WHO WE ARE
Anxiety doesn’t always stay in your head. It can show up in your sleep, your muscles, your digestion, your relationships, and the way you move through everyday life. At Black Hills Somatic Solutions, we provide specialized, neuroscience-informed care that considers the connection between your brain, body, and nervous system.
When your nervous system remains in a state of heightened protection, these responses can begin to feel like part of everyday life. Our somatic therapy approach helps you make sense of these patterns, develop tools for regulation, and practice new ways of responding to stress.
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY & TRAUMA RESPONSES
Anxiety doesn’t always look like worry. Sometimes it feels like a mind that won’t slow down. Other times, it shows up in your body through muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, a racing heart, digestive discomfort, irritability, or the feeling that you can never fully relax (Orlando Health, 2025). You might find yourself avoiding certain situations, looking for reassurance, or constantly scanning for what could go wrong.
Trauma responses can be just as varied. You may feel constantly on guard, easily startled, uncomfortable in certain situations, or hyperaware of other people’s moods and reactions (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).
For some people, these responses are easy to recognize. For others, they have become such a familiar part of daily life that they can be difficult to identify as a stress response at all.
At Black Hills Somatic Solutions, we look at what may be happening underneath these patterns– not to dismiss what you’re experiencing, but to help you make sense of it.
A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO HEALING
Your brain and nervous system are constantly taking in information and assessing what is happening around you. When your brain senses a threat, whether that threat is physical, emotional, or psychological, it can quickly prepare your body to respond (Harvard Health Publishing, 2024; Orlando Health, 2025). Your heart rate may increase, your muscles may tense, your breathing may change, and your attention may become more focused on what is happening around you.
These responses are not signs that something is wrong with you. They are part of the body’s built-in protection system.
The difficulty can come when the body keeps responding as though danger is nearby, even after the situation has changed.
Ongoing stress, trauma, chronic fear, medical experiences, pain, or prolonged uncertainty can all shape the way the brain and nervous system respond to future situations. When this happens repeatedly, it may become harder to shift back into a more settled state.
You may notice:
This doesn’t mean your nervous system is broken. It may mean your protective responses have become more sensitive or easier to activate. With therapy, you can begin to recognize these learned patterns and practice different ways of responding.
ANXIETY & TRAUMA SYMPTOMS
Anxiety and trauma responses can affect the mind, body, and behavior. You don’t have to experience every symptom for this approach to be relevant to you.
ANXIETY & TRAUMA CONCERNS
There isn’t one way anxiety or trauma responses show up. Black Hills Somatic Solutions works with people experiencing a range of anxiety, stress, and trauma-related concerns, including:
You don’t have to have a specific diagnosis to reach out. If your persistent anxiety, stress, or trauma responses are affecting your daily life, we can help you explore whether this approach may be a good fit.
OUR TREATMENT APPROACH
There isn’t one approach that works for everyone. Your treatment at Black Hills Somatic Solutions is shaped around your experiences, symptoms, goals, and preferences. Depending on your needs, therapy may incorporate:
SKILLS FOR MANAGING ANXIETY & STRESS
The goal of therapy isn’t to eliminate every stressful thought or make sure you never feel anxious again. Stress and difficult emotions are a part of being human. Instead, therapy can help you notice what’s happening sooner, understand your patterns, and help you have more choice in how you respond. You may learn to:
Notice the thoughts, sensations, situations, and experiences that tend to activate your stress response.
Become more familiar with physical sensations and learn to respond without automatically assuming something is wrong.
Practice strategies that help your nervous system move toward a more settled state.
Create more space between an automatic stress response and what you choose to do next.
Become more comfortable navigating anxiety, physical sensations, and stressful situations without feeling controlled by them.
A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO HEALING
Anxiety and trauma responses can be complex, especially when they overlap with physical symptoms, chronic pain, sleep difficulties, or other health concerns. At Black Hills Somatic Solutions, we combine neuroscience-informed education with individualized therapy to help you make sense of what you’re experiencing and decide together what approach makes the most sense for you.
Neuroscience-Informed
We use current understanding of the brain, body, and nervous system to inform your care.
Individualized
Your treatment is shaped around your experiences, goals, and what feels appropriate for you.
Collaborative
You aren’t simply handed a treatment plan. We work together to understand your symptoms and decide how to move forward.
ANXIETY & TRAUMA FAQ
Anxiety activates the body’s natural stress response, preparing you to respond to something that your brain perceives as a threat. This can lead to changes in heart rate, breathing, muscle tension, attention, and digestion (Harvard Health Publishing, 2024; Orlando Health, 2025). When anxiety or stress remains high over time, the nervous system may become more sensitive to potential threats, making it harder to fully relax or return to a settled state.
Yes. Anxiety can produce very real physical symptoms, including muscle tension, headaches, racing or pounding heart, digestive discomfort, dizziness, fatigue, changes in breathing, and difficulty sleeping (Orlando Health, 2025). These symptoms are not imagined. They can be part of the body’s protective stress response and the ongoing communication between the brain and the body.
Stress is typically a response to a specific challenge, pressure, or situation. Anxiety can continue even when there is no immediate threat or clear source of danger. Both can activate the body’s stress response, and prolonged stress may contribute to patterns of persistent anxiety (Martin et al., 2009). Therapy can help you recognize these patterns and develop more flexible ways of responding.
Yes. Anxiety and physical symptoms can influence one another, particularly when you have been dealing with persistent pain, unexplained symptoms, or ongoing health concerns. Worry about symptoms can increase stress and vigilance, while physical sensations can, in turn, increase fear or uncertainty. At Black Hills Somatic Solutions, we consider these connections as part of your overall treatment rather than treating your mental and physical experiences as completely separate.
No. You do not need to have experienced a traumatic event to benefit from a nervous system-informed approach. Anxiety, chronic stress, health concerns, pain, difficult life experiences, and prolonged periods of uncertainty can all affect how you respond to stress. Your treatment will focus on your individual experiences and what you want to work on, whether or not trauma is part of your history.
Get Help Paying For Therapy
Navigating Insurance can be confusing, so please reach out with any questions.
YOUR PATH TOWARD HEALING
Starting therapy can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve spent months or even years searching for answers. At Black Hills Somatic Solutions, we’re here to guide you through every step of the healing process with compassion, education, and personalized care.
step 01
Every healing journey begins with understanding you. We’ll take the time to listen to your experiences, explore your symptoms, and learn about the factors that may be influencing your nervous system.
step 02
We’ll help you make sense of the brain-body connection and explain how your nervous system may be contributing to persistent pain, anxiety, sleep difficulties, or functional neurological symptoms. Understanding what’s happening is an important part of moving forward.
step 03
Using evidence-based therapies like Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), somatic therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and CBT-I, we’ll develop a treatment plan tailored to your unique needs and goals.
step 04
As you learn new skills and retrain patterns within the nervous system, you’ll gain confidence in your ability to manage symptoms, feel more connected to your body, and continue your healing long after therapy ends.
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CONTACT US
You don’t need to know exactly why you’re feeling this way or have the right words to explain it. If anxiety, stress, or trauma responses are affecting your daily life, Black Hills Somatic Solutions can help you understand the patterns behind your symptoms and explore a treatment approach built around your experiences and goals.
