Anxiety Treatment: How Somatic Therapy Calms Anxiety in the Body and Nervous System

ANCA VEREEN • December 1, 2025

Anxiety treatment using somatic therapy

If you are living with anxiety, you already know this truth
Anxiety is not just in the mind.
It lives in the body.

As a Somatic Therapist, Sound Therapist and Integrative Dietitian working with anxiety every day in Melbourne, I see this over and over. People come to therapy having tried to think their way out of anxiety. They have insight, awareness and intelligence. Yet their body remains tense, alert, reactive and exhausted.

This is because anxiety is a nervous system pattern, not a mindset problem.

Anxiety is a Body Based Experience

Anxiety shows up through the autonomic nervous system. This is the part of your system responsible for survival, safety and threat detection.

When the nervous system perceives danger, whether real or remembered, the body responds automatically through:

• Tight chest or throat
• Shallow breathing
• Gut discomfort or nausea
• Racing thoughts
• Muscle tension
• Restlessness or freeze
• Sound and light sensitivity
• Poor sleep and fatigue

No amount of positive thinking can override a nervous system that is stuck in protection mode.

This is where somatic therapy becomes essential.

What Is Somatic Therapy for Anxiety

Somatic therapy is a body based approach to healing anxiety. Instead of analysing symptoms, we work directly with the sensations, signals and responses held in the body and nervous system.

In my practice, somatic therapy focuses on helping your system learn safety again.

Not conceptually.
Physiologically.

We work with:

• Interoception your ability to feel inside your body
• Nervous system regulation
• Breath and vagal tone
• Movement and micro regulation
• Touch and grounding when appropriate
• Sound and vibration
• Nutritional and biochemical support

Anxiety reduces when the body no longer feels under threat.

How Somatic Therapy Calms the Nervous System

Anxiety is driven by sympathetic nervous system dominance. This is the fight or flight response.

Somatic therapy gently guides the body back toward parasympathetic regulation, where rest, digestion, repair and emotional processing occur.

In sessions, we slow things down. We track sensation. We notice what the body is doing before the mind explains it.

This allows the nervous system to discharge stored survival energy rather than recycling it as anxiety.

Over time, the body learns:

• I am safe in this moment
• I can settle without forcing
• I can feel without becoming overwhelmed
• I do not need to stay on guard

This learning happens at a cellular and neurological level.

The Role of Sound Therapy in Anxiety Treatment

Sound therapy is a powerful nervous system regulator.

Sound bypasses the thinking mind and communicates directly with the body and brainstem. Specific frequencies help downshift arousal, soften muscular tension and support vagal nerve activation.

In anxiety treatment, sound therapy can:

• Reduce hyper vigilance
• Support emotional release
• Improve sleep quality
• Calm digestive symptoms
• Create a felt sense of safety

I integrate sound intentionally and clinically, not as a performance, but as a regulation tool that works with your unique nervous system.

Nutrition and Anxiety Are Deeply Connected

As an Integrative Dietitian, I always assess the biological foundations of anxiety.

Anxiety is often amplified by:

• Blood sugar instability
• Mineral deficiencies
• Poor protein intake
• Gut inflammation
• Caffeine sensitivity
• Hormonal shifts
• Chronic stress depletion

Nutritional support does not replace therapy, but it creates the internal conditions for regulation to hold.

A nervous system cannot settle if the body is under nourished or biochemically stressed.

Why Talk Therapy Alone Often Falls Short for Anxiety

Talking about anxiety can be helpful. But when anxiety lives in the body, insight alone is not enough.

Many people understand why they feel anxious yet continue to experience symptoms.

Somatic therapy works because it meets anxiety at its source.

The body.

When the body feels safe, the mind follows.

What You Can Expect from Somatic Therapy Sessions

My approach is personalised, paced and collaborative.

Sessions may include:

• Nervous system mapping
• Somatic awareness and tracking
• Breath and grounding practices
• Gentle movement
• Sound healing for nervous system regulation
• Nutritional guidance where relevant
• Space for emotional integration

There is no forcing, no pushing and no reliving of trauma.

We work with what your system is ready for.

Anxiety Treatment in Melbourne That Works With Your Whole System

Anxiety does not mean something is wrong with you.
It means your system has learned to protect.

When we work with the body and nervous system directly, anxiety can soften, regulate and resolve at the root.

If you are looking for anxiety treatment in Melbourne that goes beyond coping strategies and actually supports lasting regulation, somatic therapy may be the missing piece.