Have you ever found yourself saying:

“I know exactly why I feel this way.”

Maybe you’ve identified the childhood experience that contributed to your anxiety. Perhaps you’ve spent hours reflecting on a relationship pattern or researching the psychology behind your emotional responses.

Insight can be incredibly valuable. Understanding ourselves helps us make sense of our experiences and can often be an important part of the therapeutic process.

But there’s a common challenge I see in my work as a somatic based therapist: many people are highly skilled at thinking about their emotions, yet struggle to actually feel them.

If you struggle with OCD or anxiety, self-criticism can feel constant. Thoughts like “Why am I like this?”, “I should be able to handle this better,” or “What’s wrong with me?” can become part of your daily inner dialogue. Over time, this harsh self-talk can bring about feelings of shame, fear, and emotional exhaustion.

Rather than judging ourselves for struggling, self-compassion invites us to respond to our pain with patience, love and care. While this practice can feel unnatural at first—especially if your mind has become wired around fear, perfectionism, or self-monitoring—it becomes more natural with practice, and can help your brain get out of anxiety driven loops.

Have you ever noticed how quickly a thought can start to feel like a fact?

One intrusive thought — What if something bad happens?, What if I made a mistake?, What if I’m a bad person? — can spiral into hours of anxiety, reassurance-seeking, overthinking, or compulsive behaviors. And if you’re someone who struggles with anxiety or OCD, you know this experience all too well.

One skill I teach my clients who struggle in this way is something called cognitive defusion.

Tools and tips to help you feel supported during this time, from a therapist’s perspective.

The holiday season is often portrayed as a time of joy, warmth, and togetherness. Cue the classic Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”… But if this time of year feels stressful, overwhelming, or emotionally complicated for you, you’re far from alone.

In our fast-paced, overstimulated world, it’s easy for the nervous system to spend more time in “fight or flight” mode than in a place of rest and ease. We’re often juggling work, personal relationships and countless daily stressors that keep our bodies subtly braced for danger—even when we’re physically safe.

Somatic practices are gentle, body-based ways of helping the nervous system find a sense of safety and ease, even when stressors still exist.