Your Path to Healing
Individual Therapy with Dr. Rutstein
I’m Dr. Jeffrey Rutstein
For over four decades, I’ve had the privilege of helping people like you find clarity, meaning, and ease in their lives. I work with people who have experienced trauma and anxiety, shame, chronic illness, or chronic pain. The nervous system is the primary lens I look through when working with individual therapy clients. Together, we’ll work to move beyond feeling stuck, lost, or overwhelmed to a more balanced and regulated mind, body, and nervous system.
An Integrative Approach
I help my clients cultivate awareness of their nervous system states and then practice ways to respond. Over the four decades of working with people who have experienced trauma, anxiety, shame, and other struggles, I have found this integrative approach to be the most transformative and helpful in reducing suffering. My neuroscience-based approach makes sense and helps people see how the various issues they face often have a common root. This approach truly addresses the whole person - the mind, the body, the nervous system - the whole you. It accomplishes this by empowering you to befriend and work with your nervous system rather than against it.
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Understanding Somatic Therapy
Unlike traditional talk therapy, my approach engages your body’s sensations to uncover the underlying patterns that shape your thoughts and behaviors. Trauma can manifest as chronic nervous system dysregulation, affecting your emotions, physical health, and ability to connect with others. By working together to bring these unconscious patterns into awareness, we can help you experience shifts in how you respond to life’s challenges.
Who Can Benefit from This Approach?
I work with individuals dealing with a variety of issues, including:
Trauma and PTSD: If you’re struggling with the aftereffects of trauma, we’ll use gentle somatic techniques to help release the tension stored in your body.
Chronic Stress or Anxiety: If stress feels like a constant companion, I’ll guide you through body-centered practices to calm your nervous system.
Emotional Dysregulation: If you find it difficult to manage intense emotions, we’ll focus on expanding your window of tolerance for stress.
Feelings of Disconnection: If you feel numb or distant, our work together will help you reconnect with your body and emotions.
Chronic Pain or Chronic Illness: If physical symptoms are impacting your quality of life, we’ll explore the mind-body connection to alleviate discomfort.
Reactivity, Shame, Self-judgment, Perfectionism: If you find your quality of life limited by reactivity, shame, self-judgment, or perfectionism, we’ll help you understand the underlying process that maintains those habits and ways to shift and change your response.
Addictions to activities or substances: I view addictions as an attempt to self-soothe the nervous system, and to decrease feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, and/or despair. My nervous system approach offers a direct and empowering way to grow your ability to self-soothe and manage your emotional dysregulation in healthier and less self-defeating ways.
My Therapeutic Process
During our sessions, we’ll co-create healing experiences based on the modalities that best suit your needs. I’ll help you become aware of your current nervous system state, what the messages of that state are, and how to shift from a dysregulated state to a regulated one. I may guide you through mindfulness exercises to help you tune into your body’s sensations and emotions, as well as practices to help you shift your state. I’ll help you stay present and grounded, ensuring you feel safe and supported as we navigate this process. My goal is to help you allow these patterns to shift naturally, leading to more adaptive responses and greater resilience while also developing a deeper understanding of the process of your nervous system.
Healing Trauma Together
Trauma impacts nearly every aspect of life, often leading to feelings of disconnection, low energy, and self-doubt. I believe therapy must address these effects at its root by working with the body and nervous system to restore balance. I’ll help you navigate this journey compassionately, drawing from my extensive experience to guide you toward long-term growth and healing.
Frequently Asked Questions
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In somatic therapy, the body is a key resource for uncovering unconscious patterns. We focus on present-moment experiences rather than just discussing thoughts or emotions, allowing for deeper and more integrated changes.
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Absolutely. I specialize in working with trauma, using gentle and mindful techniques to help you process and heal from traumatic experiences in a safe and supportive environment.
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A typical session involves connecting with where you are emotionally and physically, and some mindfulness exercises to explore the sensations, emotions, or images that arise. We’ll work together to bring your nervous system state into awareness, where the state can be transformed in a safe and manageable way.
Let’s Work Together
You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Whether you’re dealing with trauma, chronic stress, Chronic illness or pain, reactivity, shame, self-judgment, perfectionism, addictions to activities or substances or a sense of disconnection, my integrative approach to therapy offers a path to greater well-being. If you’re ready to start your healing journey, I’m here to support you.
Take the first step toward reclaiming a more connected, authentic life.