Have you met the owners and founders of Envision?
Envision Counseling Clinic was founded in 2014 by Steve and Veronica Johnson. The vision was to create a community of fun-loving Christian therapists that could support each other and provide trustworthy counseling in Castle Rock. Since then we’ve expanded to Dillon and the Park Meadows area. Envision Counseling Clinic is bringing hope to our local communities. People all across Colorado come to us when they have done all they know to do and are still stuck. We help clients find relief, face their challenges, and forge a new path: a path they couldn’t envision alone, a path that leads to life. Our therapists specialize in integrating Christian beliefs with sound psychological research, and respect the complicated nature of our clients’ concerns. By bringing together psychologists with counselors who have a wide range of specialties, our Christian counseling center is able to help our clients open up new possibilities and move forward.
This therapy community has been carefully curated and is growing! Partnering with like-minded individuals, churches, and professionals is key to getting people in need connected to the right therapist in our office. Living in Colorado and all it has to offer with their three kiddos has the Johnsons going all the time. If you are looking for quality therapy care, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to getting you on the best path and on to the best version of you!
Signs of a Dysregulated Nervous System| by Marissa Halstead
As a therapist, one of the phrases that I hear the most from my clients is, “Why do I feel like this?” Many people report having physical sensations that just will not go away. This can leave us feeling confused and discouraged, almost like our brain and bodies aren’t connected. Thankfully, there is an answer to most of these complaints! I do not claim to be a medical professional, so if you feel like your struggles are medical, please seek a professional opinion. But from what I’ve noticed as a therapist, usually these bodily sensations have to do with the nervous system.
Most of us have probably made it this far past high school anatomy class without thinking about the function of the nervous system. The nervous system is full of electrical and chemical signals that connect messages from the brain to the rest of the body. The brain largely controls everything about us, how we feel, think, move, and learn. Our nervous system is what is responsible for when we feel our body ramp up and then the process of calming back down.
Within the nervous system there is the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), the peripheral nervous system (muscles and movement), and autonomic nervous system (involuntary body functions). I will be focusing on the autonomic nervous system. Simply, the autonomic nervous system controls the reactions that we don’t consciously think about and can be broken up into two categories: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for ramping us up, particularly the fight/flight/freeze response. The ramping up of the nervous system is usually when our brain signals to us that there is something dangerous and that we need to self-protect. In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system is what is responsible for calming us down. When we are calm, we breathe slower and our body feels relaxed and rested.
This information about the autonomic nervous system is helpful to understand, especially for the symptoms I stated at the beginning; physical sensations can be confusing when we feel like the sensation does not match what we are feeling. For example, anxiety can often be described as the miscommunication between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. There are many signs of a dysregulated nervous system. Laying the groundwork is important for understanding the nervous system, why it’s important, and how things are ideally supposed to function within our bodies.
Many of us struggle with bodily sensations that we do not quite understand and it could be the nervous system telling us that something is wrong.
Before I go more into the actual signs of a dysregulated nervous system, I want to give you a word of encouragement. Your body is a good body. Just because you are struggling with bodily sensations that cause you stress, that does not mean that there is something wrong with you. Our bodies are trying to give us signals and sometimes those signals are intense, but hopefully lead us to a path of curiosity and healing. Below are the signs and symptoms of a body that has a dysregulated nervous system:
● Overly intense emotions
● Impulsive behavior
● Lack of emotional awareness
● Trouble making decisions
● Inability to manage behavior
● Avoidance of difficult emotions
If you read anything on this list and thought to yourself, “This is me,” you might have a dysregulated nervous system. Largely this can explain why some people can keep it together in something stressful, while others completely fall apart. All in all, it is the heightened sensitivity to any stimuli. Along with this list, there is often a host of bodily sensations that go along with these signs. This can include sweating, an increased heart rate, tingling in the hands and/or feet, feeling restless (unable to sit still), and shallow breathing. Even though these signs and symptoms are uncomfortable, your body makes sense. The nervous system tries to protect us from potential harm, so if you find yourself having any of these symptoms, your body might be sensing perceived physical, emotional, or psychological danger.
Like I said earlier, this is something to be curious about. If you feel like your reactions to things are not proportionate to the event at hand, it might be helpful to talk to a licensed counselor. A dysregulated nervous system can be healed and become regulated again, but this often takes time, care, and attunement from a trusted source. Here at Envision Counseling Clinic, we would love to schedule with you so that you can better understand your symptoms and your story so that you can lead an overall more fulfilling life.
