Somatic counseling for women in Los Angeles who’ve spent years putting everyone else first

Somatic counseling often begins the moment you realize your life has been organized around other people’s needs. You know how to show up, hold space, anticipate, and care. Yet in quiet moments, something feels missing. You are present for everyone else, but not fully present with yourself.

This is not about failure or burnout. It is about identity. About noticing that the woman who gives so much no longer feels familiar inside her own body. Somatic counseling offers a way to reconnect with yourself without needing to abandon the people you love.

In case you are new here, I am Chelsey Reese, and I support women of color who have spent years centering everyone else while slowly losing touch with their own internal world. My work invites the body back into the conversation so you can feel grounded, whole, and present again. You can learn more about my approach as a relational & somatic therapist and explore embodied support through somatic therapy.

What is somatic counseling (and how does it help women reconnect to themselves)?

Somatic counseling is a body-based approach that focuses on how your experiences live in your nervous system, not just in your thoughts. Instead of asking you to analyze your life, it helps you notice what is happening inside your body in real time.

For women who have spent years prioritizing others, reconnection often does not happen through insight alone. It occurs through sensation. By noticing your breath, your posture, and the subtle ways your body has learned to orient toward others.

Somatic counseling helps gently rebuild this relationship. It teaches your body that it is safe to take up space again, to have needs, and to be included in your own life. Over time, this creates presence, clarity, and self-trust.

Why a lifetime of prioritizing others rewires your body

Caring for others is not just a role. It becomes a bodily orientation. Your nervous system learns to stay outwardly focused, scanning for cues, needs, and expectations beyond you.

Over time, caregiving becomes instinctive. Your body responds before you think. You feel responsible for emotional balance and stability even when no one asks you to. This is not a flaw. It is an adaptation.

Your body may learn patterns such as

• Emotional scanning and anticipation
• Holding tension in readiness
• Self-minimizing to preserve the connection
• Constant monitoring of others’ reactions

How being the dependable one reshapes your internal world

Living as the dependable one shapes how you relate to yourself. You become skilled at regulating quickly, moving on, and staying composed. Your emotions are managed efficiently so they do not disrupt anyone else.

You learned to stabilize others even when it destabilized you internally. Over time, this reshapes your inner world.

Common shifts include

• Suppressing your own reactions
• Recovering emotionally at an unnatural pace
• Managing others’ feelings as a priority
• Shrinking discomfort instead of addressing it



Somatic counseling brings awareness to these patterns without judgment.

When caring becomes instinct, and your own needs become invisible

After years of being the one who shows up, self-neglect no longer feels like a choice. It becomes automatic. Your body learns that your needs can wait and that attention must stay outward to preserve belonging.

You may struggle to identify what you want or need. Not because you are disconnected, but because your body learned that noticing yourself was secondary.

Somatic counseling does not force self-focus. It rebuilds safety around noticing yourself again, slowly and respectfully.

The bodily cost of shaping yourself around other people

Your body reflects the expectations placed on you. Over time, this shows up as constriction rather than crisis. Sensations become muted. Awareness narrows.

Common somatic expressions include

• Shallow or restricted breathing
• Tightness in the chest or throat
• Reduced internal awareness
• Emotional flattening
• Chronic muscular tension

A somatic therapist understands these signals as communication, not dysfunction.

How somatic counseling helps you return to yourself

Returning to yourself does not mean becoming less caring. It means no longer disappearing inside your roles. Somatic counseling supports this return by helping your body feel safe enough to stay with itself.

As your nervous system regulates, subtle changes appear. You pause before reacting. You sense when something is too much. You recognize your limits without needing to justify them.

Somatic counseling restores access to your internal cues, guiding your life from the inside rather than managing it from the outside.

What does a somatic therapist actually do?

A somatic therapist listens beyond words. They track breath, posture, pauses, and nervous system responses as you speak. These cues guide the pace and depth of the work.



Rather than pushing for emotional release, a somatic therapist prioritizes safety and regulation. They help you notice sensations, track shifts, and stay present without becoming overwhelmed.

The role of a somatic therapist is not to fix you. It is to support your body in remembering how to feel, respond, and rest again. Explore somatic therapy in Los Angeles.

Somatic counseling techniques that rebuild your inner home

Somatic counseling uses grounded practices that rebuild trust between your body and your identity. These methods are slow by design.

Common techniques include

• Interoceptive tracking
• Slow breath syncing
• Gentle micro-movements
• Boundary sensing through sensation
• Emotional pacing for safety
• 
  

You have cared for everyone else long enough. Now it is your turn to come home.

Your body has waited years for you. You are allowed to return to yourself with care, gentleness, and support through somatic therapy.