Somatic Therapy
JULIE CHAHAL, LPC, SEP
Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner
I’m a body-based therapist with more than 15,000 clinical hours and three years of training in Somatic Experiencing®. Somatic work is the focus of my practice.
A lot of my clients come in already understanding the problem.
They know why they overthink. They know where the pressure comes from. They’ve talked about the past. They may even be able to explain their patterns with incredible insight.
And yet understanding doesn’t fix it. The body is still reacting.
They wake up tired. They can’t turn off. They’re constantly thinking, bracing, pushing, or preparing for what comes next.
CLIENTS COME TO ME FOR:
Always thinking or overthinking
Difficulty relaxing
Feeling constantly under pressure
Solving everyone else’s problems while your own needs stay on hold
Waking up without feeling refreshed
Carrying a lot of responsibility
Feeling reactive in relationships
Being the one who holds everything together
A nervous system that never seems to fully settle
Talk therapy that helped them understand the problem but didn’t create enough change
Sometimes your mind already understands what happened.
Your body just hasn’t gotten the message yet.
WHEN TALKING ABOUT IT HASN’T BEEN ENOUGH
Your nervous system learns from experience.
If staying prepared kept you from making mistakes, pushing through helped you function, or staying useful helped you feel secure, your body may have learned to remain ready even when there is no immediate threat.
That can look like tension, overthinking, shutting down, reacting quickly, struggling to rest, or feeling pressure even when everything around you seems fine.
I don’t believe those symptoms are random.
“I’m not going to spend an entire session simply asking where you feel something in your body.”
WHAT SOMATIC THERAPY WITH ME IS LIKE
I am a body-based therapist.
We will talk, of course, but this is not traditional talk therapy.
You may come in talking about what is happening now, and from there we can work through the mind or directly through what is happening in the body.
Often, we trace the response back to where the pattern first developed and work with it there.
I’m collaborative, and I always go at your pace.
I’m also directive.
Many clients begin noticing relief within the first few sessions.
Modalities I Use In Therapy
EMDR
I also use EMDR when past experiences continue to feel active in the present.
EMDR helps us work with memories, beliefs, and nervous-system responses that may still be shaping the way you react today.
Somatic Therapy With Results
The goal isn’t simply to make a symptom disappear.
It’s to help your system stop working so hard to protect you.
AFTER WORKING TOGETHER, CLIENTS REPORT:
Feeling lighter
More capacity
Staying driven with less internal pressure
More ability to pause before fixing or taking responsibility
More trust in yourself
An easier time relaxing
Clear decisions and less decision fatigue
More sustainable energy
Better connection in relationships
Feeling more grounded when conflict comes up
When your nervous system isn’t constantly bracing, you have more room to actually live your life.
About Me
Hi, I’m Julie.
I know this work from the inside too.
I’ve done my own somatic work around chronic tension, learning to stay grounded during conflict, tying identity to success, looking for safety in achievement, and learning to trust myself more deeply.
That work shapes the way I practice.
I believe the best therapists continue doing their own work because we can only take clients as far as we’ve been willing to go ourselves.
I’m interested in getting underneath your patterns, not just giving you another way to manage it.
Outside of therapy, I live in Fort Worth with my husband and our lab mix, Charlie.
I’m an outside girlie. I garden, walk along the river every day, boat, swim, and spend as much time outside as I can.
I also read a lot of biographies, especially biographies of founders. Entrepreneurship runs in my family, my siblings, parents, and grandparents are entrepreneurs too.
Education, Trainings, & Credentials
Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner
Three years of Somatic Experiencing® training
Texas Licensed Professional Counselor, License #72463
Practicing since 2013
15,000+ clinical hours
EMDRIA Certified Therapist™
Advanced EMDR certification through EMDR International Association
Advanced coursework and professional training in neuroscience and subconscious patterning
Master of Arts in Professional Counseling, Amberton University
Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication, Texas A&M University
4 Steps To Get Started
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Reach out and tell me a little about what’s been happening and what you want to change.
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We’ll talk about what’s bringing you in and whether my approach feels like the right fit.
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We’ll look at the pattern that keeps showing up and begin working with the memory, body, and nervous system responses that may be keeping it in place.
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We’ll use Somatic Experiencing®, EMDR, and body-based work to help get the pattern unstuck so you have more capacity, choice, and ease.