Frequently Asked Questions

Somatic regulation is a term for our ability to be present in our bodies and the ability of our bodies and minds to flexibly adapt to changing states of activation, rest, excitation, distress, and connection. We often hear the term “self-regulation” as the thing we do to manage our stress and emotions; we actually learn these capabilities through co-regulation with another. While this ideally happens during infancy and childhood, it is often disrupted by developmental and attachment trauma. Many of us need help for our bodies to learn how to feel safe, and for our minds to learn how feel safe enough to be present in our bodies.

In somatic regulation touch therapy, including NeuroAffective Touch, we create the conditions for a therapeutic state of co-regulation to support this ability to be present in the body and to support the generation of a greater capacity to experience body sensations, emotions and nervous system states such as feeling anxious, depressed or numbed.

Most people experience some sensation with acupuncture, but it’s different for everyone. Most people feel something. Unlike the needles used for blood draws and shots, acupuncture needles are solid and extremely thin so that they move quickly past the part of the skin with nerves. When the needle arrives at the actual acupuncture point, there is often a gentle aching sensation, called “de qi” or “grabbing the qi.” 

Your sense of safety and comfort are of the utmost importance. I use a variety of needle sizes to accommodate different levels of sensitivity and may use only a few needles or hands-on methods instead of needles for people who are very sensitive to needles.

It’s important to understand that insurance only covers acupuncture treatment with needles for conditions considered medically necessary.

NeuroAffective Touch is body-mind approach to support somatic regulation that was specifically developed to address the ways that developmental trauma shows up in the body. NATouch, as it is also known, “is a professional somatic training that introduces psychotherapists and bodyworkers to the use of touch as a vital bridge to body-mind integration. By highlighting the primary role of the body and emphasizing its equal importance to the mind, NeuroAffective Touch addresses emotional, relational, and developmental deficits that cannot be reached by verbal means alone.”

“A polyvagal-informed psychobiological approach, NeuroAffective Touch integrates the key elements of somatic psychotherapy, attachment and developmental theory, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and affective and interpersonal neurobiology.”

-from the NeuroAffective touch website

I do not bill insurance for services. If requested, I can provide a statement for you to submit to insurance for out-of-pocket reimbursement and I accept HSA and FSA.

With acupuncture, I expect to see progress within 4-6 treatments, with some acute conditions resolving more quickly. NeuroAffective Touch and other somatic regulation work is a longer course of treatment, typically several months at a minimum. The length of a course of treatment depends on many factors, including how long a condition has been going on, the desired outcome, an individual’s pre-existing health conditions, and lifestyle factors. Once a condition is resolved, monthly visits are a good baseline for maintenance and overall vitality. 

According to author, researcher and Rosen Method bodyworker Alan Fogel, “embodied self-awareness is the ability to pay attention to ourselves, to feel our sensations, emotions and movements online, in the present moment, without the mediating influences of judgemental thoughts” (Alan Fogel, Body Sense).

We learn to suppress our sensations and emotions early on as survival strategies. I’ve been honored to support people with serious, complex trauma as they develop the capacity to experience sensation and develop a language for sensation and emotion as it expresses in the body. As Alan Fogel writes in Body Sense, “these neurological circuits for survival are anchored in the brain to pathways for self-awareness and they can grow or shrink in relation to the presence or absence of opportunities for self-exploration.”

I can’t promise that it will be easy, but you won’t be alone.