Distant, Disconnected & Numb
Trauma-informed Somatic-based Psychotherapy and Counselling for adult individuals and couples.
In-Person in Brant COUNTY & Norfolk County. Virtual across ontario.
You’re Present enough to function but cut off from connection.
You wake up, go through the motions, and at the end of the day, you struggle to remember if you actually felt anything. Hugs feel uncomfortable. Conversations feel flat and muted. Sometimes a surge of emotion wells up, lodging itself in your chest or throat, unmoving, but you feel too exhausted to experience it deeply. You want closeness but it feels blocked, like there’s a barrier between you and the people you love. You know the people you love but it can be challenging to evoke the felt-sense of it. You sleep but you wake up with the same collapsed feeling that you had when you went to bed.
Numbness is often survival wisdom that the body has developed when an emotion feels like too much. When we honour that inner protector and give the nervous system small, gentle doses of experience, it can slowly relearn how to feel and connect.
Could there be more than this…?
Just “try harder” is simply not how the nervous system works. Shutdown happens outside of our conscious control, but that means that healing can come from working with the body. You can learn how to notice small signals before they overwhelm you and practice brief moments of real contact to prove to your nervous system that connection is safe. With time, you will become aware of moments of warmth. The impulse to connect with others begins to appear without the instinct to retreat or collapse. Relationships move from distant politeness to genuine presence, and life regains small textures of meaning.
you aren’t destined to identify as depressed forever.
Disclaimer: The experiences described here are meant to support curiosity and reflection and are not necessarily diagnostic. Not all symptoms and patterns in all people originate from the same cause or place. Therapy is a collaborative process individualized to each person, and may be enhanced or supported by assessment and treatment with other health care providers as necessary.
What This Work Can Look Like…
Sessions include practicing body-based awareness, experimenting gently with your tolerance for discomfort, learning to approach various parts of yourself with curiosity, and exploring patterns entwined with your past and present. I’ll help you notice the signals your body offers before spinning out or shutting down, we’ll practice ways of soothing your nervous system, and over time, you’ll work toward rebuilding the natural regulation patterns of your body. Though this work involves moving through pain you’ve been pushing away, speeding past, or shutting down, we will approach the process in a way that mitigates feelings of overwhelm.
Working with me is experiential and relational, which means the process is not predictably structured in the ways our patriarchal, capitalist culture has conditioned us to expect. The pace, rhythm and frequency of a therapeutic relationship are part of the healing process. It’s important to know that deep and lasting change will likely require you to budget both time and finances.
"[…]the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen."
Pema Chödrön
Ready to take the first step?
If this is resonating with you, book a free 15-minute video consultation. We’ll chat about what you’re hoping to get support with and I’ll answer questions you might have. If we both feel we’re a good fit, we can schedule your first session.
Questions you want to ask before scheduling anything? Click here!
Core Clarity Psychotherapy & Counselling is not a same-day crisis service. The clinic email and phone is not monitored 24/7.
If you are in immediate danger please call 9-1-1, visit your nearest emergency room, or use the following resources for support:
National Suicide Helpline: Call or Text 9-8-8
Haldimand-Norfolk Crisis Assessment and Support (CAST): 866 487 2278
Brant Crisis Outreach and Support (COAST): 866 811 7188
ConnexOntario (Mental Health, Addiction, Crisis and Gambling support): connexontario.ca or 866 531 2600.