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Need help now? In an emergency call 000. For 24/7 crisis support call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Veterans and families: Open Arms on 1800 011 046.
Regulate · Stress, trauma & the nervous system
For when your body won’t switch off.
Stress, anxiety and trauma don’t only live in your thoughts. They show up in your body too. We work with the body side of it, alongside your GP and mental health team.
Does any of this sound familiar?
These are common signs of a nervous system that’s working overtime.
Always on edge, or easily startled
Sleep that doesn’t refresh you
A tight neck, jaw or shoulders that won’t let go
Off balance, or overwhelmed by noise, light and busy places
Shallow breathing, or a racing heart
Tired all the time, but wired
Headaches and pain that come with stress
Not quite feeling your feet, or where your body is
Why the body matters
Your nervous system reads the world through your senses.
Your brain is constantly checking for safety, using information from your eyes, your inner ear and your body. After stress or trauma, that system can stay switched on, reading threat even when you’re safe. You feel it in your body before you can think it through.
That’s also why change can feel so hard. Your body is working to keep you safe, and it pushes back. Talking helps many people. Working with the body, alongside that, gives your nervous system another way to learn that it’s safe to settle.
When stress takes over the senses
It can change what you feel, and how you move.
When your stress response is running the show, it interrupts the way your brain takes in and uses information from your senses. Some people stop properly feeling their feet on the ground. Some lose their sense of where their body is. For others, noise, light or movement becomes too much. The body starts to switch off from itself to cope.
That’s the part we assess and work with.
Top-down
Working with the brain
Attention, focus and thinking while you move, to help the brain take back control of how it responds.
Bottom-up
Working with the senses
Regulating what comes in through touch, balance, vision and body awareness, so your senses and movement start working together again.
Specific, not generic.
A lot of advice for stress and trauma is broad: breathe, move, try yoga. It has its place. We start by measuring exactly how your sensory and cognitive systems are responding, so the work we do is specific to you, and always at your pace.
How we help
Measure. Settle. Retrain.
01
Measure
An Ikigai Shift Assessment of your balance, inner ear, vision, neck, body awareness and thinking under load. It shows us exactly where your system is struggling, paced to what you’re comfortable with.
02
Settle
Calming the sensory input that keeps your system on alert: hands-on myotherapy, acu-needling, breathing and regulation work, and quiet recovery options like our float tank and infrared sauna.
03
Retrain
Specific balance, vestibular, sensory and cognitive–motor training with our physios and exercise physiologists, building your capacity to handle more, one step at a time.
Trauma-informed, always
You’re in control of every session.
Let go. Power of presence. They’re easy to say and hard to do. We go at your pace.
You don’t have to tell your story
We work with how your body is responding. You share only what you want to.
Nothing happens without your OK
We explain every test and treatment first, and you can pause or stop at any time.
Small, steady steps
Challenge is part of change, but it’s always graded to what you can manage that day.
Bring someone if you like
A support person is always welcome.
Part of your team
We work alongside your mental health care, not instead of it.
We’re physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and a myotherapist, not psychologists. With your consent, we keep your GP, psychologist or psychiatrist in the loop, so everyone’s working towards the same goals.
Who we work with
First responders
Military & veterans
People recovering after an accident
NDIS participants
Anyone living with ongoing stress or anxiety
Health professionals referring a client
Fees & funding
Ways to pay
NDIS: physio and EP can be funded through your plan. See NDIS
Workers compensation & CTP: accepted, with approval from your insurer.
Veterans: TBA
Private health insurance: health fund rebates are available.
Medicare: rebates may be available for physiotherapy and exercise physiology with a GP chronic condition management plan, for eligible patients.
Common questions
Do I have to talk about what happened? +
No.
Is this instead of seeing a psychologist? +
No this should be in addition to seeing a psychologist.
What if a test or session feels like too much? +
We work at your pace, if it becomes uncomfortable or you feel overwhelmed we will stop.
Why check my balance and inner ear? +
These are a key indicator to how your nervous system is functioning.
Do I need a referral? +
No you don't.
Start somewhere. A conversation is enough.
If you’re in crisis or at risk of harm, call 000. For 24/7 support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Open Arms (veterans and families) on 1800 011 046.