Notes from the Collective.
Writing on care, practice, and the spaces in between — from clinicians, practitioners, and the people we serve.
Somatic Series- Part 3
Sometimes the body stays on alert long after the danger has passed. That’s where neuroception comes in — the nervous system’s way of detecting safety or threat. Healing isn’t only about understanding safety intellectually. It involves practicing moments of safety for our nervous system.
Somatic Series- Part 2
Polyvagal Theory helps explain why we respond differently to stress, danger, connection, and overwhelm — describing three nervous system states that are each designed to help us survive.
Somatic Series- Part 1
When the Mind Feels Safe but the Body Doesn’t. Throughout this somatic series, we’ll break down the basics of nervous system regulation, trauma responses, body awareness, and the mind-body connection in a way that feels approachable, grounded, and practical.
Awareness was never the problem
A month of "you're not alone" posts, and still no one to call. The gap in mental health care was never awareness — it's the handoff. Here's the fix.
On building a front door for care
I made a spreadsheet to find a therapist. Thirty-two emails, nine replies, two openings — both at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, when I worked. I closed the spreadsheet.
How to tell if you need a somatic practitioner or a talk therapist
Two years in talk therapy telling the story rather than feeling it. The pain kept living in my chest and the muscles around my jaw, where words don't go.
Insurance vs. cash-pay therapy: a real comparison
A friend texted me her therapy bill last fall: $185, the third week in a row. The honest opening isn't a comparison of prices. It's a comparison of access.
What an intake call should actually feel like — a therapist answers
Most people hang up from their first intake call and have no idea if it went well. A therapist walks us through what's supposed to happen.
On waiting lists, and the small, undignified math of trying to be seen
I was number 47. The wait was eleven weeks. The waiting itself was doing work on me — pre-shrinking the help to fit the diminished version of me.