Lisa Bollow, LPC-R - Counselor & Founder, The Integrated Life Project

01/24/2026

My latest post is available on the connection between sleep and anxiety.
Go to lisabollow.com for the latest 

01/24/2026

The Link Between Sleep and Anxiety

One of the most common themes I see in therapy is this: people come in seeking support for anxiety, overwhelm, intrusive thoughts, or emotional exhaustion… and underneath it all, sleep has quietly become disrupted.

Sleep is not just “rest.” Sleep is one of the brain’s primary emotional regulation systems.

When sleep suffers, the nervous system often shifts into a heightened state of alert:

*Racing thoughts at night
*Hypervigilance and difficulty relaxing
*Increased panic sensations
*Lower stress tolerance the next day
*Mood instability and brain fog

And the cycle continues: anxiety disrupts sleep… and poor sleep intensifies anxiety.

Improving sleep isn’t about forcing the body to shut down. It’s about helping the nervous system feel safe enough to rest.

Trauma-informed sleep support often begins with small, consistent “safety cues”:

*calming evening rituals
*nervous system regulation skills
*reducing nighttime stimulation
*addressing underlying hyperarousal
*evidence-based tools like CBT-I

Sleep is not a performance. It’s a biological signal of safety, healing, and restoration. If you’re feeling stuck in the sleep–anxiety loop, you’re not alone — and there are effective pathways forward.

01/24/2026

The Link Between Sleep and Anxiety

One of the most common themes I see in therapy is this: people come in seeking support for anxiety, overwhelm, intrusive thoughts, or emotional exhaustion… and underneath it all, sleep has quietly become disrupted.

Sleep is not just “rest.” Sleep is one of the brain’s primary emotional regulation systems.

When sleep suffers, the nervous system often shifts into a heightened state of alert:

*Racing thoughts at night
*Hypervigilance and difficulty relaxing
*Increased panic sensations
*Lower stress tolerance the next day
*Mood instability and brain fog

And the cycle continues: anxiety disrupts sleep… and poor sleep intensifies anxiety.

Improving sleep isn’t about forcing the body to shut down. It’s about helping the nervous system feel safe enough to rest.

Trauma-informed sleep support often begins with small, consistent “safety cues”:

*calming evening rituals
*nervous system regulation skills
*reducing nighttime stimulation
*addressing underlying hyperarousal
*evidence-based tools like CBT-I

Sleep is not a performance. It’s a biological signal of safety, healing, and restoration. If you’re feeling stuck in the sleep–anxiety loop, you’re not alone — and there are effective pathways forward.

Why Rest Is One of the Most Powerful Foundations for Healing

01/23/2026

This is such an important aspect of attachment repair. I think it’s helpful to note that repair doesn’t mean that the person who caused the attachment injury has to be a part of the process. Sometimes that’s impossible. Repair takes time and awareness. 

If you keep asking, “Why do we keep coming back to this?” listen to Session 7 of The Secure Love Podcast. Old wounds do not fade through time alone. They fade through repair.

01/23/2026

This is a simple but helpful graphic for understanding emotional tolerance. 

DBTSkills. Mindfulness Module. Skill : Mindfulness & learning more about what mindfulness means.

01/18/2026

Don’t neglect your brain 💕

Brain fog is not a personality trait. 🧠⁠
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It’s a message, and in most cases, it’s fixable.
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Do you struggle with brain fog often?
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01/17/2026

Had a great day up in DC with my husband. Went on a tour at the national Cathedral and then spent some time in Georgetown.

01/12/2026

Know your thyroid...

12/18/2025

This is so promising! I’ve added this to my recommendation of supplements for clients, and can personally attest to the benefit.

12/01/2025

When the Mind Won’t Stop Talking… and the Body Can’t Get a Word In

Recently, I sat with a client who kept getting pulled back into his thoughts. Each time he tried to describe what he was feeling in his body, he drifted into an old story - explanations, analysis. His body was speaking, but his thoughts kept interrupting.

This pattern is incredibly common.

When I gently invited him to slow down and notice where his sensations were showing up, he instantly shifted back into thinking mode. The narrative felt safer than the body. The story was familiar. The sensations were not.

So we took it slow.

I guided him back to the present moment again and again—into his breath, into his chest, into the places in his body where he felt activation. After several gentle redirections, something softened. His breath deepened. His shoulders released. He finally allowed himself to feel safe in his own body.

Only then could we take the next step in teaching his nervous system what safety actually feels like.

I introduced several breathing techniques and nervous system–calming exercises designed to activate his vagus complex, the pathway responsible for shifting the body out of survival mode and into regulation. With each practice, his system settled further.

And that’s the real work for so many people:

🤔 Learning to notice when the mind is pulling you away from your own experience.

🤔Rebuilding trust with a body that once felt overwhelming or unsafe.

🤔Developing the capacity to feel without bracing.

🤔Practicing skills that help your nervous system come home.

♥️ Healing doesn’t begin when you understand your story.

Healing begins when your body feels safe enough to be part of the story again.

If you find yourself “living from the neck up,” you’re not alone. It’s a survival strategy. And with the right tools and support, you can learn to reconnect gently, slowly, and safely.

⬇️ Message me and I'll send you the 13 regulation tools that I taught this client to feel safe in his body.

11/20/2025