When Stress Starts Showing Up in Your Body
You have had the imaging done. You have tried the stretches, the rest, maybe a few rounds of treatment somewhere else. The tension across your shoulders keeps coming back. The headaches arrive on the same days most weeks. Your sleep is broken and you cannot point to a reason why.
Sometimes the body holds a stress response long after the stressful thing has passed. Muscles stay guarded. The nervous system stays switched on. Pain with a very real physical presence can have a stress-related driver underneath it, which is part of why it returns once the hands-on work wears off.
If your symptoms have outlasted every reasonable explanation you have been given, that pattern is worth looking at directly. Dr. Cohen has been doing this work at our Albany, CA clinic for more than 20 years.
What Mind-Body Care Means
Mind-body care is the overarching approach at Innate Chiropractic, and specific techniques sit underneath it. It treats the nervous system and the stress response as part of the physical picture, assessed in the same visit rather than handled as a separate conversation.
The mind-body connection is measurable. Chronic stress changes muscle tone, breathing, sleep quality, digestion, and how quickly tissue recovers from strain. When that stress response stays switched on, it can hold a physical problem in place no matter how much hands-on work you do.
Dr. Cohen assesses where stress physiology is contributing to what you feel, then chooses the technique that fits. Which one depends on what the assessment finds, so you do not need to know the difference between them before you come in.
Care From Dr. Stefan Cohen, DC
Dr. Stefan Cohen has practiced in Albany for more than 20 years, with roughly 26 years in clinical practice overall. A Stanford graduate and Life Chiropractic College West alum, he has been NET certified and using mind-body methods since 2002. He is also certified in P-DTR and full-body Active Release Technique.
- Stress physiology assessed as part of the exam rather than as an add-on service
- Mind-body work combined with adjusting, soft-tissue, and functional neurology in one visit
- Care that runs alongside your mental health provider when that is part of your picture
What to Expect in Your First Visit
History and Assessment
Combined Treatment
Review and Adjust
The Techniques Behind Mind-Body Care
Mind-body care is delivered through two related methods. Both use hands-on assessment to find where your body is holding a pattern, and each one approaches it differently.
Neuroemotional Technique (NET) addresses unresolved emotional stress that is showing up as physical symptoms. Dr. Cohen has been NET certified since 2002.
Dynamic Body Balance (DBB) is a whole-body assessment that reads movement patterns to find the origin of a problem rather than the place it hurts.
A plan often draws on both in a single visit.
What Often Changes After Mind-Body Care
- Physical symptoms that had stalled start responding to treatment again
- Easier sleep and less day-to-day muscle guarding as the stress response settles
- A clearer sense of what keeps driving a recurring problem, so you are not guessing between flare-ups
The nervous system is the master control center of the body. If there is something wrong, a spinal segment or other joint often goes out of alignment, much like a circuit breaker in your house shuts off. When this happens, you are no longer functioning optimally. Chiropractors are trained to identify and adjust (reset) these joints of the spine or extremities, and to work on the muscles that move them.
Dr. Stefan Cohen incorporates functional neurology and mind-body systems alongside traditional chiropractic care, and holds ICAK Board Certification in Applied Kinesiology. His training includes P-DTR, ART study with founder Michael Leahy, FAKTR with founder Dr. Thomas Hyde, KinEase Release Methods with developer Dr. Ethan Feldman, and studies with UCSF’s Dr. Christopher DaPrato in Myofascial Decompression. Dr Cohen is also a certified NET practitioner.
Dr. Jenn Tran specializes in pre/post-natal and pediatric care, and is certified in both the Webster Technique and Dynamic Body Balancing, bringing gentle, specialized approaches to patients at every stage of life, from newborns to expecting parents.
Together, they help patients with low back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, herniated discs, joint pain, sports injuries, postural issues, and pregnancy or pediatric concerns, using a more integrative, root-cause approach to care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pain That Keeps Coming Back Is Worth a Closer Look
Book with Dr. Cohen at our Albany clinic
If your symptoms have outlasted the treatment that should have resolved them, stress physiology may be part of what is holding them there. Dr. Cohen has been doing this work in Albany for over 20 years.
