Thawing the Freeze: Healing Numbness & Dorsal Vagal Shutdown
Have you ever felt as though you were watching your life through a foggy window? Perhaps you’ve experienced a sense of being "checked out," heavy-limbed, or emotionally blank. This happens even when you know you should be feeling something.
“Numbness isn’t a lack of feeling; it is a profound protective response. Your body hasn’t failed you—it has simply hit a biological circuit breaker to keep you safe from a ‘voltage’ of stress it wasn’t meant to carry.”
In therapy, we often call this numbness, but biologically, it is a sophisticated survival strategy known as Dorsal Vagal Shutdown.
What is Dorsal Vagal Shutdown?
Most people are familiar with "Fight or Flight" (the Sympathetic nervous system). But when a threat, which could be a past trauma or a modern-day pile-up of chronic stress, feels too big to outrun, the body chooses a third option: The Freeze.
This is the "Dorsal Vagal" state. It acts like a biological circuit breaker. To protect you from overwhelming pain or terror, the brain dials down your heart rate and metabolic activity. You aren't "unfeeling"; your system has decided that "going quiet" and “playing possum” is the safest way to survive.
Individual Specialized Care: Tailoring the "Thaw"
Undoing a biological shutdown is a delicate process. Because numbness is a physical state, "thinking" your way out of it rarely works. We offer specialized, individual therapy sessions that allow for a deep, one-on-one focus on your specific nervous system:
Somatic Experiencing (SE™): In individual sessions, we work with the autonomic nervous system's "fight, flight, or freeze" responses. We look for tiny "pendulations", small moments of warmth or breath, to release stored survival energy slowly.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: This individual approach focuses on the body's posture and movement patterns related to trauma. By noticing these physical cues, we can access and heal wounds that words alone cannot reach.
Individual DBT Skills: For those needing structured emotional regulation, our clinicians (intensively trained by Behavioral Tech) provide one-on-one DBT and CBT to help you regain control when emotions (or numbness) show up.
The Somatic Skills Group
For those also looking for an introduction to this work, we offer an 8-week virtual intensive called Somatic Skills. Led by Martha Jimenez, LCSW, SEP, this group provides a warm, professional environment to learn the fundamentals of nervous system regulation alongside others on a similar journey.
The Path Back to Connection
Coming out of numbness can feel vulnerable. As the "thaw" happens, it is common for emotions that were frozen, such as grief, anger, or even joy, to start flowing again. Whether you choose the focused path of individual SE, Sensorimotor, or DBT therapy, or the community of our Somatic Skills group, our goal is to help you move from a state of survival back into a life of vibrant connection.
