Therapy for body connection and coming home to yourself
Therapy for body connection is about the relationship you have with your body: whether it feels like an ally, a stranger or a source of pain, and how that relationship might soften and grow.
Some people describe their body as something they drag around, fight with or try to ignore. Others feel it was taken from them through illness, trauma, criticism or other people's expectations. Connection is not the same as control. In my New York practice, we explore your body's story with compassion and curiosity, so that living in your own skin can begin to feel more trusting, more respectful and more your own.
“Your body does not need to be fixed before you are allowed to live in it. Connection begins when it is treated as a companion rather than an opponent.”
We are not aiming for a perfect body or perfect feelings about it. We are aiming for a relationship you can actually live with.
Repairing the bond between you and your body
Body connection describes how safe, familiar and on your side your body feels. It is shaped by history, culture, identity and the way others have treated you.
Disconnection from the body is rarely random. It may have started with comments about weight or appearance, with an illness that made the body feel unreliable, with sexual harm, medical trauma, or with years of being told that your body was wrong for your gender, your sexuality or your culture. In response, many people learn to leave the body behind, living mainly in thought, achievement or caretaking.
Therapy for body connection treats that distance as meaningful. Rather than pushing you to love your body on command, we explore what happened between you and it, which messages you absorbed and what your body has been carrying on your behalf. From there, small experiences of safety and respect can begin to rebuild trust.
My background as a former LGBTQIA+ primary care provider and HIV specialist, together with my somatic training and feminist perspective, informs this work. I understand that bodies are political as well as personal, and I welcome bodies of every shape, size, ability, gender and history.
When your body has felt unsafe
After trauma, the body can feel like the place where harm happened, and so turning towards it may feel dangerous. Somatic work for body connection does not ask you to relive what happened. Instead, we look for small pockets of safety, such as the steadiness of your hands or the support of a chair, and let your body experience being cared for rather than threatened.
Gender, identity and belonging in the body
For trans, non-binary and gender-expansive people, body connection can be complex and deeply personal. Some aspects of the body may feel right while others bring distress. My role is to affirm your self-understanding and help you build a relationship with your body that honours who you are, wherever you are in your gender exploration or transition.
Shame, appearance and self-criticism
Constant self-scrutiny in mirrors, photos or other people's eyes can make the body feel like a problem to be solved. We explore where those standards came from, including cultural and gendered pressures, and gently practise relating to your body from the inside, through how it feels, rather than only through how it looks.
When your body feels like a stranger
Body disconnection shows up differently for everyone. It might be a constant background hostility towards your body, or a sense that it belongs to someone else. If several of these feel familiar, therapy for body connection could help you build a kinder, more trusting relationship with yourself.
- Treating your body as an enemy
- Feeling you live outside your body
- Shame about appearance or size
- Distrust after illness or injury
- Difficulty receiving touch or pleasure
- Body feels unsafe since trauma
- Ignoring pain until it forces attention
- Gender-related body distress
- Pushing through exhaustion habitually
Compassionate ways to reconnect
Our work is collaborative and moves at your pace. I combine somatic therapy, trauma-informed psychotherapy, mindfulness, and psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives, choosing the blend that suits your history and goals. There is no physical touch, and you are always in charge of what we explore.
Somatic reconnection
Gentle practices invite you to experience your body from the inside, through posture, movement and the sense of being supported. Each experience is small, chosen by you and paced so your body can register it as safe.
Exploring your body's story
We talk about the history of your relationship with your body: early messages, significant events and the ways others have responded to you. Understanding this story often eases self-blame.
Self-compassion
Compassion can feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable at first. We practise small acts of kindness towards your body, such as resting when tired or noticing what feels pleasant, building trust through action.
Choice and agency
Drawing on TCTSY principles, every invitation is optional. Practising choice over what your body does, even in small ways, can be profoundly reparative after experiences of control or harm.
Feminist and cultural lens
We look at how gender norms, beauty standards, racism, ableism and other social forces have shaped how you see your body, so you can separate their voice from your own.
Integrated psychiatric care
Depression, anxiety and trauma symptoms can deepen disconnection. I can assess these and discuss medication or supplements, carefully reviewed for interactions, to support the deeper work.
Relating to your body, not just sensing it
Body awareness work trains your ability to perceive sensation. Body connection goes further into trust, identity and belonging, the emotional relationship between you and your body.
Body connection
- How you feel about your body
- Repairing trust after harm or illness
- Easing shame and self-criticism
- Affirming gender and identity
- Feeling the body is truly yours
Increasing body awareness
- How well you notice sensation
- Catching stress signals early
- Putting sensations into words
- Pausing before you react
- Brief check-ins through the day
Taking the first gentle step
We start with conversation and only move into body-based work when you feel ready.
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1
Free consultation 15 minutes
We talk briefly about your relationship with your body and what you hope might change. You can ask anything about how somatic work feels and how I keep it safe and respectful.
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2
Hearing your body's history
In our first full session we explore your health history, significant experiences, identity and any current mental health concerns, so the work is grounded in a full understanding of you.
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3
Building trust gradually
Sessions blend conversation with brief, optional somatic invitations. We celebrate small moments of ease and take any discomfort seriously, adjusting the pace whenever needed.
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4
Living more embodied
As connection grows, we look at how it shows up in daily life: in rest, pleasure, movement, intimacy and self-care. The aim is a relationship with your body that continues to deepen beyond therapy.
Francesca Rome-Marie, PMHNP-BC
I bring together psychiatry, psychotherapy, somatic work and whole-body health, informed by years in primary care and further study in gender theory, feminist thought, culture and visual art.
I keep a deliberately small caseload so that every client receives consistent, unhurried and genuinely attentive care, held within one relationship rather than split across several providers.
Clear, upfront rates
I don't accept insurance. Modern Holistic Psychiatry is an out-of-network provider, so sessions are paid for directly. Depending on your plan, you may be able to claim reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits.
Find out how much your insurance may coverNeed urgent support? If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.
Therapy for Body Connection FAQs
What is therapy for body connection?
It is a therapeutic approach focused on your relationship with your body. We explore how that relationship has been shaped by experience, culture and identity, and use somatic practices, conversation and self-compassion to rebuild trust. The aim is not to make you love your body overnight, but to help it feel more like home and less like an adversary.
Is there any physical touch in sessions?
No. I do not use touch in therapy. Somatic work involves noticing, gentle movement you choose yourself and conversation about your experience. You remain fully clothed and in control of your own body throughout. This is especially important for people whose disconnection began with experiences of unwanted touch or loss of control.
Can body connection therapy help with body image concerns?
It can be a supportive part of addressing body image struggles. Instead of focusing only on changing thoughts about appearance, we work on experiencing your body from the inside and understanding where critical standards came from. If you are experiencing an eating disorder, specialised medical and nutritional care may also be needed, and I can help you think about that.
I am trans or non-binary. Is this work affirming for me?
Yes. My practice is LGBTQIA+ affirming, and I have extensive experience caring for trans and non-binary people from my years in primary care. We never treat your gender as something to be explained away. Instead, we explore your body in a way that respects your identity, whether that involves dysphoria, euphoria, transition or simply finding ease.
How is body connection different from body awareness?
Body awareness is mainly about perception: learning to notice and interpret sensations. Body connection is about relationship: how you feel towards your body, whether you trust it and whether it feels like yours. The two often support each other, and we may draw on both, but body connection places more emphasis on history, identity, shame and repair.
Can chronic illness affect body connection?
Very much so. Living with illness, pain or disability can make the body feel unreliable or like a source of betrayal. Medical settings can add experiences of being objectified. In therapy we acknowledge these losses honestly and look for ways of relating to your body that include its limits without defining you by them.
What if I feel nothing positive towards my body at all?
That is a completely valid place to start. We do not need to begin with love or even acceptance. Neutrality, or simply less hostility, is often a more realistic first goal. Many people find that small, concrete experiences of comfort, such as a warm drink or a supportive chair, quietly open the door to something kinder over time.
Begin a kinder relationship with your body
Book a free 15-minute consultation and we can talk about what body connection might look like for you.