Supporting vitality & connection from the inside out.
Somatic Sex Therapy in Chicago & Colorado | Helen Wyatt, LMFT, CST
Helen Wyatt is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Certified Sex Therapist offering somatic therapy, couples counseling, and sex therapy in Chicago, IL and Colorado. Body-based, relational healing for individuals, couples, and performers.
Performing Artist Coaching | Helen Wyatt, MM, BM, operatic Soprano, actor
Some concerns need experiential healing
You've probably tried to think your way through it. You understand yourself and what feels good about sex, but something still feels stuck: in your body, in your relationship, in the gap between who you know you are and how you actually show up with others. I'm Helen Wyatt, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist based in Chicago. I work with individuals, couples, and performers using somatic therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and sex therapy modalities to help you heal from the inside out — not just understand yourself, but feel the change.
In therapy, you will…
Develop a deeper understanding of who you are in relationship - how you move toward others, where you pull away, and what protective strategies you utilize to navigate connection and survive though past, current, or future hardship
Build your capacity to stay present with your own emotions and the emotions of others, even during moments of tension, conflict, hurt, or overwhelm
Learn to communicate from a place of emotional honesty and care, rather than defensiveness, intellectualization, or competition
Gently disrupt cycles of shame and blame that keep you and your relationships stuck
Tend to and heal relational and attachment wounds, as well as the patterns that continue to repeat in your relationships
Expand your ability to be relational with others, which honors both fulfilling connection and a grounded sense of self, rather than defaulting to isolation or over-accommodation
Reconnect with what makes you feel most alive, and begin to move toward that aliveness within yourself and your relationships
I want to help you heal from the inside out.
Therapeutic change happens in all sorts of ways. The long-lasting, sustainable change I gently and expertly guide couples and individuals through involves both being connected to your bodily, sensory, and emotional experiences while also engaging and healing relationally with your beloved others. Whether we are working on healing your experiences of betrayal or conflict, supporting your relationship with sexuality, or learning to develop your body as an instrument to its most dynamic state for stage performance, you benefit from learning to be in a more loving relationship, learning nervous system care, and exploring your Self in a supportive relationship.
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Illinois and Colorado. I am an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, and I am trained in Somatic Experiencing® (Beginning I). My approach integrates somatic therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), attachment science, and neuroscience to support meaningful, sustainable change. Clients describe therapy with me as engaging, challenging, inspiring, and supportive. Therapy is thoughtful, creative, direct, and intentionally paced - grounded in both psychological science and creating a lived, embodied experience of change.
I regard myself as a consultant, educator, supporter, and process facilitator. I want you to feel gently, expertly guided and supported in your growth and discovery process as we work with what matters most: knowing your Self and relating well to your beloved others.
In addition to being an LMFT, CST and somatic psychotherapist, I have experience as a professional actor, opera singer and classical musician, voice teacher, and educator. I am genuinely honored to be in relationship with my clients, and I learn new things from them and for them every day. I believe in the human responsibility of self-reflection and self-realization, and actively do this work of therapy, growth and healing myself. Many of my clients are actors, musicians, creatives, love to learn, value gentle accountability, and are interested in self exploration and creating more loving, attuned relationships.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist - Illinois
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist - Colorado
Certified Sex Therapist (AASECT)
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (Beginning I Complete - SEI)
Intimacy Professional Accelerator Program (IDC)
Meisner Training Levels 1-5 | The Green Shirt Studio | Chicago
Professional Credentials
Education
Adler University | Master of Arts in Couple & Family Therapy
Roosevelt University | Professional Diploma in voice & Opera Performance
Roosevelt University | Master of Music in voice & Opera Performance
Cleveland Institute of Music | Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance
Clinical Frameworks
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Somatic Experiencing is a body-based approach to healing that focuses on how stress and past experiences are held in the nervous system. Rather than only talking about what’s happened to us, we gently track sensations in the body to help release stored tension, complete physiological shock, and restore a sense of safety and regulation. This work gently resources and supports you in moving out of survival patterns and back into a more grounded, responsive, and alive way of being.
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Polyvagal Theory helps us understand how your nervous system responds to safety, stress, and connection. It explains why you might feel calm and open in some moments, and shut down or reactive in others. In therapy, we use this framework to help you recognize your nervous system states and tendencies, and build capacity to recognize regulation, safety, and connection. This theory creates a foundation for deeper emotional work, healthier relationships, and a greater sense of ease in your body and between you and your beloved others.
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Parts work is grounded in the understanding that we all have different “parts” that make up our Self as a whole, each part shaped by experience, working to protect us in its own way. In therapy, we identify and build awareness of these parts of Self. We become curious about why they are arising and discern for ourselves whether they create connection or protection This process supports a greater sense of inner clarity, compassion, and wholeness, and allows us to better relate to others. Parts work integrates especially well with somatic approaches, and while it has been formalized in modern psychology, it has roots in Indigenous ways of understanding the Self as inherently multiple and interconnected.
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Emotion-Focused Therapy is a research-backed, grounded theory that addresses our attachment tendencies, as well as identifies our strategies for protection and connection in relationships. It centers the idea that our emotions are key to understanding ourselves and connecting with others. In this work, we slow down and explore emotional experiences as they arise, helping you access, make sense of, and express deeper feelings. This work allows for more secure attachment, clearer communication, experiences of joining and being joined with by our beloved others, and making meaningful shifts in how you relate to yourself and the people you love.
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This approach looks at how your patterns in relationships are shaped by both your family of origin, as well as cultivates your ability to stay connected to yourself while remaining in connection with others. We explore themes like emotional reactivity, boundaries, empathy, and intimacy, helping you develop a stronger sense of Self without losing closeness and your ability to relate to others. The goal is not distance or heightened individualism, but a more grounded, differentiated way of relating - where you can stay present, honest, and connected, even in moments of tension, pain, or conflict.
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You’re curious about yourself and open to exploring not just your thoughts, but your emotional patterns, your bodily sensations, nervous system and inner experience
You’re interested in healing as an ongoing practice, rather than a quick fix
You’re willing to slow down, notice, and engage with what’s happening in your Self, senses, and nervous system
You want to feel more at home in your body and experience, not just understand yourself intellectually
You’re open to receiving and giving honest, compassionate feedback in your personal relationships, as well as the therapeutic relationship
You’re ready to actively engage in the process, including reflecting or practicing between sessions
You’ve tried traditional talk therapy and are looking for a deeper, more experiential approach
You feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, shutdown, overwhelm, panic or reactivity and want support shifting them
You want to deepen your sense of Self, your sense of playfulness, your desires, and what makes you feel most alive
You’re navigating relationship challenges and want to show up with more presence, regulation, and connection
You’re a performer, creative, or high-performing individual seeking a more embodied and sustainable way of working and living
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You’re looking for quick solves, advice-giving, or a short-term, solution-focused approach
You’re not interested in engaging with your body or nervous system as part of the work
You prefer a structured, skills-based, or directive therapy style without much depth exploration or active accountability
You’re not open to feedback or collaborative reflection within your relationships
You’re unable or unwilling to engage with a growth or noticing process outside of session when appropriate
You’re seeking immediate stabilization that may be better supported by a higher level of care (such as intensive outpatient or inpatient treatment)
You are engaging in non-consensual sexual behavior or illegal sexual behavior (referrals are always offered)
You don’t value social justice or equality for all - we evaluate the ways our positionality, intersectionality, and social location create inequality and oppression, and work to dismantle unjust power dynamics, racism, and sexism in this work and as a lifelong practice
Are we a fit?
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Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to healing developed by Peter Levine. It’s based on the understanding that our nervous systems are designed to respond to stress and then return to balance - but when experiences are overwhelming, that process can get interrupted. Instead of only talking about what happened, SE gently helps you tune into your body’s sensations to release stored stress and restore a sense of safety, regulation, and vitality, and help your nervous system work the way nature intended.
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Many of our deepest patterns don’t live in words alone, - they live in the body. You might notice this as tension, numbness, fluttery feelings, heightened energy, shutdown, or feeling “too much” all at once. By paying attention to sensations like breath, temperature, tightness, or movement, we can access the places where your nervous system is holding onto stress. Working with the body allows change to happen at a deeper level, often beyond what insight alone can reach. 95% of communication is nonverbal, and our nervous systems can feel others’ nervous systems. We learn to make ourselves safer in relationship to what we experience from others. Healing must involve the body and cultivating our resourcing and regulation strategies.
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Somatic Experiencing® helps you build the capacity to feel without becoming overwhelmed. Over time, this can lead to:
greater emotional regulation and resilience
a stronger sense of safety in your body
less reactivity and more choice and agency in how you respond
increased access to pleasure, connection, and aliveness
Rather than pushing you into intense experiences, we move slowly and collaboratively, supporting your system in shifting at a pace that feels manageable and sustainable.
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In moments of conflict, our nervous systems often move faster than our intentions; we react, shut down, or escalate before we even realize what’s happening. Somatic Experiencing® helps you notice these responses in real time and build the capacity to stay present with yourself and your partner. As your body feels safer, it becomes easier to communicate, repair ruptures, and remain connected, even in difficult moments.
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Trauma is not only what happened; it is what the body learned to hold onto when something was too much, too fast, or too overwhelming. SE works by helping your nervous system gradually complete and release those stuck survival responses, as well as widen your capacity for experiencing challenging emotions. This can reduce symptoms like anxiety, hypervigilence, numbness, shutdown, or panic, while restoring a sense of safety, agency, and ease in your body.
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Your body is your instrument. Somatic Experiencing® helps you build a more flexible, responsive, and resilient nervous system so you can access emotion without becoming overwhelmed or disconnected. This work supports you in managing performance anxiety, deepening emotional range, and entering and exiting intense states with greater control and care, so you can stay embodied in your work without losing yourself in the process. This work is also helpful for performers who are working with triggering emotions that may have long lasting effects.
