By Tatiana Martinez, LPC-S
Many of the women I work with carry a lot: careers, families, aging parents, and the quiet expectation that they’ll hold it all together. Often, they carry it in their bodies too. A stiff neck that never quite goes away. Shoulders that creep up toward the ears by mid-afternoon. A dull ache that feels “normal” because it’s been there for years.
I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Psychophysiology at Saybrook University, the study of how our thoughts, emotions and bodies influence one another. For a recent paper in my biofeedback course, I explored a question that comes up often in my practice: how does emotional stress turn into physical tension, and what can we do about it?
The body keeps working, even when we’re “just sitting”
Think about how many hours a day you spend at a computer, looking down at your phone, or repeating the same small motions. These postures don’t feel like hard work. But the muscles of the neck and upper shoulders, especially the upper trapezius, can stay slightly switched on for hours at a time.
Researchers who study work-related muscle pain have noticed that it’s often not heavy lifting that causes trouble. It’s low-level tension that never fully lets go. Over months and years, that steady activation can contribute to chronic neck and shoulder pain.
Stress makes the tension worse
This is where psychology comes in. Research on women doing repetitive work has found that activity in the shoulder muscles tends to rise along with stress. In other words, the body responds to pressure, deadlines and worry by tightening, often without our noticing.
For middle-aged women, these factors can stack up. Years of sustained postures, the demands of caregiving and work, and the physical changes of midlife can make tension harder to release and discomfort slower to resolve.
What is sEMG biofeedback?
Surface electromyography (sEMG) biofeedback uses small sensors placed on the skin to measure muscle activity. That activity is shown in real time, usually as a graph or tone, so you can see what your muscles are doing.
Many people are surprised at what they discover. A shoulder they believed was relaxed shows steady activity. A stressful thought makes the line jump. With practice, people can learn to:
Notice tension they weren’t aware of
Release muscles that are working when they don’t need to be
Connect physical patterns to emotional ones, like the way the shoulders tighten when you’re anxious or feel you have to stay “on”
Research with female computer workers who had neck and shoulder complaints found improvement with muscle-feedback training, with ergonomic counseling, and with both together. That’s a helpful reminder that awareness and environment both matter.
Where therapy and the body meet
As a psychotherapist, this is what excites me most. Biofeedback doesn’t replace the emotional work. It makes the mind-body connection visible. When you can see that worry shows up as tension in your neck, the link between your inner world and your physical experience stops being abstract.
I’m early in my doctoral coursework and working toward biofeedback certification, so it isn’t something I offer yet. Learning it is already shaping how I listen for the body in therapy. Mind-body awareness, EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) all invite curiosity about what the body is holding. Sometimes the part of you that “never stops” lives right there in your shoulders.
A small practice to try
Next time you’re at your desk, pause and check in:
Let your shoulders drop, then notice how far they moved. That distance was tension you didn’t know you were holding.
Take a slow breath and let the exhale be a little longer than the inhale.
Ask yourself, with curiosity: What was I bracing for?
If this sounds familiar
Chronic pain is real and deserves proper medical care, so please check with your doctor about ongoing pain. If stress, tension and the feeling of always holding it together are part of your story, therapy can help you understand what your body has been carrying and find new ways to let some of it go.
I see clients in person in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood and by telehealth anywhere in Texas. Request a free 15-minute consultation.
References: Middaugh, S. (2016). Work-related musculoskeletal disorders. In M. S. Schwartz & F. Andrasik (Eds.), Biofeedback: A practitioner’s guide (4th ed.). Guilford Press. · Rissén, D., et al. (2000). Surface EMG and psychophysiological stress reactions in women during repetitive work. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 83(2–3), 215–222. · Voerman, G. E., et al. (2007). Effects of ambulant myofeedback training and ergonomic counselling in female computer workers with work-related neck-shoulder complaints. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 17(1), 137–152.
