My interest in embodied psychotherapy emerged gradually, through both clinical work and personal experience.
As I moved through traditional psychotherapy training, I became increasingly aware of a recurring pattern, both in myself and in the clients I was seeing. Insight was present. Language was present. Understanding was present. And yet, for many, the felt experience of change remained limited. Patterns were named, but not always transformed.
In my own life, I noticed a similar divide. While I could articulate what I was thinking and feeling, my body told a different story that was marked by tension, fatigue, and a sense of disconnection that insight alone did not resolve.
This gap became central to my clinical curiosity. It raised a fundamental question: What supports change that is not only understood, but lived?
That question led me toward somatic and neuroscience-informed approaches that attend directly to the nervous system and the body’s role in how experience is organized. As these methods became part of my own practice and my work with clients, the difference was clear. When the body is included, change becomes more stable, integrated, and sustainable.
This work is the result of that integration—bringing together depth-oriented psychotherapy, neuroscience, and embodied practice in a way that respects both complexity and pace.
I'm Alex. I work with women and teenage girls who are insightful and capable, but feel disconnected from their bodies or stuck in patterns that don't shift from insight alone. Much of my work focuses on bridging that gap: between insight and experience, reflection and embodiment, coping and integration.
meet the founder
As attention returns to the body in a gradual, respectful way, something begins to shift. Sensation becomes more accessible again. Emotional experience gains nuance. What had been muted or held at a distance starts to come back online—not as intensity or catharsis, but as responsiveness and presence.
This isn’t about chasing pleasure or peak experiences. It’s about restoring access to a fuller range of experience—one that is felt, embodied, and sustainable. This depth, lived rather than conceptual, is what many people are seeking when insight alone no longer feels sufficient.
These protective patterns often develop early, shaped by relationships, expectations, and environments where it wasn’t fully safe to feel, express, or slow down. Over time, they become familiar—so familiar that they can begin to feel like personality, temperament, or simply “how I am.”
Because these responses live in the body, they don’t reliably shift through awareness alone. You can recognize the pattern, understand where it came from, and still find yourself responding in the same way. This isn’t resistance or lack of effort—it’s the nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do to keep you functioning.
When the body is approached with patience and attunement, rather than pressure, it gains the conditions it needs to update. New sensations become possible. Emotional experience expands. Responses that once felt automatic begin to loosen—not through force, but through felt safety and integration.
This understanding is what informs how I work—slowly, collaboratively, and with the utmost respect for the body.
Much of what we experience as disconnection is not a failure of insight, but a protective response held in the body.
This is what I came to understand—both personally and through my clinical work. When the body has learned to stay guarded or tense, experience naturally narrows. Sensation dulls. Emotional range contracts. Life can begin to feel distant or muted—not because something is wrong, but because the system is doing what it learned to do to cope.
Often, these changes begin quietly. A pause where there used to be reactivity. An increased capacity to notice discomfort without shutting down. A growing trust in internal cues that were once ignored or overridden. Over time, these small moments accumulate, reshaping how safety, agency, and choice are experienced.
Rather than learning new ways to override symptoms, clients often begin to recognize and respond to their internal cues with more trust. Change emerges not as a dramatic breakthrough, but as something lived and integrated—felt in how stress is navigated, how boundaries are held, and how emotions are experienced.
These shifts tend to last because they are learned by the body, not just understood by the mind.
Integrating this work into my own life changed how I relate to stress, emotion, and pace. I learned what it means to listen rather than override—to respond rather than push through. That lived understanding continues to inform how I show up with clients: attentive, grounded, and patient with the body’s process.
Over time, many clients notice a change in how they relate to themselves and their experiences. Patterns that once felt automatic begin to soften. Emotional responses become easier to stay with. There is often a growing sense of steadiness, clarity, and internal space.
For some, this looks like finally being able to process experiences that had been avoided or held at a distance. For others, it’s the ability to feel more present in their bodies, relationships, and daily lives—without needing to push or over-manage their emotions.
WHAT TENDS TO SHIFT
A dual Columbia graduate, my training integrates traditional psychotherapy with neuroscience. My clinical work has focused on anxiety and stress-related conditions, depression, low self-esteem, grief, and trauma—areas where the nervous system plays a central role in shaping experience.
Earlier in my career, I served in the military and later worked within the VA setting, providing psychotherapy to veterans navigating PTSD. That work profoundly shaped how I understand the body’s response to prolonged stress and trauma, and reinforced the limits of approaches that rely on insight alone.
This led me to pursue advanced training in neuroscience and somatic approaches that attend directly to the mind–body connection. While talking and reflection are essential, they are not sufficient on their own. Incorporating the body allows the work to reach the level where patterns are actually held—and where meaningful, lasting change becomes possible.
This way of working didn’t come from theory alone. It was shaped through years of clinical practice, advanced training, and sustained contact with the realities of trauma, stress, and the nervous system.
The foundation beneath this work matters—because depth requires grounding.
expertise
That's why I believe we absolutely must incorporate the body if we want to show up and feel differently.
Client retention rate after first month
94%
average client decrease in PHQ score
5.3
average client decrease in GAD SCORE
4.8
satisfied clients served
130+
average client satisfaction rate
4.9
master of social work, columbia univ.
msc
master of neuroscience, columbia univ.
msc
completed sessions to date
3000+
my credentials
2010
I graduated high school and joined the military, enlisting in the Air Force! With little resources, but big dreams - I needed a way to fund my education.
The Timeline
Through the years
I finished my four-year enlistment and moved out to Spain to teach English whilst finishing up the last of my bacehlor's degree. Both my body and my spirit needed a little re-set after what was an intense experience!
2014
Completed my bachelor's degree in Psychology, alas feeling like I was making moves towards my mission!
2015
After spending about two years in Barcelona, I moved to New York and enrolled in the post-bacc pre-med program at Columbia University! (At the time, I thought I still wanted to go on to medical school to be a Psychiatrist.)
2016
Plot twist! After years of sleepless nights, my body was begging me for a better way, and I decided to pivot slightly and instead enrolled in Columbia's Social Work program to do psychotherapy. I also got certified to be a mindfulness meditation teacher, understanding firsthand the importance of a holistic approach to wellbeing.
2019
I finished my graduate studies and began working as a full-time psychotherapist! At this time, I also began intensive somatic training to use in tandem with my work.
2021
Fascinated with the brain-body connection, I decided to pursue another graduate degree to further dive into my studies and enrolled in the Neuroscience program at Columbia University.
2023
I launched Ritualize!!! A dream of mine for well over a decade! While there were lots of twists and turns along the way, we arrived... and yet? The journey continues!
2025
Can't wait to see what else unfolds along the way...
here & now
Finally lighting my beautiful candles
Making my own jewelry
That first sip of coffee
Meditating and taking time to recharge
Reading psycho-thrillers in Autumn
Journaling my morning pages
Enjoying a long sauna session
Summers by the beach
My favorite things in life look a little like this.
from our wonderful clients
“Alex holds a deeply embodied presence. I always felt safe and held throughout our sessions, and truly understood in the process.”
“I can’t thank you enough for being such a meaningful support. Alex is exceptional at what she does, and her impact is undeniable.”
“I’m deeply grateful for your support over the years. I’ve worked with several therapists, but I’ve never felt so genuinely understood.”
My role is not to fix or direct, but to offer a steady, attuned presence—one that helps you stay with your experience as it unfolds. Through conversation and embodied awareness, we work together to notice patterns, soften protective responses, and create space for something new to emerge.
If you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, or navigating a period of transition, this work offers a place to slow down, orient inward, and begin relating to yourself with more clarity and ease.
I’ve spent over 3,000 sessions sitting with clients—listening closely, tracking what’s happening beneath the words, and supporting change at a pace the body can trust.
It means working together in a way that supports both understanding and felt change. Our work integrates reflective conversation with gentle, body-based practices that help the nervous system settle and reorganize over time.
Rather than focusing on fixing or overriding symptoms, this approach supports you in learning how to listen to and work with your body—so responses that once felt automatic can begin to soften. As awareness deepens, emotional experience becomes more accessible, and change is felt not just in insight, but in how you move through daily life.
Through a combination of relational support and embodied practice, many clients develop a steadier connection to themselves, greater trust in their internal cues, and a sense of change that feels sustainable rather than forced. If you’re seeking a slower, more grounded way of working—one that honors both insight and experience—this approach may be a good fit.
This work is collaborative, paced, and shaped around what your system is ready for—supporting growth that unfolds gradually and stays with you.
So, what does this mean for you?
