Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from traditional "talk" therapy?
Neuro-integrative, somatic therapy goes beyond traditional talk therapy by engaging the body—not just the mind—in the healing process. While talk therapy focuses primarily on thoughts, emotions, and verbal processing, somatic therapy recognizes that trauma, stress, and emotional pain are also stored in the nervous system and tissues of the body. This approach incorporates gentle movement, breathwork, body awareness, and nervous system regulation techniques to help clients access and release stored tension and trauma. Rather than just talking about a problem, clients are guided to feel into their physical experience in the moment, supporting lasting change at both the physiological and psychological levels. Integrative somatic therapy also weaves in principles from neuroscience, Polyvagal Theory, and mind-body medicine, offering a more holistic and embodied pathway to healing. It can be especially helpful for those who feel stuck in traditional talk therapy or who experience symptoms like chronic pain, dissociation, or difficulty verbalizing their experiences.
Who Does This Help?
This type of therapy can help anyone looking to improve their overall well-being, especially those who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, or past trauma. It’s particularly useful for individuals who experience challenges related to chronic pain, pelvic or reproductive health challenges, digestive issues, or chronic inflammation and those experiencing complex trauma, burnout, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, complicated (long-term) grief, and end-of life concerns.
Why I Don’t Accept Insurance — and Why That Might Be a Good Thing for You
I know that therapy is a meaningful investment, and that it can be frustrating when a provider doesn’t take insurance. So I want to be transparent about why I’ve made this choice — and how it can actually benefit your healing process. What Happens When You Use Insurance for Therapy? To use insurance, therapists must give you a diagnosis and prove that your struggles are “medically necessary” for treatment. This means: Your personal mental health history is shared with your insurance company Your diagnosis becomes a permanent part of your medical record The insurance company can request detailed notes about your sessions Your care may be limited to what they consider "approved" or "billable" This system isn’t always built with your privacy or long-term well-being in mind.
The Benefits of Private Pay (Out-of-Pocket Therapy)
Paying out of pocket for therapy offers you: Greater Privacy Your records stay fully confidential — I don’t have to share diagnoses or session notes with a third party. You maintain control over your personal story, without it being recorded in medical or insurance files. Freedom from Labels You don’t need a mental health diagnosis to receive care. We focus on growth, integration, healing, and support — not just on fixing something "wrong." More Flexibility We’re not restricted by insurance timelines or what’s considered “medically necessary.” We can customize our work based on your needs — not insurance checkboxes. Deeper, More Holistic Work Neuro-integrative, somatic, and body-based therapies are often not covered by insurance — but they’re powerful tools for real, embodied healing. We can move at your pace, include creative and ritual elements, and honor the complexity of your experience. Choosing to work together outside of insurance is a choice for freedom, confidentiality, and personalized care. It allows us to do meaningful, trauma-informed, nervous-system-aware work — without external limitations. And if you’d like, I can provide a superbill — a special receipt you can submit to your insurance for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
Do You Offer a Sliding Scale or Scholarships?
Yes! Affordable and accessible mental healthcare is available. Please contact me at haventherapytn@gmail.com to talk about your needs.
What If I Want to Stop Therapy?
It’s completely normal to feel the urge to pull away from therapy when things start to get hard — that’s often a sign that we’re getting close to something meaningful. You’re always in control of your healing process, including when and whether to continue, pause, or end therapy, and who you choose to work with. I welcome open conversations about how you're feeling in our work together, especially if you're unsure, frustrated, or thinking about stepping back. Talking about it can often lead to greater clarity, repair, or a gentler transition — ultimately, you have the power to choose what is best for you and you will find support here.
What does Neuro-Integrative and Somatosensory mean?
Neuro-integrative psychotherapy is an approach to therapy that brings together knowledge from neuroscience, psychology, and somatic (body-based) therapies to support healing and growth. It focuses on how the brain, body, and nervous system are interconnected — and uses that understanding to create more effective, personalized treatment. Somatosensory psychotherapy is a body-centered therapeutic approach that focuses on the direct experience of physical sensations in the body to access, process, and resolve psychological and emotional issues. It is rooted in the understanding that the body and mind are deeply interconnected, and that unresolved trauma, stress, or emotional pain is often stored in the body, particularly within the somatosensory system. Core Principles of Somatosensory Psychotherapy: Sensory awareness: Clients are guided to notice and track physical sensations (like tension, temperature, tingling, pressure) to deepen awareness of what is happening in the body moment-to-moment. Bottom-up processing: Instead of starting with thoughts or verbal stories, the therapy often begins with bodily sensations and movements to access underlying emotional or traumatic material. Neurobiological foundation: It draws on neuroscience, especially the roles of the autonomic nervous system, Polyvagal Theory, and neuroplasticity in healing and regulation. Trauma-informed: It gently supports the release of stored trauma, often using titration (working with small pieces at a time) and pendulation (moving between distress and safety) to avoid overwhelm. Techniques May Include: Grounding and orienting exercises Somatic tracking Movement or postural work Breath awareness Touch work (in certain advanced or consent-based settings) Integration with expressive arts, mindfulness, or guided imagery Therapies like Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Focusing, or TRE (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) Who It's For: People dealing with: Trauma (especially developmental or complex trauma) Chronic pain or illness Anxiety, depression, or dissociation Emotional dysregulation Stress-related conditions Difficulty connecting to bodily experiences or emotions
What is Somatic Psychotherapy?
“Somatic” means body-based. Somatic psychotherapy is a therapeutic approach that understands something simple but often overlooked: our minds and bodies are not separate. When we go through stress, grief, trauma, or long-term illness, those experiences don’t just affect our thoughts or emotions—they show up in our muscles, our breath, our posture, our digestion, even in how our immune system responds. Somatic therapy brings the body into the conversation. That might look like noticing what you feel—not just what you think. It might mean slowing down, tracking your breath, paying attention to a subtle shift in sensation, or exploring how your body wants to move. These small moments can open the door for your nervous system to regulate, reset, and heal. You don’t have to be physically sick to benefit from this kind of work—somatic therapy can offer a grounded, compassionate path toward healing that includes all of you—mind, body, and nervous system.
What is the Brain-Body-Gut Connection?
The brain, body, and gut are in constant conversation with each other—and that communication shapes how we feel, think, and function every day. You may have heard the gut called the "second brain." That’s because your gut has its own nervous system (called the enteric nervous system), which sends messages to your brain and responds to stress, safety, and emotions. In fact, about 80% of the nerve signals between the brain and gut go from the body to the brain—not the other way around. When you’re under stress, your gut feels it. You might notice stomachaches, changes in digestion, or appetite shifts. Likewise, when your gut is inflamed or imbalanced—due to illness, diet, medications, or trauma—it can impact your mood, energy, focus, and even immune health. The brain-body-gut connection is especially important in somatic and neuro-integrative therapy, because it helps explain why you might feel anxious without knowing why, or physically unwell without a clear medical cause. Your body is trying to tell the story. By supporting the nervous system, restoring gut health, and helping you tune into your body's signals, healing becomes possible on every level—mental, emotional, and physical.
What is Neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to change, adapt, and rewire itself throughout your life. That means your patterns—of thinking, feeling, reacting, or even moving—aren’t fixed. Your brain is constantly forming new connections based on what you experience, practice, and pay attention to. This is really good news for healing. When you’ve gone through stress, trauma, illness, or long-standing habits, your nervous system may have learned certain survival responses that don’t feel helpful anymore. Neuroplasticity is how we gently unlearn those patterns and create new ones—ones that are more grounded, regulated, and connected. In therapy, we work with neuroplasticity by engaging both the mind and the body. That might include noticing sensations, practicing regulation tools, exploring movement, or shifting how you relate to your experiences. Over time, these practices literally reshape your brain and nervous system. You don’t have to “think” your way into healing—you can experience your way into it. And your brain is built for that kind of change.