Clinical Insights
From Our Therapists
Please be advised that some of the content below includes sensative material.
The Therapy Room Is a Petri Dish for Relationship
You can tell me about your relationships. We can talk about the partner you can't seem to trust. The parent whose approval you're still chasing. The friend you're afraid to disappoint. The way you disappear when someone is angry with you. The way you want...
Somatic Therapy in Nashville, TN: A Complete Guide to Body-Based Healing at Simply Being Therapy
You’ve done the work. You’ve sat in therapy offices, named the hard things, unpacked the past, and traced the stories of your pain back to their roots. And yet — something still doesn’t feel resolved. Maybe it’s the tightness in your chest that shows up without...
Couples Therapy in Nashville, TN — and What Ketamine-Assisted Couples Work Actually Involves
You already know how this one goes. It’s the third time this month. Maybe the fourth. It starts somewhere small — the dishes, the calendar, a tone of voice — and within ninety seconds you are both somewhere else entirely, somewhere older, running lines you have run so...
Why We Keep Repeating the Same Relationships Patterns
One of the questions I hear most often in my office is some version of, “How did I end up here again?” The relationship may look different from the last one; the circumstances may have changed. Yet there is often a familiar feeling running through it. A person may...
A Complete Guide to Body-Based Healing at Simply Being Therapy
You’ve done the work. You’ve sat in therapy offices, named the hard things, unpacked the past, and traced the stories of your pain back to their roots. And yet — something still doesn’t feel resolved. Maybe it’s the tightness in your chest that shows up without...
I Understand…So Why Haven’t I Changed?
One of the things I've found myself thinking about more over the years is how much my understanding of therapy has changed. When I first became a therapist, I was deeply drawn to insight. That probably isn't surprising. I've always loved ideas and theories, and I...
EMDR Therapy in Nashville, TN: A Complete Guide
There is a particular kind of courage required to search for trauma therapy. It is quiet courage — the kind that happens at midnight, with a phone screen glowing in the dark, while you type words you’ve never said out loud. It is the courage of someone who has tried...
Making the Most of Your Session
It’s common to feel unsure where to begin in a therapy session. Some people come in with a specific topic to unpack or a long list to discuss, while others come to therapy knowing they “need help” but may not have the language to describe their experience just yet. It...
Meet Dr. Barbie Hessel: Nashville’s Leading Trauma Therapist and the Heart Behind Simply Being Therapy
There is a particular quality to the air inside the Simply Being Therapy office in Berry Hill, Nashville. It is the kind of space that seems designed not just for comfort, but for permission — permission to slow down, to exhale, to arrive exactly as you are....
Trauma Therapy in Nashville, TN: Your Complete Guide to Healing with Simply Being Therapy
Maybe you wake up tired — not just physically, but in that deeper way that rest never seems to fix. Maybe you find yourself reacting to things with an intensity that surprises even you, or pulling away from people you love without fully understanding why. Maybe you’ve...
The Reality of Ketamine Treatment: Is It a Miracle Cure?
Everyone online seems to have one of two opinions about ketamine: • Ketamine is a miracle cure. • Ketamine is just a legal way for people to do drugs. Neither is true. I've worked with ketamine for eight years—as both a prescribing clinician and...
For Couples Who Have Done the Work: Couples Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
You’ve done the work. You’ve read the books, and you may have been through a few rounds of couples therapy. You’ve learned a lot. You can recite your own patterns. You know who pursues and who withdraws, and where the conversations tend to go sideways. And yet,...
Integration in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy: Turning Insight into Change
When people think about Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), they often focus on the medicine session itself. While the ketamine experience can be profound, much of the healing happens afterward—in the integration process. KAP is unique because it works through both...
A Guide to Being Gentle with Yourself
Many of us move through life with a loud inner critic that speaks to us in ways we would never speak to someone else. This critical, harsh, and oftentimes loud, voice can make already difficult situations much more challenging. Imagine reaching out to a friend during...
What Makes Somatic Therapy Different?
Somatic therapy is becoming more and more popular, and thus, more discussed (and for good reason!) As people deepen their understanding of trauma, stress, and the nervous system, many are seeking approaches to healing that go beyond “just” talking. Traditional...
Soul Work: The Space Between Therapy and Mysticism
In a world that urges us to move faster and do more, it’s easy to lose touch with the quiet, sacred parts of ourselves — the parts that know how to listen, feel, and belong.For many, therapy is not only a place to heal or understand patterns; it’s a place to remember...
Soothing this Holiday Season: Caring for Your Body and Nervous System Through the Holidays
The holidays are often painted as a season of joy and connection — yet for many, they also bring stress, overstimulation, or emotional overwhelm. Even when surrounded by people we love, our nervous system can struggle to stay regulated amidst travel, disrupted...
The Sacred Fire: Healing Through Anger and the Archetype of Mars
For many of us, anger is one of the hardest emotions to welcome. It’s often labeled as destructive, shameful, or something to “get rid of.” But beneath its intensity, anger is one of the most intelligent forces within us — a sacred messenger that points to what’s been...
The Healing Power of the Therapeutic Relationship
Oftentimes, when people think of therapy, they imagine tools, techniques, or strategies for managing emotions and life challenges. While those are important and useful, research shows that one of the most powerful parts of therapy isn’t a worksheet or a coping skill,...
How Reconnecting with Nature Can Transform Your Well-Being
By Sarah Swaney We live in a world where disconnection from nature has become the norm. Many of us spend most of our time indoors often in environments without access to green spaces, especially in urban areas where yards, balconies, or even windows that open can be a...
Religious Deconstruction: Making Peace with Not Knowing
In the process of religious deconstruction, it’s easy to feel pressure to figure it all out—to name what we believe, where we stand, and how we’ll navigate relationships moving forward. That urgency makes sense. Many of us were taught we must know the...
Fighting Back Against Chronic Stress
The most recent studies on American adults show that stress levels are at an all-time high and that the list of physical symptoms and diagnoses related to chronic stress continues to grow. It’s impossible to eliminate all stress from our lives, but that doesn’t mean...
Window of Tolerance Theory
We all experience dysregulation during different moments of our lives for a multitude of reasons. Dysregulation can feel and look different for all of us; some of us may experience depression-like symptoms, where we may feel numb and apathetic. Others may experience...
3 Steps to Cultivating Better Body Image
For many of us, our relationship with our bodies can be complicated- whether it’s how our bodies function, how they look, or even how they feel. This relationship with our body can lead to challenges with our body image, or the thoughts, feelings and beliefs you...
Exploring Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Promising Path to Transformation
In recent years, there has been a growing need and interest in so-called “alternative" (more on this later) forms of therapy for mental health conditions. Among these emerging modalities is ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Ketamine has garnered attention for its...
5 Ways to Connect to your Spirituality
We each need spiritual connection, no matter our belief system. Every person’s spirituality is unique, and just like every other part of our lives, we need to nurture it to feel our best. Whether you’re in a rut, deconstructing from organized religion, or seeking...
Tips to Keep From Slipping Into Old Family Patterns Over the Holidays
Does this feel familiar? You’re back home for the holidays. You wake up at noon and roll out of bed to find the coffee pot empty. You’re surprised by how outraged you feel at your brother, who most certainly took that last cup. Your mom asks you a question about your...
Why is Setting Boundaries so Hard?
When you think about setting boundaries, what happens in your body? Do you notice a change in your heart rate? You may feel a weight in your chest or a pit in your stomach. Are you flooded with extra nervous energy or are you falling into a sleepy lull? If so, you...
Free from Shame: Deconstructing Purity Culture
If you grew up in purity culture, you may find it nearly impossible to connect with your sexuality in a way that feels genuine and enjoyable. You may experience PTSD symptoms during consensual sexual experiences, even within marriage. You may wonder if the sexual...
Am I Dissociating?
What does it feel like to dissociate? If I have trauma, does that mean I dissociate? If I don’t have trauma, does that mean I can’t dissociate? Sometimes I zone out while I’m driving, does this mean I have a disorder? Dissociation is a hot topic these days. Now that...





























