You are resting in your living room, yet your heart races as if a threat is imminent. Your mind searches for reasons why. This is not structural brokenness. It is an intelligent survival loop, running a program that was written in a different time, for a different danger.
What SOMA Offers
Comprehensive Nervous System Remapping
SOMA offers comprehensive nervous system remapping utilizing EMDR (Shapiro) and Somatic Experiencing (Levine) to process trauma safely, without flooded re-traumatization. Our approach begins with establishing a clear picture of your current autonomic state before any reprocessing work begins.
Complex trauma and PTSD are not character flaws or signs of fragility. They are the predictable neurological outcomes of experiences that exceeded your nervous system's capacity to integrate. The goal is not to erase the past. The goal is to update the nervous system's threat assessment so that the past no longer governs the present.
Treatment is paced carefully to keep you within your window of tolerance (Ogden) throughout, ensuring that processing is integrative rather than retraumatizing.
SOMA does not rush the process. Structural nervous system change requires time, pacing, and a consistent therapeutic relationship.
Who This Is For
You may recognize yourself in more than one of these.
You experience intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares that feel as vivid as the original event.
You feel emotionally numb or disconnected from your own life, even when things are objectively fine.
Your body reacts to ordinary situations with a level of alarm that feels disproportionate and confusing.
You have tried talk therapy and found that talking about it makes things worse, not better.
You carry a persistent sense of shame or self-blame that you cannot reason your way out of.
You are high-functioning externally and exhausted internally.
Clinical Approaches
EMDR Protocol (Shapiro)
Somatic Experiencing (Levine)
Polyvagal Theory Application (Porges)
Window of Tolerance Work (Ogden)
Trauma Narrative Integration
Nervous System Stabilization
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Complex Trauma Therapy
Does EMDR work for complex trauma and C-PTSD?
Yes. At SOMA we use EMDR (Shapiro) alongside Somatic Experiencing (Levine) to process complex trauma and C-PTSD without flooded re-traumatization. Complex trauma is not a character flaw. It is the predictable neurological outcome of experiences that exceeded your nervous system's capacity to integrate. Before any reprocessing begins, we establish a clear picture of your current autonomic state, then pace the work so it stays integrative rather than overwhelming.
What is the window of tolerance and why does it matter in trauma therapy?
The window of tolerance (Ogden) is the zone where your nervous system can process difficult material without becoming flooded or shutting down. At SOMA, treatment is paced carefully to keep you inside that window throughout, which is what makes processing integrative instead of retraumatizing. When work happens inside the window, the goal is met: your system updates its threat assessment so the past no longer governs the present.
How is trauma therapy different from regular talk therapy?
Talk therapy asks you to describe what happened. For complex trauma, talking about it can sometimes make things worse, because the survival response lives in the body and nervous system, not only in conscious memory. SOMA uses EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Polyvagal Theory (Porges) to work directly with the nervous system. The aim is not to erase the past. It is to update how your system responds to it in the present.
Why do I feel calm on the surface but exhausted underneath?
Many people with complex trauma are high functioning externally and depleted internally. Your body may react to ordinary situations with a level of alarm that feels disproportionate, or you may feel numb and disconnected even when life is objectively fine. These are not signs of fragility. They are an intelligent survival loop running an old program. SOMA works to help the nervous system recognize that the original danger has passed.
How long does complex trauma therapy take at SOMA?
There is no single timeline. Structural nervous system change requires time, careful pacing, and a consistent therapeutic relationship, so SOMA does not rush the process. Deeper complex-trauma work often unfolds over a longer arc than single-incident trauma. We are explicit with you about direction and progress throughout, and we pace to your nervous system's readiness rather than to a calendar.
Can I do trauma therapy virtually in Florida?
Yes. SOMA offers care in person at our Coral Gables office and virtually by telehealth for adult clients (18 and older). We are licensed to provide telehealth to residents of Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico. SOMA is private pay and out of network. We can provide a superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement, and HSA and FSA funds are often eligible. Rates are shared during your consultation.