Why Nervous System Regulation Is the Foundation of Mental Health

Ally Goult RCC MA
9 hours ago
5 min read

Learn why true mental health begins and ends with the nervous system. Explore how understanding your body’s stress response can unlock deeper, lasting healing.

Written by Ally Goult, RCC, and edited by Amber Whittemore, RD

If you’ve ever felt like traditional talk therapy or mindset work could only take you so far, you’re not alone. And, you're right.

Over the years I’ve been a therapist, there’s been a recurring theme — a conversation that comes up again and again with clients. It’s become the common thread that weaves together every client I work with, no matter their history, diagnosis, or goals. Whether they are looking for support with anxiety, an eating disorder, postpartum depression, trauma, or relationship challenges — healing always circles back to one thing: the nervous system.

I’ve watched clients experience profound change not when they master new coping skills or learn to think differently, but when they learn how to regulate their body’s stress response — because this is when they begin to feel safe within themselves.

Understanding the nervous system has not only transformed the way I work with clients, but it’s changed how I understand my own healing. It's the underlying current of every emotion, behaviour, and thought we have — it's the foundation upon which our mental health is built.

The Missing Piece in Traditional Therapy

You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, isn’t therapy supposed to be about mental health?”

Yes — but traditional therapy, which focuses mostly on the mind and cognition, often falls short.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful for the cognitive traditions that paved the way for this work. But what’s become abundantly clear to me is that as long as we ignore the fact that, at our core, we are mammals, we’ll continue to struggle. We can’t think our way out of dysregulation when our biology is crying out for safety.

Our nervous systems don't speak the same language as our minds, so when the only tools we have are cognitive ones, it can be tough (if not impossible) to really get to the root of anything. We're left feeling temporarily better, perhaps, but again and again we end up in the same place — because we are trying to "convince" ourselves we're okay, rather than actually feeling or believing that it's true.

Understanding the Threat Response

Every mammal has a built-in threat response system — the familiar “fight, fight, or freeze/fawn” reactions. These mechanisms are designed for survival: to protect us from physical danger like a predator, or to numb the inevitable pain of an attack when we can't outrun it anymore.

The challenge is that while our bodies have remained wired to protect us from physical threats, the majority of modern-day stressors are emotional in nature. But the nervous system doesn’t distinguish between an argument with a partner and a tiger in the wild — stress equals threat.

And when our body detects a threat, it mobilizes automatically into one of those three states — fight, flight, or freeze — all happening deep within the nervous system, not in the conscious mind.

How This Relates to Mental Health

Many people are surprised to learn that these nervous system states form the foundation of what we’ve long considered mental and emotional disorders — conditions like Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, PTSD, anger management issues, or Borderline Personality Disorder.

In reality, these are not just “cognitive” issues; they are physiological. They arise from a nervous system that has become dysregulated — one that’s stuck believing it’s under constant threat.

The brain certainly becomes involved, but often as a secondary response to what the body is already signalling. This perspective changes everything about how we understand and treat mental health.

The Three States of the Nervous System

At its simplest, we can think of the nervous system as existing in one of three states:

Harmonious activation – balanced energy and engagement (the ideal baseline state)
Hyper-activation – the system is ramped up, ready to fight or flee
Hypo-activation – the system down-regulates or shuts down into freeze or collapse

Most of us spend very little time in harmonious activation. In a culture that glorifies hustle, busyness, and overwork to survive financially, our nervous systems are constantly oscillating between hyper and hypo states — often from a very young age, or even birth.

Anger, irritability, and restlessness are typically signs of a system in hyper-activation — ready to fight. Depression, numbness, and exhaustion often reflect a system in hypo-activation — shut down for protection.

And yet, the majority of treatment strategies for anger or depression are cognitive — focused on thoughts, coping skills, or mindset shifts, while missing the body entirely.

Healing the Body to Heal the Mind

Here’s what I’ve come to believe:

As long as we treat mental health only through cognitive methods, we’ll keep hitting plateaus. People who are doing the work but not seeing results aren’t “resistant” — their nervous systems simply aren’t being met where they are.

When we work only with thoughts, it’s like we’re speaking a foreign language that the body doesn’t understand. But when we begin to understand the nervous system and learn to speak its language — through movement, breath, regulation, safety, and connection — real transformation becomes possible.

If our “disorders” live in the body, then that’s also where healing can begin.

Understanding your nervous system is one of the most compassionate things you can do for yourself. It changes the way you see your emotions, your reactions, and even your healing. When we learn to work with our biology instead of against it, we begin to move from surviving to thriving.

Next Steps

Come back for future posts, and follow us on social media (Instagram, Facebook), where we'll share how to start speaking the language of your nervous system — and how doing so can change everything about your mental health.

If this resonates, and you're looking for support with your own nervous system regulation, The Nourished Collaborative specializes in nervous system–informed counselling for individuals and groups. Our approach blends trauma-informed therapy, somatic awareness, and emotional regulation to help you feel safe and grounded in your own body again.

If you’re curious about how this work could support your healing, we offer no-charge, no-obligation connect calls — a chance to meet, ask questions, and see if it feels like we're the right fit.

Visit www.thenourishedco.com or check out our online calendar to book your connect call today!