Get unstuck. Find more ease. Feel more alive.

Helping you regulate an overworked nervous system.

In-person therapy for adults in Athens, GA and online across Georgia

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

Woman sits on a bench, facing away, overlooking mountains and sunset

  • You feel stuck. You work so hard trying to feel better, but still feel on edge and exhausted.

  • You feel like you can’t keep up. How is everyone else doing this? You’re burnt out, white-knuckling through every day.

  • You’re tense and always braced for impact. You worry that if you relax, everything might fall apart.

  • You’ve developed chronic pain and unexplained symptoms. You’ve tried everything - nothing seems to help consistently.

  • You’ve been in therapy before and you know all the “right” things. But that knowledge hasn’t changed how you feel day to day.

You’re not alone, and you’re not broken. Your overworked nervous system learned to stay alert and on guard, but it can also learn a new way to feel safe.

HOW I HELP:

Supporting Your Nervous System with Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is not your typical talk therapy. While there can be plenty of talking involved, we have many more tools to meet and support your body and nervous system right where they are. 

I won’t just listen and nod along; I’ll be actively tracking your nervous system states and responses throughout each session. As trauma patterns emerge, I gently intervene to help you move out of survival mode and toward more regulation, capacity, and aliveness — without having to solely think your way there. Over time, your body stops feeling braced for impact and starts to feel like your ally, on your side instead of against you.

See how this works →

MY SPECIALTIES

  • Maybe you can point to the traumatic event that changed everything. Or maybe it's harder to name - a lifetime of feeling unsafe or unsupported, with no single moment to blame. Often, it's both.

    Either way, complex trauma (CPTSD) can leave you swinging between feeling on-edge and totally shut down. Trauma therapy that works with the nervous system - not just the story - can offer a way off that rollercoaster and toward real stability.

  • Your body has been through it - poked, prodded, and in pain for longer than you can stand. You're exhausted. You've tried everything, and no one seems to fully understand or help.

    That lack of support has kept your nervous system locked in tension and fatigue just to survive. Therapy for chronic pain and medical trauma can help your body regulate (even with pain still present), and start to shift that cycle.

  • Does it feel like you can never keep up? You look around, and everyone else seems to have it together but you. From the outside you appear successful, but inside you feel like you're barely holding it together.

    As responsibilities pile up (often following a late diagnosis of ADHD or autism) the constant effort of masking is finally catching up with you, and you're burnt out. Whether you're autistic, have ADHD, or identify as AuDHD, neurodivergent-affirming therapy can help - you don't have to mask in session and you'll learn strategies tailored for your brain.

  • You hold space for others all day, every day. You know all the "right" interventions, but living them yourself is a different story.

    Therapy for therapists means going deeper than the CBT techniques you learned in school, helping you integrate your expertise from the inside out. Rather than striving to apply what you know, you can learn to simply embody it.

I help you get unstuck.

I specialize in working with folks who have been fighting to hold it all together for so long that it starts to wear on their bodies. I draw on both professional and lived experience to help you reconnect with your body as your ally and find more sustainable ways to navigate our stressful world.

I do this work because I've been stuck, too. SE helped me feel steady in my own body again and show up more fully for myself and my clients. This experience shapes a gentle but effective approach — one that gives you the tools to actually embody the work in a way that leads to real, lasting change.

Hi, I’m Joy Johnson

Headshot of Joy Johnson, smiling. 
Joy Johnson, LCSW, SEP                             Working in mental health since 2010

You don’t have to stay stuck.

Imagine working with your body instead of against it.

—

A free consultation is a low-pressure way to see whether somatic therapy with me is the right fit. No commitment, just a conversation about where you are and where you’d like to be.

Schedule Your Free Consultation