In this blog post, we delve into some of the theory behind Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), shedding light on how this approach encourages a profound, genuine connection between therapist and client.

Understanding Piaget and Erikson's ages and stages of development provides a valuable framework for somatic therapists. By incorporating these theories into their practice, therapists can tailor interventions to suit their clients' cognitive and psychosocial needs.

Rushing Woman's Syndrome is a reality for many navigating the fast-paced rhythm of New York City. What’s behind the rushing? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we believe in using this potent tool within somatic therapies that powerfully utilizes the mind-body connection.

Polyvagal theory, created by Stephen Porges, has distilled cutting-edge research about the nervous system into language that helps people make sense of their moment to moment living experience within their bodies, environment, and in relationships.

Medical trauma is any trauma that happens in connection with a medical or health experience. Like other traumas, it overwhelms the body, putting it in a state of fight, flight, or freeze. The form it takes is as diverse as the experiences of the people who endure it.

If both individuals in a couple lean toward an avoidant attachment style, a therapist may be helpful in helping to draw out the feelings gently over time from each partner one at a time.

Trauma-informed therapy refers to a therapeutic style that aims to avoid re-traumatization over the course of treatment by emphasizing a person-specific approach.

Our therapists help you identify what is getting in the way, move past blockages and help you access your true emotions, needs and desires.

The name of the game in your healing journey is to thrive as well as survive, it’s essential to gear more toward the powerful nature of positive emotions.

In somatic therapy, we make space for ancestral grief, gifts and burdens, and honor the inherent worth that grief conveys upon ourselves and our lineages.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) focuses on emotions connected to memory with bilateral stimulation, like tapping on the body.

Is a psychotherapist a psychologist? Can they prescribe medicine? Does a psychotherapist work in a specific way? What is psychotherapy, anyway?

Couples therapy is a wonderful way to resolve conflicts, and develop deeper intimacy and connection, as well as a way to heal individual pain.

There are tons of deep breathing practices for relaxation, but did you know you can use it to heal and transform as well? Breathwork wonderfully complements the relational tools of psychotherapy.

Somatic therapy works with your “felt experience” to help you uncover what your inner critic so you can cultivate true self-acceptance and tend to your most vulnerable needs and desires.

Many New Yorkers experience anxiety on a daily basis but are uncertain how to decrease the negative effects that this stress has on their body - Somatic therapy can help.

Our clinicians find meaning and purpose in incorporating the body into the therapeutic experience. This approach is healing and experiential — it distinguishes itself from other forms of therapy.

Therapy is one outlet that can help ground you in a frenetic place like New York City. This article outlines 3 ways that therapy can help you cope with New York City’s high speed environment.

At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we believe that somatic therapy is a powerful way to address attachment wounds and to experience deep healing and a renewed sense of joy in life.

Somatic Experiencing (SE), Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and Gestalt.

Many couples avoid talking about infidelity, or are only able to access anger, and as a result never get around to processing the grief, sadness and loss of trust that the infidelity caused.

In somatic therapy, we work together to heal trauma by bringing the sensory experience of that event into the room in a coherent and tolerable way.

By acknowledging, and sitting with, how depression makes us feel in our bodies, we can begin to overcome the feelings of “overwhelm” that depression can engender.

Do you struggle with anxiety and wonder how somatic therapy can help? Anxiety actually starts out as a physiological response to feelings you have learned are not ok to feel.

Pairing psychotherapy and ketamine in a process called ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) can facilitate incredible long-term healing.

By delving into the physical sensations and bodily experiences associated with anxiety, somatic therapy can offer a pathway to calmness and relief from insomnia.

Most couples recognize that they are relating to one another in a subconscious habitual way that keeps them feeling stuck. Somatic therapy can offer strategies to help couples become unstuck and reconnect with each other.

For queer identifying people, the dating landscape often comes with unique experiences and complexities that can feel isolating, exhausting and disembodying. Somatic therapy offers some ways to manage this.

What is the role of anger in an emotionally healthy person and how can somatic therapy help someone develop a positive relationship with anger?

Many men displaying anger or engaging in escapist or risky behaviors might be unaware that these behaviors are actually symptoms of underlying depression.

What exactly is anxiety and why does it present so differently? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we define anxiety by what happens in the body and we measure the severity of that anxiety by how it manifests physically.

Do you feel resistance to processing your emotions through your body? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we believe in the healing through the body with the awareness that it can be quite fear-inducing for most.

Generally speaking, “Yes”, says therapist Stefan Allen-Hickey of Downtown Somatic Therapy in New York City: “the success of a relationship with this attachment style configuration relies on the couple coming to understand the emotions that underlie their partner’s response to stress”.

When we feel shame we may withdraw from others, avoid intimacy, or become defensive or angry.

Due to its mindful, body-centered approach, somatic therapy can be an effective way to address and resolve a host of issues related to sex.

Self-protective responses to shame can be a source of misunderstanding and lead to ruptures in relationships. We explore shame in relationships in this article.

If you feel ambivalent about being in therapy, this could be a portal into more transformative work with your therapist or it could be a sign that you’ve outgrown them.

If you feel ambivalent about being in therapy, this could be a portal into more transformative work with your therapist or it could be a sign that you’ve outgrown them.

How befriending your emotions impacts your day-to-day experiences and your ability to work with your emotions rather than feeling controlled by them. 

Here are strategies to help you cope with a panic attack.. The expectation is to soften how frightening the symptoms are by making the situation feel a bit more controlled. 

While Seasonal Affective Disorder is dubious as a diagnosis, there is little debate as to how to deal with the effects of the winter blues.

How can you grow if you're not willing to hold yourself accountable for your mistakes? Genuine apologies that are followed by real effort to alter or improve the offending behavior are a marker of emotional maturity.

Experiencing anger is precisely what you want to do if you want to: increase your confidence, feel calmer, buoy your mood, bolster your ability to practice healthy boundaries, improve your relationships – and demand justice.

Even when things don’t pan out, self-compassion enables you to assess what happened and improve your approach next time. Self-compassion provides fertile ground for motivation, positivity and an optimistic future outlook.

Many people struggle with procrastination, but are not in touch with why they are avoiding these tasks in the first place.

Do you struggle to manage perfectionism and your ‘inner critic’ in the creative process? Learn how to identify and manage anxiety related to self-expression and art.

There are unique challenges when it comes to living in New York City while managing symptoms of PTSD — but therapy can help.

Climate change anxiety can feel overwhelming to deal with. Yet DST therapist Melanie Berkowitz says that much of climate anxiety is actually healthy.

Workers don’t always have the kinds of resources to leave a toxic and unhealthy work environment. This kind of violation is called ‘Institutional Betrayal,’ a term coined by psychologist and researcher, Dr. Jennifer Freyd.

Addictions often develop because people are looking for ways to soothe or forget their pain. Often that pain is rooted in trauma. In therapy we slow down, allowing us to feel and see what lies beneath our behaviors.

Sometimes one mental health diagnosis co-exists with another one. In the world of eating disorders, depression is the most commonly associated mental health diagnosis.

Those of us with anxious attachment style need to take extra care to watch out for ways we may be self-sabotaging our romantic relationships.

By admitting when we are bored, we can begin to move into richer emotional territory. Explore the ideas and emotions that our agitation and boredom are covering up.

Fading into the background while others engage in animated debates? Often feeling like too many things in your relationship are left unsaid? You may be conflict avoidant.

Attachment figures - caregivers or romantic partners - provide a sense of safety. But what happens when things don’t feel secure with our partners?