Let’s transform through safety and connection.

Meet Lakeisha Barnes, integrative somatic therapist in Boston and across MA and NC for anxiety and attachment & relationships.

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You’re looking to go further and deeper than you have before.

Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy is for those who

  • Know themselves well, but keep repeating behaviors and patterns they don’t want

  • Feel a lot of anxiety and have tried talking yourself out of it

  • Don’t understand what “feel your emotions” really mean

  • Are afraid of emotion

  • Have experiences that they don’t want to share certain details about

  • Welcome including their body as well as their mind In their therapy 

  • Are open to experiencing emotional shifts

  • Want to address deeply felt experiences like abandonment, shame, grief, sadness, anxiety and panic

When insight alone isn’t enough.

What you can expect:

If you’ve felt your throat get tight before you people please, your chest consistently get heavy when you experience a lot of anxiety, or even feel yourself go numb when you’re around certain people, etc. that’s information from your body that we will get curious about and work through in real-time.

It means that we will intentionally notice your breathing, tension and other sensations and integrate mindfulness, movement, grounding and other unique ways to foster your safety and connection.

You might hear me say something like:

Can we stay with the tightness for a moment without trying to fix it?

or

I noticed your voice changed when you said that, can you share what you notice about your voice?

Ultimately, you’ll get to talk through and feel through your experiences.

There’s no way for you to get it “wrong”. As long as you are a human with a body, you can do this work.

Let's Work Together

In our work together, we will:

  • Explore and take emotional risks with the comfort of the relationship being right there to support you. 

  • Actively engage, connect and process inside your experience.

  • Gently handle fear, anger, shame, sadness, frustration and self-criticism.

  • See the typically unseen and rare moments of you without judgment.

Our Goal

Integrative somatic psychotherapy builds increased internal awareness and slows your automatic responses. This creates more options for you to be able to understand your needs better, fully feel your emotions with greater confidence and shift how you respond to yourself and others in real time.

You’ll find your way. I’ll help you.

Specialities

Attachment & Relationship Therapy

Anxiety

Grief

Trauma

Methods

AEDP

Go deeper into your emotional change using the trust and safety of the therapeutic relationship to have new restorative experiences.

Brainspotting

Process and relieve symptoms of trauma, anxiety and grief through felt sensations in your body.

Trauma Resiliency Model

Learn gentle, effective and culturally sensitive skills in response to difficult situations and traumatic stress by exploring, assessing and responding to your nervous system while creating safety and natural pacing.

A.C.T.

Increase psychological flexibility and decrease suffering by embracing your values despite life’s pain.

Somatic Embodiment and Regulation Certificate via Linda Thai

Re-orient your nervous system to expand capacity and internal awareness.

Therapy Wisdom

  • Be Curious

    Remain curious and open. See yourself on a new route on a train, watching whatever the train passes out the window and not being concerned with “fixing” or trying to make sense of what you see; even if things out of the window seem intense or weird. We won’t have to make sense of everything that we see on the way, but we know the way to make it to the new destination is to keep going.

  • Surrender

    Your brain and body can handle your emotion and I’ll be with you to help you hold it. It’s less about trusting whether you’re doing it “right” and more about trusting yourself to allow yourself to feel. Sensations, emotions or the desire to move, shake etc. may come up. You’re encouraged to give in to what your experience needs and is asking of you. The train knows where it’s going, we just have to be willing to go.

  • Be Seen

    Where will I be? I will be present and attentive to you while processing in session. You will feel me being patient and supportive. You will never be alone in session; I’ll be on the train with you.

  • Embrace Silence

    There can be long moments of silence. You and I can be extremely patient with you taking the time to get comfortable and managing your anxiety with the silence. Silence can show us many things about your internal experience. We just have to be willing to embrace it!

Feel relief in the depth.

Let's Get Started

Credentials

  • Education and Licensure

    • MA LICSW 125682

    • NC LCSW C013575

    • BSW University of Alabama at Birmingham

    • MSW University of Alabama

  • Training & Certifications

    • Brainspotting, Certified

    • AEDP, Level 3

    • Trauma Resiliency Model, Level 1

    • EMDR, Phase 1 + 2

    • Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship

    • Linda Thai’s Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation