body to arise and move without immediately fixing or suppressing them. This builds emotional tolerance and coherence.
4. Practice Somatic Awareness
Learn the language of your body. Notice posture, breath,and micro-movements. These subtle shifts shape how you show up.
Your Presence Is Power
If you’ve been doubting your impact…
If you’ve been feeling invisible or unsure whether your voice matters…
Let this be your reminder:
You are already communicating.
Your nervous system is a tuning fork.
Your heart is a transmitter.
Even your silence is speaking.
You don’t have to “do” more to matter.
You already are.
Ready to Embody the Power of Your Presence?
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we help you reconnect with your authentic self by healing trauma, regulating your nervous system, and learning to trust your body’s wisdom. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, relationship struggles, or emotional burnout, our somatic, neuroscience-informed approach supports deep, lasting transformation.
Contact us today to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated somatic practitioners, trauma specialists, or relationship experts, and begin your journey toward embodied connection, clarity, and confidence.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummi
References:
HeartMath Institute. (n.d.). Science of the Heart: Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance. McCraty, R., & Zayas, M. A. (2014). Cardiac coherence, self-regulation, autonomic stability, and psychosocial well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1090.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W.W. Norton & Company.
What Your Nervous System Wants You to Know: Applying Polyvagal Theory to Everyday Life
What Your Nervous System Wants You to Know: Applying Polyvagal Theory to Everyday Life
Feeling stuck in a constant state of anxiety, shutdown, or reactivity? Learn how Polyvagal Theory explains your nervous system's response to stress and discover how somatic therapy at Embodied Wellness and Recovery can help you regulate, reconnect, and heal.
Polyvagal Theory in Everyday Life: What Your Nervous System Is Trying to Tell You
Have you ever wondered why you feel chronically on edge, emotionally shut down, or easily overwhelmed in seemingly normal situations? Why certain conversations leave you breathless, your heart racing, or your stomach in knots? These aren’t random reactions; they’re your nervous system sending vital messages about safety, threat, and survival. Thanks to Polyvagal Theory, we now have a roadmap for understanding them.
What Is Polyvagal Theory?
Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory explains how the vagus nerve, a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system, influences our emotional and physiological states. Rather than viewing the nervous system as binary (fight-or-flight vs. rest-and-digest), Polyvagal Theory introduces a third state: dorsal vagal shutdown, a freeze-like state of collapse.
The three primary nervous system states are:
1. Sympathetic Activation (Fight or Flight): Anxiety, agitation, anger, racing thoughts
2. Dorsal Vagal Shutdown (Freeze): Numbness, disconnection, fatigue, depression
3. Ventral Vagal State (Safety and Connection): Calm, presence, attunement, engagement
Understanding which state you're in can illuminate not only your emotional experience but also the health of your relationships, sexuality, and ability to feel connected to yourself and others.
Are You Stuck in Survival Mode?
If you live with trauma, chronic stress, or unresolved attachment wounds, your nervous system may default to high-alert patterns. This is especially true for individuals with complex trauma histories or those who feel stuck in sympathetic nervous system arousal:
How Polyvagal Theory Applies to Intimacy and Sexuality
If you've ever felt like your body "shuts down" during sex, or if conflict with your partner sends you spiraling, Polyvagal Theory can help make sense of it. Safety and connection are prerequisites for desire and vulnerability. If your nervous system is in a defensive state, it will prioritize survival over pleasure.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we specialize in working with individuals and couples to restore nervous system safety in the context of intimacy. Whether you’re navigating sexual trauma, low desire, or disconnection in your relationship, we approach the healing process with compassion, neuroscience, and somatic tools.
Signs You May Benefit from Nervous System-Informed Therapy
— Difficulty setting boundaries without guilt or fear
— Feeling chronically overwhelmed or easily triggered
— Shutdown, avoidance, or numbness during intimacy
— A tendency to people-please or over-function in relationships
These aren’t personality flaws. They’re adaptive survival strategies rooted in nervous system dysregulation. With the right support, they can shift.
Listening to What Your Body Has Been Trying to Say
Your nervous system is not the enemy; it’s an innately wise, protective system shaped by your history. But you don’t have to stay stuck in the same loops. Through somatic therapy, polyvagal education, and compassionate support, it is possible to build a felt sense of safety, foster intimacy, and feel at home in your own body.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we offer trauma-informed, nervous system-focused therapy that supports deep, sustainable healing. Whether you're seeking help with anxiety, intimacy, or trauma recovery, our team is here to guide you toward regulation, connection, and embodied wholeness.
Reach out to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated therapists and take the next step toward a more regulated nervous system today.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit
References:
Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York: Viking.
Embodied Healing: How Yoga and Movement Deepen Somatic Therapy
Embodied Healing: How Yoga and Movement Deepen Somatic Therapy
Experiencing symptoms of trauma or nervous system dysregulation? Discover how integrating yoga and movement into somatic therapy can support emotional regulation, embodiment, and healing at the root level.
When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough
Have you ever felt like you’ve intellectually processed your trauma, but your body still carries it? Do you find yourself easily overwhelmed, shutting down in conflict, or chronically exhausted despite doing "the work"?
That’s because trauma isn’t just a memory—it’s a physiological imprint. The nervous system remembers. And true healing often requires more than talking.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we help clients address trauma, addiction, intimacy issues, and nervous system dysregulation through an integrative, body-based lens. One of our most powerful tools? Incorporating yoga and movement into somatic therapy.
Why the Body Needs to Move to Heal
Unresolved trauma disrupts the body’s natural regulation system. It can keep the nervous system stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. This results in:
– Chronic anxiety or emotional reactivity
– Numbness or disconnection from the body
– Digestive and immune system issues
– Difficulty feeling safe in relationships
Research in neuroscience and somatics shows that movement helps process and release trauma stored in the body’s tissues and nervous system.
Movement creates new patterns. It teaches the body that safety, presence, and connection are possible.
The Role of Yoga in Somatic Therapy
Yoga is more than stretching or mindfulness. When offered in a trauma-informed way, it becomes a gateway to embodied awareness and emotional regulation.
Trauma-Informed Yoga Supports:
– Interoception (awareness of internal body sensations)
– Vagal tone (the strength of the vagus nerve, which regulates stress)
– Self-regulation through breath, posture, and presence
– Safe exploration of boundaries and agency
Yoga postures help release stored tension, while breathwork and mindful attention calm the limbic system and increase activity in the prefrontal cortex—the brain’s center for regulation and decision-making (Van der Kolk, 2014).
Types of Movement That Support Somatic Healing
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we use multiple movement-based modalities to support nervous system health:
1. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
– Focuses on choice, invitational language, and body autonomy
– Encourages slow, grounding movements to restore safety and presence
2. Somatic Movement
– Gentle, intentional movements that help discharge stored trauma responses
– Used to support stuck patterns in the body or soothe hyperarousal
3. Dance and Free Movement
– Helps express and release emotions nonverbally
– Facilitates access to joy, vitality, and empowerment
4. Breath-Informed Movement
– Syncing breath with movement activates the parasympathetic nervous system
– Reduces anxiety, lowers heart rate, and deepens body-mind connection
Common Questions We Hear:
“Why do I feel like crying after yoga?”
Movement accesses parts of the nervous system that words often can’t reach. As tension releases, emotions that were held in the body may surface.
“Is this just another fitness trend?”
No. Trauma-informed yoga and somatic movement are clinically backed, neuroscience-informed practices used in therapeutic settings worldwide (Porges, 2011).
“What if I feel numb or disconnected from my body?”
That’s exactly where somatic movement can help—by gently rebuilding the bridge between sensation and self.
What Healing Through Movement Can Look Like
– Feeling safer in your own skin
– Responding to triggers with curiosity instead of reactivity
– Reclaiming access to pleasure, play, and full expression
– Regaining trust in your body’s cues
– Cultivating resilience from the inside out
Healing doesn’t just happen in your head. It happens in your breath. Your posture. The way you move through space.
When the body is invited into therapy, the whole system begins to shift.
Why We Integrate Movement at Embodied Wellness and Recovery
We believe the body is not just the site of trauma; it’s also the site of healing. Our team combines somatic therapy, EMDR, yoga therapy, and psychoeducation to support our clients in:
– Regulating their nervous systems
– Releasing stored trauma
– Restoring connection to self and others
– Rebuilding intimacy from a place of safety
Whether you’re working through trauma, intimacy issues, anxiety, or addiction, movement can be a profound ally on the path to healing.
You Deserve to Feel at Home in Your Body
Your symptoms are not signs of weakness. They are messages from a body that has been trying to keep you safe. With gentle movement, breath, and support, your system can learn something new.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we’re here to support you on your path to recovery—one breath, one movement, one moment of awareness at a time. Reach out today to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated somatic practitioners, trauma specialists, recovery coaches, or relationship experts.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit
References:
Emerson, D., & Hopper, E. (2011). Overcoming Trauma through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body. North Atlantic Books.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
How to Regulate Your Nervous System During Political Uncertainty
How to Regulate Your Nervous System During Political Uncertainty
Feeling overwhelmed by fear, frustration, and political uncertainty? Discover neuroscience-informed strategies to regulate anger and anxiety in today’s tense political climate with support from trauma-informed experts at Embodied Wellness and Recovery.
Finding Calm in Chaos: Strategies for Managing Anger and Anxiety in the Current Political Climate
When the World Feels Unsafe
Are you having trouble sleeping at night or concentrating during the day? Do you notice your shoulders tense every time the news comes o, or your heart racing when you scroll through social media? You're not alone. In times of political upheaval, government transitions, and economic instability, anger, anxiety, and fear are natural nervous system responses.
And yet, when these responses go unregulated, they can lead to chronic stress, strained relationships, and a sense of helplessness.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we hear it every day: "I want to stay informed, but I'm exhausted." "I feel unsafe in my own country." "I'm furious and don’t know where to put that energy."
So, how do we stay engaged without becoming dysregulated? How do we navigate political anxiety without losing our sense of peace?
Let’s explore some compassionate, neuroscience-informed strategies to help you feel more grounded, empowered, and emotionally resilient.
The Neuroscience of Political Anxiety
When we perceive a threat, even a symbolic or systemic one, like political instability, our brain activates the amygdala, which triggers the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response. This leads to:
– Increased cortisol and adrenaline
– Muscle tension and a racing heart
– Tunnel vision or obsessive thinking
– Sleep disruption and digestive issues
Over time, chronic exposure to real or perceived political stressors can cause nervous system dysregulation, making it harder to stay present, process information, and connect with others.
This is especially true for individuals with a history of trauma or marginalization, where fear isn’t just about policy, but personal safety, identity, and lived experience.
Signs You May Be Politically Dysregulated
– Constant anger or irritability
– Doom-scrolling or obsessively checking the news
– Avoidance or emotional shutdown
– Arguments with loved ones over political views
– Panic attacks or chronic worry about the future
If you relate to any of the above, you’re not broken. You’re human.
Trauma-Informed Strategies to Regulate Anger and Anxiety
1. Limit Media Exposure Without Numbing Out
Set boundaries around when and how you consume news. Choose trusted sources, schedule check-in windows, and avoid doom-scrolling before bed.
Try this: Set a 15-minute timer for daily news intake. Follow it with 5 minutes of breathwork or grounding.
2. Anchor to the Present with Somatic Tools
When your mind races toward worst-case scenarios, bring your body back to the present.
Try this: Place both feet on the ground. Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 6. Feel the chair beneath you. Look around the room and name 5 things you see.
These somatic cues calm the vagus nerve, shifting the body into a more regulated, parasympathetic state.
3. Express Anger Constructively
Anger is often a response to injustice, fear, or grief. Rather than suppressing it or exploding, learn to channel it through movement, creativity, or activism.
Try this: Go for a brisk walk, punch a pillow, write an uncensored journal entry, or join a local advocacy group aligned with your values.
4. Connect with Community
Isolation intensifies fear. Supportive, affirming relationships are one of the most powerful tools for nervous system regulation.
Consider: Joining a trauma-informed group therapy circle, support network, or community healing space where political concerns can be held safely.
5. Name and Validate Your Experience
Soothe your nervous system by naming what you're feeling: "This fear makes sense." "Of course I'm angry."
This activates the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s regulatory center, which soothes the amygdala’s alarm bells.
6. Reconnect with Agency
Anxiety thrives in powerlessness. Reclaim your sense of agency by identifying what is within your control:
– How do you speak to yourself?
– Who do you engage with?
– How do you nourish your body?
– Where do you direct your energy?
You’re Not Alone in This
The emotional toll of today’s political climate is real. It touches our nervous systems, our relationships, our bodies, and our sense of the future.
But healing is within reach. With the proper support, you can move from overwhelm to clarity, from anger to empowerment, and from anxiety to grounded action.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we specialize in:
– EMDR and trauma reprocessing
– Nervous system regulation tools
– Mind-body techniques for sustainable resilience
Whether you're dealing with political anxiety, relationship stress, or chronic dysregulation, we're here to walk with you toward healing and emotional safety. Reach out to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated therapists, somatic practitioners, relationship experts, and trauma specialists to get some relief from obsessive rumination and mental spiraling today.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit
References:
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
Siegel, D. J. (2010). The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. W. W. Norton & Company.
Healing from Love Addiction: How Somatic Therapy Helps You Reconnect with Yourself
Healing from Love Addiction: How Somatic Therapy Helps You Reconnect with Yourself
Struggling with the emotional highs and lows of love addiction? Discover how somatic therapy can help regulate your nervous system, ease love addiction withdrawal, and reconnect you with your sense of self.
Caught in the Storm of Love Addiction?
Do you feel like you're losing yourself in the obsession over someone else? Are you stuck in a cycle of intense longing, euphoric highs, and devastating lows that leave you emotionally drained and disconnected from your core Self?
Many people find themselves in the grip of love addiction, experiencing an overwhelming attachment to a romantic interest that feels all-consuming and uncontrollable. Initially, the emotional rollercoaster may feel intoxicating, but at times it can feel torturous, especially during love addiction withdrawal or the obsessive despair of limerence.
Fortunately, many people struggling with love addiction or relational obsession have found lasting healing, transforming not just their relationship patterns, but their entire lives. While the process isn’t easy, it invites a deep kind of courage—the kind that grows as we learn to stay with what’s uncomfortable and trust that growth is happening beneath the surface.
Each of us carries wounds, and until we have the courage to gently turn toward them, to acknowledge their presence, and offer them compassion, the inner peace we seek will continue to evade us. We will never get to know our authentic selves, the people we are meant to be. The path to healing is not always linear. Yet it’s through this brave, ongoing process of nurturing our tender places that we discover who we truly are and what ultimately gives our lives richness and meaning.
Somatic therapy can be profoundly helpful, allowing you to release the trauma responses stored in your body, develop tools to regulate your nervous system so that you can increase your window of tolerance and build resilience, connect with your body and emotions in a way that feels safe and supportive, so that you can live with more embodiment, awareness, and freedom.
What Is Love Addiction?
Love addiction is not simply being in love too much. It's a compulsive pattern of attaching to another person in a way that mirrors the brain’s response to substance addiction. Individuals with love addiction often:
– Obsessively think about a partner or romantic interest
– Idealize the person while ignoring red flags
– Feel extreme anxiety or emptiness when not in contact
– Sacrifice personal boundaries and self-worth to maintain the connection
Love addiction is often driven by early attachment wounds, unresolved trauma, and nervous system dysregulation that compel us to seek external validation or intensity to feel temporarily whole.
The Neuroscience Behind Love Addiction
Neuroscience shows us that romantic obsession and addiction share common brain pathways:
– Dopamine, the brain’s “reward” chemical, floods our system during infatuation and attachment, creating a sense of euphoria.
– The limbic system, which governs emotion and memory, lights up in ways nearly identical to drug addiction.
– Withdrawal from the person can trigger stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, leading to panic, anxiety, depression, and even physical symptoms.
When the attachment system is activated, especially in those with trauma or inconsistent early caregiving, the brain interprets separation not just as emotional loss but as a survival threat.
What Is Limerence?
Limerence is the obsessive, involuntary state of intense infatuation and emotional dependence that often accompanies love addiction. It involves:
– Idealizing the person
– Fantasizing about the relationship
– Craving reciprocation to soothe internal anxiety
This state hijacks the nervous system and can make it feel impossible to let go, even when the relationship is unhealthy or unavailable.
Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?
When your nervous system has been conditioned to associate intensity with love, safety can feel boring or even threatening. This is especially true for individuals with trauma, codependency, or personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder or anxious-preoccupied attachment.
You might ask yourself:
– Why do I feel so empty without this person?
– Why do I keep going back even when I know it's not good for me?
– Why does love feel like a drug I can’t quit?
What may seem purely psychological is often deeply rooted in the nervous system.
How Somatic Therapy Supports Recovery from Love Addiction
Somatic therapy addresses the body’s role in trauma and emotional attachment, helping you rewire your nervous system so you can access safety, connection, and self-trust without emotional chaos.
1. Regulating the Nervous System
Somatic practices, such as grounding, orienting, and resourcing, help bring the body out of fight-or-flight and into a more regulated state. This is crucial when experiencing withdrawal from an obsessive attachment.
2. Releasing Trauma Held in the Body
Using methods like Somatic Experiencing or Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, the body is supported in discharging the stored energy of old relational wounds, so your system no longer confuses chaos with connection.
3. Building a Felt Sense of Safety and Self
Somatic therapy helps you develop interoception (awareness of internal sensations), which builds the capacity to feel safe inside your own body, even without the presence of the person you’ve fixated on.
4. Repairing Attachment Wounds
Through attuned therapeutic relationships, you can begin to repair internal models of love, connection, and worthiness. When your body learns that it can survive, even thrive, without unhealthy attachment, true healing begins.
What Does Healing Look Like?
Healing from love addiction isn’t about becoming invulnerable to love. It’s about creating boundaries, emotional regulation, and secure attachment—so you can love freely without losing yourself.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we help individuals:
– Move through love addiction withdrawal with compassion and skill
– Use somatic tools to calm obsessive thinking and anxiety
– Reconnect with their core values, goals, and sense of identity
– Rewire patterns rooted in trauma and attachment wounding
– Build relationships based on mutual respect, intimacy, and authenticity
We integrate EMDR, IFS (parts work), trauma-informed coaching, and psychoeducation to support a holistic recovery process rooted in both neuroscience and heart-centered care.
You Are Worth Reconnection
Love addiction can make you feel like your survival depends on someone else's attention, but it doesn’t. Your body holds the map back to wholeness, clarity, and connection, and somatic therapy can help you follow it.
You don’t have to remain stuck in the painful cycle of longing, obsession, and abandonment. Your system can learn to settle, and you can feel safe in yourself again.
With time and self-compassion, the body can relearn how to feel steady, connected, and whole, allowing you to experience authentic intimacy and nourishing love, starting with yourself.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we specialize in helping you reconnect with your body, your boundaries, and your truth. Reach out today to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated relationship and addiction experts, trauma specialists, and Certified Sex Addiction Specialists.
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit
🧠 References:
Fisher, H. E., Aron, A., & Brown, L. L. (2006). Romantic Love: A Mammalian Brain System for Mate Choice. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1476), 2173–2186. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1938
Levine, A., & Heller, R. S. (2010). Attached: The New s=Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love. TarcherPerigee.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
Healing at the Roots: How Somatic Experiencing Enhances Attachment-Focused EMDR
Healing at the Roots: How Somatic Experiencing Enhances Attachment-Focused EMDR
Struggling with emotional dysregulation rooted in attachment trauma? Discover the healing potential of combining Somatic Experiencing with Attachment-Focused EMDR. This powerful therapeutic blend helps regulate the nervous system, reprocess painful memories, and build secure relationships.
Why Is Attachment Trauma So Disruptive to the Nervous System?
Attachment trauma often results from chronic emotional neglect or inconsistency in early caregiving. It disrupts the nervous system’s ability to regulate emotions and creates long-lasting patterns of hypervigilance or shutdown in relationships. These responses are not psychological failures—they're adaptive survival strategies.
What Is Attachment-Focused EMDR?
Attachment-Focused EMDR (AF-EMDR) integrates standard EMDR protocols with relational and developmental repair strategies. It addresses core wounds of abandonment, shame, and relational trauma using imaginal resourcing, inner child work, and Ideal Parent Figure visualizations.
What Is Somatic Experiencing (SE)?
SE is a body-based trauma therapy that helps regulate the nervous system by tracking physical sensations, discharging survival energy, and restoring a sense of embodied safety. It’s based on the idea that trauma is stored in the body—not just the mind.
The Problem: EMDR Alone Can Trigger Overwhelm in Dysregulated Systems
Even gentle EMDR protocols can activate unresolved trauma. Without nervous system regulation, clients may dissociate, become overwhelmed, or regress emotionally. This signals the need for somatic support—not that EMDR has failed.
The Solution: Combining Somatic Experiencing with Attachment-Focused EMDR
Together, SE and AF-EMDR address trauma from the top down and bottom up. SE regulates the nervous system and prepares the body to engage in and integrate trauma processing. AF-EMDR then reprocesses attachment wounds while maintaining somatic safety.
Healing Intimacy After Betrayal Trauma
One client healed from emotional flashbacks and intimacy avoidance by combining SE and AF-EMDR. She felt more connected, grounded, and empowered in relationships through Ideal Parent resourcing, somatic tracking, and trauma reprocessing.
Why This Approach Matters for Relationships, Sexuality, and Intimacy
Attachment wounds affect trust, touch, and emotional vulnerability. Somatic work restores a sense of safety in the body, while EMDR transforms limiting beliefs. This combination is especially effective for relational trauma, sexual disconnection, and intimacy avoidance.
Hope Is Not Just a Concept—It’s a Felt Experience
Healing is about creating new relational templates where the body learns it’s safe to connect. At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we combine neuroscience-backed therapies to help you build real, lasting change from the inside out.
At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we’re here to offer that support—with skill, compassion, and deep respect for your journey.
Reach out today to schedule a free 20- minute consultation with our team of top-rated trauma specialits, EMDR experts, somatic practitioners, or couples therapists to discuss whether Embodied Wellness and Recovery could be an ideal fit for your healing needs.
📍 Serving Los Angeles, Nashville, and clients nationwide (via telehealth)
📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458
📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934
📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com
👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery
🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit
References
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Parnell, L. (2013). Attachment-focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma. W. W. Norton & Company.
Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.