Somatic Therapy in Naperville: A Gentle Approach to Healing Stress and Trauma
When stress or trauma has been carried for a long time, it can affect more than your thoughts. It can show up in your body, your relationships, your sleep, your mood and the way you move through daily life.
You may know logically that you are safe, but still feel tense or on edge. You may understand why something affected you, but still feel your body react before your mind has time to catch up. You may feel anxious, overwhelmed, shut down, disconnected, or constantly braced for something to go wrong.
For many people, healing involves more than talking through what happened. It can also involve learning how to notice what your body is holding and gently support your nervous system in feeling more grounded.
Somatic therapy can help create that kind of support.
At Ascend Counseling, Franky Schulze, LCPC offers a warm, compassionate and trauma informed approach for clients who are navigating anxiety, depression, relationship issues, stress, trauma and women’s issues. Her work is rooted in creating a safe, nonjudgmental space where clients can better understand themselves, their experiences and the patterns that may be affecting their wellbeing.
Here is what somatic therapy can help you understand and why this approach can be meaningful for healing stress and trauma.
What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy is an approach that recognizes the connection between the mind and body.
When you go through stress, trauma, grief, conflict, chronic overwhelm, or emotionally intense experiences, your body can hold onto those experiences in ways you may not immediately recognize.
This may look like muscle tension, shallow breathing, stomach discomfort, fatigue, restlessness, difficulty relaxing, feeling disconnected from your body, or becoming easily triggered in certain situations.
Somatic therapy helps you pay attention to those physical responses with curiosity and compassion. Instead of only focusing on your thoughts, it also helps you notice what is happening in your body and nervous system.
This can be especially helpful for people who feel like they have talked about something many times, but still feel stuck in the same emotional patterns.
How stress and trauma can show up in the body
Stress and trauma can affect the nervous system long after a difficult experience has passed.
You may notice that your body reacts quickly in certain situations. A tone of voice, a conflict, a memory, a relationship pattern, or even a busy season of life may leave you feeling anxious, tense, frozen, defensive, or emotionally overwhelmed.
Sometimes these responses can feel confusing. You may think, “Why am I reacting this strongly?” or “Why can’t I just calm down?”
Those reactions often make more sense when you understand that the body is trying to protect you.
Somatic therapy can help you begin to recognize these patterns without judgment. It gives you space to slow down, notice your body’s signals and learn how to support yourself through moments of stress instead of feeling controlled by them.
It can help you feel more grounded
One of the goals of somatic therapy is helping clients feel more present and connected to themselves.
When you are overwhelmed, anxious, or carrying unresolved trauma, it can be hard to feel steady in your own body. You may feel scattered, tense, shut down, or like you are always preparing for the next thing.
Somatic therapy can help you practice grounding skills that support a greater sense of calm and stability.
This may include noticing your breath, connecting with physical sensations, identifying where tension is showing up, learning how your body responds to stress and practicing tools that help you feel more settled in the moment.
These skills can be simple, but they can become powerful over time.
It supports healing at a pace that feels safe
For people who have experienced trauma, moving too quickly can feel overwhelming.
A gentle somatic approach honors the importance of safety, pacing and trust. You do not have to force yourself to revisit painful experiences before you feel ready. You do not have to explain everything perfectly. You do not have to rush your healing process.
Franky’s warmth, compassion and authenticity help create an environment where clients can feel supported as they explore what has been difficult. She values strong, trusting therapeutic relationships and works to create a space where clients feel safe sharing their experiences and challenges.
This kind of support matters because healing often requires feeling understood, respected and emotionally safe.
It can help with anxiety, stress and emotional overwhelm
Many people seek somatic therapy because they feel stuck in stress responses that are hard to shift.
Anxiety may show up as racing thoughts, tension, panic, overthinking, trouble sleeping, or feeling unable to relax. Stress may show up as irritability, exhaustion, pressure, emotional reactivity, or feeling disconnected from yourself.
Somatic therapy can help you better understand how your body responds to stress and what helps your nervous system return to a more regulated place.
That does not mean life becomes perfectly calm. It means you can begin building more awareness, more tools and more capacity to move through difficult moments with support.
It can support trauma recovery
Trauma can affect how a person experiences safety, trust, relationships and their own body.
Some people feel constantly alert. Others feel numb or disconnected. Some feel like they are moving through life in survival mode, even when things appear fine from the outside.
As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional with advanced training in complex trauma, FrankySchulze supports clients in navigating and alleviating the effects of trauma. Her approach is collaborative and client centered, which means therapy is shaped around each client’s strengths, goals and needs.
Somatic therapy can be one part of that healing process by helping clients reconnect with their body in a way that feels safe, respectful and manageable.
Angie’s approach to therapy
Angie Jurek, MA, QMHP believes therapy should support the whole person. Angie approaches wellness through a head, heart and body framework, using different therapeutic techniques depending on what area of the self is being addressed.
Their approach may include Synergetic Play Therapy, Liberation Psychology, Relational Cultural Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Mind Body Therapy. Each session is tailored to the client’s specific needs, goals and lived experience.
Angie works with children ages 4 and up, teens, adults and couples. Their specialties include play therapy, parent coaching, relationship struggles, anxiety, depression, neurodivergent support and LGBTQIA2S+ affirming care.
Angie brings transparency, humor and optimistic realism into the therapy space. Clients can expect to feel welcomed, affirmed, challenged and encouraged in a way that feels warm, supportive and grounded.
Somatic therapy in Naperville can help you reconnect with yourself
If you have been feeling anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, or affected by stress and trauma, somatic therapy may offer a supportive path forward.
You do not have to have everything figured out before starting therapy. You do not have to know exactly what you need. You can begin with where you are and work with a therapist who helps you move at a pace that feels right for you.
At Ascend Counseling in Naperville, Angie Jurek, MA, QMHP offers compassionate support for children ages 4 and up, teens, adults and couples navigating anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, neurodivergence, identity, parenting challenges and emotional stress through a whole person approach that includes mind body therapy.
If you are searching for somatic therapy in Naperville, trauma therapy in Naperville, counseling for anxiety and stress, or a therapist who understands the connection between emotional healing and the body, we are here to help.
The next step can be simple: schedule a free consultation and we will help you find the right fit.
Ascend Counseling | Naperville, IL
