When Feelings Are "Too Much": How Somatic Art Therapy Helps You Feel Without Flooding

The Thing No One Tells You About Being Highly Sensitive

Emotions don't arrive politely, one at a time, at a manageable intensity. They crash into you like waves—overwhelming, flooding, consuming. And then, because you're exhausted from feeling everything so intensely, your system just... shuts down.

You go numb. You dissociate. You watch your life from behind a thick wall of glass.

And everyone keeps telling you the same useless things:

• "Just feel your feelings" (I'm drowning in them)

• "You need to process your emotions" (How? They're too big)

• "Don't push your feelings away" (But they're literally overwhelming my entire system)

If you're a highly sensitive person who experiences emotions as "too much"—who swings between flooding and numbing, between feeling everything and feeling nothing—I want you to know something:

Your nervous system isn't broken. It just hasn't learned how to titrate.

What "Flooding" and "Shutdown" Actually Mean

Let's get clear on what's happening in your nervous system:

Emotional flooding is when your system gets overwhelmed by more emotion than it can process:

• Your heart races

• You might cry uncontrollably or feel rage you can't contain

• Thoughts become catastrophic or spiral

• You feel like you're drowning, like there's no ground beneath you

• Everything feels urgent, intense, unbearable

Shutdown/numbing is your nervous system's protective response when flooding is too much:

• Emotions disappear—you feel nothing

• You dissociate or "zone out"

• Exhaustion settles in like fog

• You watch your life happen from a distance

• Nothing seems to matter

For highly sensitive people, this cycle can happen multiple times a day. And it's exhausting.

Why Traditional "Feel Your Feelings" Advice Can Make Things Worse

Here's what happens when someone tells you to "just sit with your emotions" when you're prone to flooding:

You try. You feel. And then you're overwhelmed. Your system floods. You panic. You shut down. And now you've reinforced to your nervous system that feeling = danger.

The issue isn't that you need to feel more. It's that you need to learn to feel in doses your nervous system can actually handle.

This is called titration—and it's what somatic art therapy is designed to do.

How Somatic Art Therapy Teaches Your System to Titrate

Somatic therapy works directly with your nervous system and body sensations. Art therapy gives your experience form and expression outside of yourself. Combined, they create a powerful way to feel without flooding.

Here's how we work with overwhelming emotions together:

1. We Track Your Window of Tolerance

Your "window of tolerance" is the zone where you can feel emotions without being overwhelmed by them or shutting down. For highly sensitive people, this window is often narrow.

In sessions, we pay attention to:

• When you start to move toward flooding (heart racing, spiraling thoughts, intensity increasing)

• When you start to shut down (going numb, dissociating, disconnecting)

• What helps you stay in your window (grounding, pacing, specific techniques)

We're training your nervous system to recognize when it's getting close to the edges—and to self-regulate before tipping over.

2. We Use Art to Create Distance and Safety

Here's the beautiful thing about art: it lets you express what you're feeling without being consumed by it.

Instead of sitting with overwhelming grief directly, you might:

• Choose colors that represent the grief

• Give it shape on paper

• Notice what it looks like outside of you

• Explore it at arm's length

The image holds the emotion so you don't have to hold it all in your body. This creates enough distance that you can be with the feeling without drowning in it.

One client described rage that felt too dangerous to express. We worked with red paint, aggressive marks, tearing paper. The rage got to move through her body and onto the page—where it was safe, contained, witnessed. She didn't flood. She didn't shut down. She felt.

3. We Work with Parts (IFS) to Understand the Flood and the Shutdown

Internal Family Systems therapy helps us understand that flooding and shutdown are actually parts of you trying to protect you:

• The flooding part might be trying to get your attention about something important, or expressing emotions you've been holding back

• The shutdown part is trying to protect you from pain, overwhelm, or vulnerability

Instead of fighting these parts, we get curious:

• What are you trying to protect me from?

• What do you need from me?

• What are you afraid will happen if you relax?

When these parts feel heard and safe, they often naturally regulate. The flooding becomes less intense. The shutdown becomes less frequent.

4. We Build Somatic Resources for Regulation

This is practical nervous system training:

• Grounding techniques that actually work for your system (not generic "breathe deeply")

• Pendulation—moving between sensation and resource, between intensity and ease

• Orienting—helping your system recognize safety in the present moment

• Bilateral stimulation—techniques from EMDR that can calm your nervous system in real-time

We practice these in session with gentle intensity, so your body learns: "I can feel this and be okay. I can touch the edge and come back. I am safe."

What Healing Actually Looks Like

I want to be realistic: learning to feel without flooding takes time. But here's what clients often notice:

Weeks 1-4:

• You start recognizing flooding earlier

• You notice shutdown patterns

• You develop language for your nervous system states

• You feel less alone in your experience

Months 2-3:

• Your window of tolerance begins to widen

• You catch yourself before flooding and can course-correct

• You come out of shutdown more quickly

• You trust yourself more with your own emotions

Ongoing:

• Emotions still arrive intensely (you're still highly sensitive), but they don't consume you

• You can feel sadness without it becoming depression

• You can feel anger without it becoming rage

• You can be with joy without waiting for the other shoe to drop

You don't become less sensitive. You become more regulated.

This Work Is For You If:

• You swing between feeling everything intensely and feeling nothing

• You've been told you're "too emotional" or "too sensitive"

• You're afraid of your own feelings because they overwhelm you

• You shut down, dissociate, or numb when things get intense

• You're highly sensitive, creative, spiritual, or intuitive

• You need healing that works with your body, not just your mind

If you're drawn to depth work, to understanding your inner world through astrology, Jungian psychology, or spiritual practices—this approach will make sense to you. We're not trying to make you less sensitive. We're helping your sensitivity become your strength instead of your burden.

Virtual Somatic Art Therapy Across New York State

I offer virtual sessions throughout New York State. For work with overwhelming emotions, many clients prefer virtual sessions—you're in your own safe space, you can wrap up in a blanket, you have your own resources nearby.

Your Feelings Aren't Too Much—Your System Just Needs Support

You've probably spent years believing something is wrong with you for feeling so much. But what if nothing is wrong? What if you just need the right tools, the right support, and the right approach for your sensitive nervous system?

Book a free 15-minute consultation to explore whether somatic art therapy is right for you.

You don't have to keep riding the flood-and-shutdown cycle alone. Let's help your nervous system find its ground.