tami smith somatic therapist for women sitting on a wooden block with her legs crossed smiling

ABOUT TAMI

I didn’t find this work because I was looking for a new career. I found it because I needed answers.

I’ve spent much of my career working in mental health, education, counseling, and coaching. I knew the language. I knew the coping skills. I had done my own therapy. And I genuinely believed I understood the relationship between stress and health.

Then my own body changed the way I thought about all of it.

What began as pushing through a demanding life eventually became increasingly difficult to ignore. Sleep problems. Pain. Migraines. Tremors. Autoimmune illness. Autonomic symptoms. A body that seemed to be reacting in ways I couldn’t simply think, cope, or self-care my way out of.

I didn't need another reminder to manage my stress.

I needed a better explanation for what was happening—and a different way to work with it.

That search eventually changed both my health and the way I work with people today.

I had spent years helping other people.

Then I became the person searching for answers.

  • I was good at functioning.

    I could work hard, take care of people, carry responsibility, push through exhaustion, and keep going long after my body was asking me to stop. From the outside, that looked like competence. In many ways, it was.

    But functioning well and functioning without cost are not the same thing.

  • Eventually, the cost became harder to ignore.

    I stepped away from work believing I needed to recover from burnout. Some things improved, but simply removing stress from my life wasn't the answer. I missed meaningful work. I missed using the part of myself that had always been drawn to people, psychology, and the deeper reasons we become who we become.

  • So I returned to graduate school for clinical mental health counseling.

    And then my symptoms returned—some differently and some more intensely.

    That experience challenged a lot of what I thought I knew.

    I had already tried many of the things people are told to do when they are struggling.

    Therapy. Coping skills. Exercise. Rest. Lifestyle changes. Reading. Research. Trying harder. Trying not to try so hard.

  • I wasn't looking for another wellness trend.

    I wanted to know what the research could tell me about why a person could logically know they were okay while their body continued responding as though something was wrong.

  • That question led me deeper into the work of researchers and clinicians studying trauma, neuroplasticity, chronic pain and symptoms, the autonomic nervous system, and somatic approaches.

    It led me to Somatic Experiencing and the work of Peter Levine. To the nervous-system work of Deb Dana. To the pain and neuroplasticity work of Howard Schubiner, John Sarno, and others who challenged conventional ways of thinking about persistent physical symptoms.

    And gradually, pieces that had previously felt disconnected began to belong in the same conversation.

The brain. The body. The nervous system. Relationships. Emotion. Learned patterns. Physical health. Lived experience.

That intersection became the foundation of the work I do today.

WORK WITH TAMI
A minimalist wooden desk with a textured ceramic vase holding dried twigs, placed on a white book or magazine, with an open book or magazine beside it, against a plain beige wall.

THE FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

This work became personal long before it became professional.

My life isn't symptom-free. It isn't perfectly regulated. And I don't believe healing means reaching a place where your body never hurts, your nervous system never reacts, or life stops being difficult.

But my life is no longer organized around trying to prevent what my body might do next.

My Hashimoto's is well managed. The migraines, tremors, and autonomic symptoms that once consumed so much of my attention are no longer defining features of my life.

I work. I exercise. I travel. I eat really good food. I drink entirely too much coffee. I spend time with the people I love.

tami smith somatic healing for women.jpg

I have my life back.

And that experience profoundly influences the way I work with people.

I don't want to tell someone their symptoms are “just stress.” I don't want to give an intelligent person another list of coping skills they've probably already tried. And I don't want to promise that one approach explains every symptom or every person.

I want to look more deeply.

At what the mind and body have learned through experience. At the patterns that once served a purpose but may now carry a cost. At the psychological, relational, somatic, and neuroplastic pieces that can all be part of the same story.

Because what has been learned can also change.

The experience behind my unique approach.

My approach combines years of experience in mental health and education, graduate-level clinical training, and specialized study in somatic and nervous system approaches. I bring this foundation to coaching that is informed by research and grounded in the realities of each person’s life.

.01

Clinical Mental Health Training

Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner (PLMHP) State of Nebraska

Master of Science in School Counseling

Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Advanced graduate training in clinical mental health counseling

.02

Somatic + Brain-Body Expertise

Somatic Experiencing® Training
Somatic Experiencing International

Brain Health Professional Certification
Amen University / Dr. Daniel Amen

Certified Professional Life Coach

.03

Years of REAL-WORLD Experience

Background spanning counseling, mental health, education, and coaching, including six years as a high school counselor and continued clinical work with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families.

WORK WITH TAMI

A LITTLE LESS PROFESSIONAL

A woman with long blonde hair sitting cross-legged on a beige chair with a black wall behind her. She is smiling and resting her chin on her hand, wearing a black long-sleeve top, blue jeans, and has colorful scrunchies on her wrist.

01

You can almost always find me wearing:
Black. Occasionally white. Apparently there are other colors.

Non-negotiable:
Coffee.

02

Outside of work:
Strength training and food. I will absolutely plan an entire weekend around where we're eating.

My idea of a great place:
A really good restaurant, a sophisticated coffee shop, or anywhere with good conversation and an atmosphere that makes you want to stay awhile.

chronic pain mind-body

03

What I'm probably reading about:
The brain, the body, psychology, trauma, neuroplasticity or whatever question I can't leave alone until I've researched it to death.

People who know me would probably say:
I'm serious, thoughtful, and usually willing to go deeper than the conversation probably required.

Stack of books with a glass of water on top, placed next to a beige textured cushion or sofa.

WORK WITH TAMI

If something in my story feels familiar, there are a few ways to begin.

research-informed coaching

1:1 Coaching

Individual mind-body and nervous system coaching for people ready to work more deeply with learned patterns of stress, protection, anxiety, and persistent symptoms.

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The Course

A structured way to explore the science and practice of changing learned mind-body patterns on your own.

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Articles

Research-informed writing about the mind-body connection, nervous system, somatic work, neuroplasticity, persistent symptoms, and the patterns shaped through experience.

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