Intima Couples and Sex Therapy

01/30/2026

Healing Emotional Defenses — Learning to Love Yourself Softly - Healing often starts quietly. In this reflection, I share how emotional defenses began to soften through self-compassion, nervous system safety, and embodied healing.

Discover how healing begins when emotional defenses soften. Therapist Raquel Perez explores self-compassion, safety, and embodied healing.

01/29/2026

✨ “Healing showed up in how we stayed.” ✨

Last week, I shared how my body has a freeze response —
how, when things feel overwhelming,
my system used to shut down. 🌿

I talked about a moment with my 22-year-old son
where I noticed that freeze response rising —
and chose to move toward him instead of away.

This week, something else happened.

My son and I had a long conversation.
And what stood out most
was how natural it felt.

I was grounded.
Curious.
Present.

I asked questions.
I shared feedback —
about things I’ve noticed in him,
and things I’ve noticed in myself over the years.

We reflected together.
And we stayed in it.

As a therapist, I often talk about healing
not as the absence of fear or activation,
but as the ability to remain present
when those sensations arise.

This conversation felt like evidence of that shift —
how awareness and choice
can change the way we show up in relationship.

If you’re noticing yourself able to stay a little longer,
listen a little more deeply,
or remain grounded where you once froze —
that matters.
Those moments are signs that healing is unfolding.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/pVfYphQqVfA

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

01/28/2026

✨ “The body remembers what it was waiting for.” ✨

I often tell my clients this:
the body remembers.

It remembers the moments that hurt,
and it builds protection around them. 🌿

But the body also remembers
the moments when it finally receives
what it’s been searching for.

For me, my inner child needed love.
She needed to feel important.
Chosen.
Gushed over.
Safe enough to soften.

And when she received that from me,
something shifted.

Not all at once.
Not dramatically.
But quietly.
Subtly.
In ways that could have easily been missed
if I hadn’t been paying attention.

As a therapist, I often talk about healing
as something that doesn’t always announce itself loudly.
Sometimes it shows up in small changes —
in how the body responds,
in how quickly we soften,
in how gently we return to ourselves.

If you’ve noticed these quieter shifts in yourself,
they matter.
They are signs that something inside you
has received what it needed
and is beginning to trust again.

01/27/2026

✨ “Once the body receives what it needed, it doesn’t forget.” ✨

Hi there — if we haven’t met yet,
my name is Raquel Perez.
I’m a therapist in the state of Colorado
and the creator of Everyday Therapy. 🌿

This is Week Four of Following My Healing Journey,
where I share my healing as it’s happening —
in my body,
in my relationships,
and in my inner world.

Everything I’m reflecting on this week
is rooted in an experience I shared in Week One:
meeting my inner child
and giving her the love she had been waiting for
her entire life.

What I’m realizing now
is something both simple and profound.

Once the body receives
what it truly needed —
safety, love, presence —
it doesn’t forget.

That experience becomes a reference point.
A felt memory the nervous system can return to.
And from there, life begins to respond differently.

As a therapist, I often talk about healing
as something that happens through experience,
not insight alone.
This week has been a reminder of that truth —
how one moment of being deeply met
can continue to ripple outward
long after it’s over.

If you’re noticing changes in yourself
that trace back to a moment
where you finally felt seen or safe,
that’s not accidental.
That’s your body remembering something new.

01/26/2026

✨ “The body remembers — not just pain, but healing too.” ✨

Have you ever noticed how your body reacts
before your mind has time to explain what’s happening?

The tightening.
The freezing.
The ache in your chest or your stomach. 🌿

As a therapist, I often say this:
the body remembers.
It remembers pain.
It remembers fear.
And it learns how to protect us
from what once felt like too much.

But here’s something I’ve been living with this week —
and it feels important to name.

The body also remembers healing.
It remembers love.
It remembers safety.

And once it has that memory,
it begins to respond to life differently.
A little more openness.
A little less bracing.
A little more trust than before.

Healing doesn’t erase the past.
It gives the body new reference points —
new experiences that gently reshape how we move through the world.

If you’ve noticed your body responding differently lately,
softening where it once tightened,
pausing where it once rushed —
that matters.
Those shifts are signs that something inside you
is learning it doesn’t have to survive in the same way anymore.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/pVfYphQqVfA

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

01/23/2026

✨ “Healing needs a place to land.” ✨

Hi there — if we haven’t met yet,
my name is Raquel Perez,
a licensed therapist in Colorado
and the creator of Everyday Therapy. 🌿

I want to personally invite you
to download my free booklet,
“Sacred Spaces.”

If you’ve been following this healing journey with me,
you know how essential safety is —
safety in our bodies,
safety in our relationships,
and safety within our own hearts.

This booklet was created to support exactly that.

Inside, you’ll find:
• Gentle grounding practices to help your body settle
• Reflection prompts to deepen insight
• Simple guidance for understanding your nervous system
• Rituals to help you create emotional and energetic safety
• Ways to begin meeting yourself with more tenderness

It’s meant to be a companion —
for the days that feel soft
and the days that feel hard.

You don’t have to do this work perfectly.
You just need a space that feels safe enough to return to.

📘 Download the free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/HYaxlO7TJH8

01/23/2026

Softening Old Defenses | A Meditation for Feeling Safe - Sometimes your body braces even when your mind knows you’re safe. This gentle, therapist-led meditation invites you to soften old defenses, build nervous-system safety, and meet yourself with compassion — at your own pace. 🌿

A gentle, therapist-led guided meditation to soften old defenses and build nervous system safety. Created by Raquel Perez, LPC, this practice supports emotional healing, therapy, and ketamine-assisted therapy integration.

01/22/2026

✨ “These are the moments that matter.” ✨

I want to invite you into a moment of curiosity. 🌿

Where are you learning to receive love?

Maybe you noticed a moment
where you didn’t shut down as quickly as you used to.
Maybe you offered yourself
a little more grace than normal.
Maybe you stayed present
instead of disappearing inside yourself.

These are not small things.

They are the foundation of healing.
They are signs that safety is growing.
That trust is beginning to take root —
slowly, gently, in real time.

As a therapist, I often remind people
that healing isn’t measured by big breakthroughs.
It’s measured by these quieter shifts —
the moments where we meet ourselves
with a little more compassion
than we did before.

If you’ve noticed any of these changes in yourself,
pause and let them matter.
They are proof that something inside you
is learning how to receive.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/HYaxlO7TJH8

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

01/21/2026

✨ “This is how I’m learning to receive love.” ✨

When we become aware of our patterns,
something begins to shift. 🌿

This week, I noticed it with my son —
how the freeze response that used to take over
started to soften and loosen
once it was seen instead of avoided.

I noticed it with my partner —
how staying grounded in relationship
made real connection possible,
even in moments that once felt activating.

And I noticed it this morning,
after my yoga practice,
when I checked in with my inner child
and met her with care instead of urgency.

Each of these moments reminded me of the same truth:
when we meet ourselves with awareness,
when we stay present in relationship,
and when we nurture the younger parts of us,
we show ourselves that we are worthy
of being seen and loved.

This is how I’m learning to receive love.
Not all at once.
But one gentle, soft moment at a time.

As a therapist, I often say that healing
isn’t about forcing openness —
it’s about building enough safety
that openness can naturally unfold.
This week was a quiet reminder of that.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/HYaxlO7TJH8

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

01/20/2026

✨ “Receiving love can feel harder than giving it.” ✨

Receiving love has been one of the hardest parts
of my healing journey.

Because receiving requires openness.
And openness requires safety. 🌿

When our bodies have learned to freeze,
to brace,
or to protect,
letting love in can feel terrifying —
even when it’s exactly what we long for.

As a therapist, I often see how this isn’t about wanting love less.
It’s about what the nervous system learned
when love once felt unpredictable, conditional, or unsafe.

Healing doesn’t ask us to force openness.
It asks us to build enough safety
that openness can happen naturally.

If you’ve ever wanted closeness
and felt fear rise at the same time,
you’re not broken.
Your body has been protecting something tender.

And with time, gentleness, and care,
that protection can soften.

01/19/2026

✨ “She came back gently.” ✨

This morning, after my yoga practice,
I checked in with my inner child.

A few weeks ago, I shared parts of my healing journey with her —
and today, she came forward almost immediately. 🌿

As soon as I finished my practice,
she looked up at me with a soft, gentle smile.
The kind of smile that said, I’m still here.

I smiled back.
I told her I was still listening.
I reminded her that she is beautiful, worthy, important,
and deeply loved.

I hugged her.
I kissed her on the top of the head.

And then, very softly and gently,
she folded back inside of me.

In that moment, I felt whole.
I felt connected.
And I felt deeply loved —
not just by others,
but by something alive and steady within myself.

As a therapist, I often talk about inner child work
as something that unfolds through safety, consistency, and relationship.
This moment reminded me that healing doesn’t always arrive dramatically.
Sometimes it comes quietly,
through tenderness, reassurance,
and the simple act of staying present.

If you’re learning how to listen to the younger parts of yourself,
to meet them with care instead of urgency,
that matters.
These moments are often where wholeness begins to return.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/HYaxlO7TJH8

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet

01/16/2026

✨ “This is another way love found me.” ✨

This week, we revisited a shared commitment in my relationship —
pausing conversations when we become activated,
giving ourselves time to regulate,
and returning when we’re more resourced and ready. 🌿

What I noticed most, though,
was how I showed up inside that pause.

I offered us both more grace.
I softened toward myself and toward her.
And in those moments, I found myself choosing connection
over my usual protection.

That choice felt new.
And it felt honest.

As a therapist, I often talk about how healing in relationship
isn’t just about what we say —
it’s about how we care for the space between us.
Sometimes love doesn’t arrive through big gestures,
but through restraint, patience, and a willingness
to return instead of retreat.

If you’re learning how to pause instead of push,
to regulate instead of react,
and to choose connection without abandoning yourself —
that matters.
Those are the quiet places where trust deepens
and healing continues to unfold.

🎥 Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/HYaxlO7TJH8

📘 Download my free booklet — “Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight”
https://www.intimacounseling.com/freebooklet