How ISTDP Goes Beyond Talk Therapy – For Bay Area Locals Ready For Change
If you’re someone who deals with constant worry, overthinking, or tension that never seems to fully go away (even if you’ve tried therapy before), you’re not alone. Many of us living in the Bay Area - and beyond - live in a fast-paced, high-achieving environment where anxiety is often silently brewing beneath the surface.
At Rooted Soul Therapy, I work with individuals who are ready to get to the root of what’s keeping them stuck. One of the most powerful tools I use in this work is Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) — a modality that helps you move through anxiety by uncovering and working with the unconscious emotional patterns underneath it.
Let’s talk about what ISTDP is, how it helps with anxiety, and how this approach might support you in a deeper, lasting way.
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What Is ISTDP?
ISTDP stands for Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. It’s an evidence-based, experiential form of therapy designed to help people access and process deep emotional truths that are often outside of conscious awareness.
While the name might sound clinical & intimidating, the work itself is deeply human.
ISTDP is different from traditional talk therapy in that it’s more engaged, focused, and emotionally attuned. Together, we slow things down to really notice what’s happening in your body, your thoughts, and your emotional experience—especially in the moments you feel disconnected, anxious, or stuck. The goal isn’t to analyze or overthink, but to feel through and free up what’s been held inside.
At Rooted Soul Therapy, I often blend ISTDP with somatic awareness practices and Brainspotting, allowing us to follow your body’s natural healing pathways and access emotional processing stored in deeper parts of the brain and nervous system.
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How ISTDP Supports Anxiety
Anxiety is often a signal from the nervous system that there’s something inside trying to emerge—an emotion, a need, or an internal conflict. But for many of us, especially if we’ve grown up in environments where emotions weren’t safe or welcome, we’ve learned to push those feelings down.
Over time, that emotional suppression can build up as chronic anxiety, panic, physical tension, or a sense of overwhelm.
ISTDP gently works with these blocks by helping you:
Notice how anxiety shows up in your body
Understand the unconscious defenses keeping you from deeper emotion
Access and safely process the feelings underneath the anxiety (often grief, anger, sadness, or fear)
Reclaim a sense of groundedness, clarity, and inner freedom
The work is paced with your nervous system in mind, and we always move at a rate that feels safe and supportive.
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Common Questions About ISTDP and Therapy with me:
“I’ve done therapy before, but I still feel stuck. How is this different?”
Fair question. ISTDP goes beyond insight and conversation. It helps you experience the emotional truth of what’s been held inside — not just talk about it. Many people come to this work after feeling like they’ve intellectually understood their problems but still feel unchanged at a deeper level. ISTDP can help shift that by utilizing your gained awareness to choose turning toward feeling.
“Will I have to relive past trauma?”
Not at all. The goal isn’t to relive trauma, but to complete emotional experiences that may have gotten frozen in time. We follow your system’s signals and only go as far as your nervous system is ready for.
“What if I don’t know what I’m feeling?”
That’s actually really common — and a big part of the work. ISTDP helps you gently reconnect with your emotional self, even if you've felt numb, cut off, or overwhelmed by feelings in the past.
“Is it okay if I’m skeptical or nervous?”
Absolutely. Part of ISTDP is exploring these inner conflicts—wanting help while also feeling unsure or guarded. Your ambivalence is welcome in the room. Therapy doesn’t require you to be “all in” from day one, just willing to be curious & intentional about what comes next.
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Why In-Person ISTDP, right here in the Bay Area, Can Offer Unique Depth
Personally, I feel that there’s something powerful about doing this work in person. There’s a groundedness that happens when we’re in the same room together. Subtle cues from your breath, posture, eye gaze, and nervous system are easier to attune to in person. This allows us to work more precisely and gently with the anxiety you're experiencing, where moment-to-moment presence is key.
Living in the Bay Area, many of us are navigating the tension between high performance and inner disconnection. It’s not uncommon to be the “go-to” person at work or the one holding it all together for others—while silently struggling with anxiety or burnout. Constant stimulation, pressure to succeed, high cost of living, and cultural norms that prize intellect over emotion are just a few staple traits of the Silicon Valley (don’t get me wrong - along with amazing community, stellar food, captivating art, and breathtaking destinations throughout). The bay is complex, but we are happy to be here! Many of my clients are high-achieving, thoughtful, and sensitive — people who appear “fine” on the outside but feel overwhelmed or disconnected on the inside. There’s hope for help……
This work is for you, too.
In fact, ISTDP is especially helpful for adults like this. It provides a structured but compassionate space to feel, release, and reconnect.
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What to Expect in Our Work Together
In our first session, we’ll explore what’s holding you back and what you’re hoping to shift. You don’t have to have all the answers. I’ll guide you in noticing how anxiety is showing up and what your system might be protecting you from. It’s a collaborative process, and we go at a pace that feels supportive for you.
The process at Rooted Soul Therapy is relational, trauma-informed, and deeply grounded in helping you feel safe enough to face what’s been buried — and powerful enough to move through it.
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Ready to Explore ISTDP?
If you’re feeling stuck in anxiety or ready to explore a more embodied, and emotionally honest way of healing, I invite you to reach out for a free consultation. Together, we can see if my blend of ISTDP & some sprinkled in Brainspotting is the right fit for you.
You don’t have to keep living in survival mode. Real & lasting change is possible — and it begins with a space that’s safe enough for your full self to be seen, felt, and heard.
Feel free to contact me here: READY > to schedule a consultation. I offer in-person sessions in downtown Los Gatos and would be honored to walk with you on your journey toward inner freedom and alignment.
You don’t have to carry the weight of anxiety alone…
Your body is wise.
ALL of your emotions matter.
And a rooted soul is possible.
