When My Chiropractor Mansplained the Impact of Emotional Trauma to Me, a somatic therapist.
At my last chiropractic appointment, I made the mistake of mentioning what I do for work.
I say mistake loosely — because what followed was a surprisingly earnest, unprompted, and fairly detailed explanation of the mind-body connection. From my chiropractor. To me. A somatic therapist who has spent years studying exactly this.
He never paused long enough for me to clarify that this is, in fact, my field. So I sat and listened. Partly because there was no opening. And partly because — honestly? It was kind of nice. He wasn't wrong. And there's something quietly validating about hearing the thing you've dedicated your clinical work to being confirmed by someone whose entire job is about the physical body.
Here's what he said, more or less: he sees patients all the time who simply don't respond to chiropractic care. They come in consistently, they get adjusted, and nothing holds. He's learned, over time, that a significant number of these people are carrying unresolved emotional stress — and that until that gets addressed, the body won't fully receive physical treatment. He's referred many patients to do emotional and trauma work first. And once they do, he said, things begin to completely transform. The adjustments start holding. Progress becomes consistent. The body finally starts cooperating.
He was explaining my own field to me as though he'd discovered it. But I gave him the moment — because it confirmed what I already know and study about the mind-body connection, this time coming from a completely unexpected source.
Why the Body Holds Onto What the Mind Hasn't Processed
This isn't a new idea in somatic therapy or trauma research, but it's one that still surprises people when they hear it — especially when it comes from a chiropractor rather than a therapist.
The nervous system doesn't separate emotional experience from physical experience. When something overwhelming happens — whether it's a single traumatic event or years of chronic stress — the body responds. Muscles brace. The breath shallows. The spine tightens. The jaw clenches. These aren't metaphors. They're measurable physiological responses to perceived threat.
And when the emotional content of that experience never gets fully processed, the body often stays in some version of that response. Not dramatically, not consciously — but as a kind of background hum of tension that never fully resolves.
The body holds what the mind hasn't finished with yet. This is one of the foundational ideas in somatic therapy, and it's why my work as a somatic therapist in Carmel-by-the-Sea focuses not just on what a person is thinking or feeling, but on what their body is doing while they're thinking and feeling it.
What This Looks Like in Practice
If you've ever had the experience of trying to fix something physical — chronic neck tension, low back pain, headaches, jaw tightness, digestive issues — and found that nothing quite sticks, this might be worth sitting with.
That's not to say every physical symptom is emotional in origin. Bodies are complicated. But the research on the relationship between unresolved stress, trauma, and chronic physical symptoms is extensive and growing. The nervous system governs both. When one is dysregulated, the other tends to follow.
You might be in this pattern if: you've seen multiple providers for a physical issue without lasting relief. You notice your symptoms are worse during stressful periods. You tend to carry tension in the same places repeatedly, no matter how much bodywork you get. Your body feels like it's always bracing for something, even when you're technically at rest.
These aren't signs that something is permanently wrong with your body. They're often signs that your nervous system is still responding to something it hasn't had the chance to complete.
What It Means to Work on the Emotional Layer First
This is where I see the most meaningful shifts in my work with clients — when we stop trying to manage symptoms from the outside in, and start working with the nervous system directly.
As an EMDR therapist in Carmel, I use EMDR to help the brain reprocess experiences that got stuck — moments that left a residue in the body long after the event itself was over. The reprocessing that happens in EMDR isn't just cognitive. Clients often describe physical sensations shifting during sessions: tension releasing, breath deepening, a sense of something finally completing.
Somatic therapy goes even further into the body as the primary site of healing. Rather than talking about what happened, we track what the body is doing in the present moment — and we work with that directly. Slowly, the nervous system learns that it's safe to soften, to release the holding patterns it's been maintaining for years.
For clients who have been stuck for a long time, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can create a window of neuroplasticity that makes this kind of deeper work accessible in ways that traditional therapy sometimes can't reach on its own.
My chiropractor was right. Until the emotional layer gets addressed, the body often can't fully receive what's being offered to it — whether that's a chiropractic adjustment, a massage, physical therapy, or anything else.
If you're in the Monterey or Carmel area and you've been trying to heal something in your body that isn't responding the way you'd expect, it might be worth exploring what's happening underneath. I offer in-person sessions in Carmel-by-the-Sea and telehealth throughout California and Idaho.
If You've Tried Everything and Nothing Is Sticking
That phrase — I've tried everything — comes up more than almost anything else in initial consultations. People arrive having seen specialists, having done the physical work, having tried the supplements and the stretches and the adjustments. And something still isn't right.
I'm not saying therapy is the answer to every physical problem. But I am saying: if the body hasn't responded to physical treatment the way you expected, the nervous system is worth investigating. The emotional and physiological aren't two separate systems running in parallel. They're one system, continuously in conversation.
My chiropractor figured this out through years of observing his patients. I've seen it in my therapy office, over and over again. And it keeps being true.
The body wants to heal. Sometimes it just needs the emotional work to go first.
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This blog is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a licensed provider for personalized support. Ashley K. Whelan is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in California specializing in EMDR, somatic therapy, and nervous system regulation for women in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey, and the Monterey Peninsula. Telehealth available throughout California and Idaho.