How To Move Past Stuck: A Somatic Therapist’s Guide

Over my years providing somatic therapy in San Francisco, I have noticed that one of the most harmful states that people experience is feeling of being stuck. Somehow, the feeling of being immobile is one that often feels very difficult to overcome. When people say they feel “stuck’ this can mean a variety of things. Often feelings of overwhelm or helplessness are present as well as an inability to make decisions. People describe feeling numb or disconnected from themselves and “just going through the motions.” A more scientific way to describe that stuck feeling is “functional freeze.” From a somatic therapy perspective, functional freeze is how our nervous system reacts when it cannot flee or fight. When we experience ongoing, chronic stress, and our mind knows we are unable to use flight or fight, we can enter functional freeze: We go perform the tasks of daily life but are emotionally numb.

So how does a person get into a functional freeze state in the first place?

Functional freeze usually develops when we live under prolonged stress, anxiety, or trauma without any real opportunity to rest or recover. Below are a few common situations that lead to this state:

1) High stress jobs

Jobs that have high stress and don’t leave time to recover from said stress eventually can cause a freeze state. It does not necessarily matter the type of job, only that it causes prolonged psychological stress without any chance for recovery. First responders, healthcare workers, caregivers, and people in demanding corporate environments are especially vulnerable.

2) Unresolved trauma

Both developmental trauma (trauma that occurs in childhood) and psychological trauma experienced later in life leave an imprint on those who experience it. One of the many impacts of trauma is that a person who survives it often feels unsafe in their own body. The emotions and unwanted memories may be overwhelming to endure and eventually the trauma survivor unconsciously cuts themselves off from feeling. However, a person can’t select which feelings they don’t want to feel—to survive they end up disconnected from all their emotions both negative and positive. They are functional but numb as they navigate their way through everyday life.

3) Unhealthy relationships

A theme for people who exhibit functional freeze is feeling unsafe in their own bodies. The lack of safety present in unhealthy or toxic relationships can cause a person to feel on edge or hypervigilant due to toxic elements or abuse and over time can also result in a person feeling detached and numb. The body’s response to ever present fear and pain is to shut down.

So say you identify that you are going through the motions in your life. You are surviving but not really living life the way you want. You can’t remember the last time you felt good and, in fact, you can’t remember the last time you felt anything. What can you do to get out of feeling stuck?

Thawing Functional Freeze: Practical Steps From A Somatic Therapist in San Francisco

1) Start by moving your body. Part of functional freeze is feeling like you cannot move or change. Even moving 5-10 minutes a day can start to shift how you feel. Pick a physical activity you enjoy (doesn’t matter what) and try to do a little each day. If you start by setting a timer for five minutes, you may notice that the time passes quickly and feel good enough to continue longer.

2) Detach from your phone. Although it feels like scrolling through your phone is a great way to relieve stress, it can actually stop you from connecting with yourself and your environment. If it is too difficult to disengage from your phone for a long period of time, aim to take longer breaks.

3) Connect with others. Human connection can help regulate the nervous system. When we are with other people, our nervous systems help regulate each other through a process called co-regulation. Being around a person who has a calm and regulated nervous system will help you feel calm as well. So call up a friend or even better, meet in person.

4) Go outside in nature. We modern humans spend way too much time inside when our ancestors stayed outside a majority of the day. Being outside also helps the nervous system get out of fight or flight and reduce stress.

5) Make sleep and rest a priority. It is almost impossible to move out of feeling stuck when you are not getting adequate rest. Your body needs time to repair and your brain needs a chance to turn off and not experience stress.

6) Seek professional support. Sometimes, all the effort that we make to feel better does not yield any results and that may be a sign that we need a licensed mental health professional to help us. It’s ok to need help and it’s brave to take steps to receive that help.

If you have any questions about how to navigate functional freeze and begin to feel again, please contact me at lisa@lisamanca.com. I would be happy to see how I might help you reconnect and start to feel again.

References:

Myers, A. (2025, June 13). Are you stuck in a functional freeze? what it means & how to recover. Thriveworks. https://thriveworks.com/help-with/anxiety/functional-freeze/