Therapist in Schenectady, NY | Somatic, Art & Gestalt Therapy

Most of the people who find their way to Creative Now Therapy have already tried the thing that was supposed to work. They did the therapy. They did the spiritual practice. They read the books. And something is still aching in a place none of those things reached. I offer virtual therapy across New York State for exactly that person, the healer and the seeker and the space-holder who needs a depth that most clinical spaces do not know how to hold.
Schenectady carries a weight of history that most cities can only gesture toward. The Stockade Historic District, one of the oldest surviving neighborhoods in the country, lines the Mohawk River with houses that have been standing since the 1600s. Union College spreads across its elegant campus on the hill. Proctor's Theatre still anchors downtown with a grandeur that refuses to accept that its best days are behind it. General Electric built some of the foundational technologies of the modern world here, and the story of that legacy, of what it means to have powered an era and then to figure out what comes next, is woven into the identity of everyone who calls this city home.
That particular story, of having been essential and then having to find a new way of being essential, lives in many of the people I work with from Schenectady. The nurse who gave the best years of her professional life to an institution that did not give them back. The therapist who built her practice around being useful to others and has forgotten how to be useful to herself. The person who kept the lights on for everyone else and is sitting, now, in the dark. I work with the therapist in Schenectady, NY who is finally willing to turn on a light in that room.
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Here’s what our work might look like:

We Begin in the Real Moment


We don’t have to dig through your entire history to start healing,  we begin with what’s happening right now: your breath, your posture, the tightness in your throat, the image you can’t shake.


We Drop Into the Body (and the Beyond)


Together, we drop in slowly and intentionally, tracking sensation, emotion, and the symbolic language of your body. We name what’s been exiled, what’s been performing, and what’s quietly asking to be witnessed.

We Unwind Shame, Self-Attack, and Old Survival Roles


Your body holds the places where you learned to shrink, overgive, or turn against yourself. We track these patterns with compassion until they soften, loosen, and lose authority.


We Integrate the Work Into How You Live, Love, and Lead


Your insights don’t stay in the room, they become embodied. You speak up without collapsing, rest without guilt, show up without masking, and move through your days with more presence and fewer spirals.

Explore my services and specializations


The body that has spent years being useful knows a particular kind of exhaustion that rest does not touch. It is not tiredness. It is the accumulated weight of bracing, of performing steadiness, of keeping the thing running when no one else was going to. Somatic therapy is where I help that body finally set down what it has been carrying. I work with what the nervous system is actually doing, not what the mind has decided it should be doing by now. The held breath. The tight chest. The moment of calm that arrives and disappears before it can be trusted. I track those things with you and we learn, together, what the body has been trying to say. I offer this work virtually throughout New York State. What opens over time is not just physical relief, though that arrives too. It is the reclamation of the body as a place of genuine rest, genuine belonging, genuine homecoming.
There is a particular intelligence in cities that built things. A relationship with the hands, with the material world, with the satisfaction of making something real. Art therapy in my practice draws on that intelligence, not as nostalgia but as a genuine form of access to what has been living below the surface of words. I guide the creative process in sessions as a way of reaching what talking has left untouched. The image that arrives before the thought. The mark that is more honest than the sentence. The color that comes out of the body before the mind has a chance to organize it into something acceptable. All of it is language. All of it is welcome. No artistic background is needed and no history with making. I am interested only in what the process opens. What tends to come through is older and more essential than anything that had already been named, and once it has a form, it can begin to move.
The people I work with from Schenectady often carry a particular relationship with the present moment, one in which they are managing it rather than inhabiting it. Moving from task to task, from responsibility to responsibility, with very little space to notice what is actually happening inside. Gestalt therapy is where I create that space. I bring the present moment into the center of our sessions. What is alive in the body right now. What the quality of this specific conversation is doing in the nervous system. The pattern is not only in the history. It is operating right here, and working with it here is how it actually begins to change. What shifts over time is the felt experience of being present in your own life. The reflex that used to run on automatic starts to become something more conscious. The body begins to trust the moment. And what was noise starts to become something you can actually hear.
There is a version of shadow work that I think of as specifically relevant to cities with Schenectady's history: the shadow of essential service. The parts of yourself that were given entirely to something external, a company, an institution, a profession, and that never got a container of their own. Shadow work is how I go looking for what was given away. Those parts are not lost. They are underground, carrying the life force that went into suppressing them. The ambition that never had a direction. The grief that never had a name. The desire for something beyond usefulness. I come to this work as someone who believes that the shadow holds exactly what the healing has been missing. For those in Schenectady who have spent a lifetime being essential and are quietly wondering if there is anything left that belongs entirely to themselves, this work offers an answer. There is. It has been waiting. And it is not as far as you think.

Begin Therapy in Schenectady and Let Someone Tend to You

I hold virtual sessions for clients across New York State and feel a particular connection to the Capital Region communities. If you are in Schenectady, Rotterdam, Niskayuna, or the surrounding area, I want to hear from you. Sessions travel to wherever you feel most yourself.

What clients say...

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When I first met Cris, I was at a moment in my life where I was unsure of every possible direction. All of my decisions were based on fear and a recent change in my health had me wondering what kind of life I would have and holy crap I'm going to die. Being in front of Cris's intellect, warmth and grace literally gave me strength I didn't know was there and the assurance of my ability to navigate conflict with grace and evenness. A truly gifted guide and stellar human being.

- Grey
Five black stars aligned in a row on a white background

Cris has been integral to my growth. She is incredibly kind, understanding, and supportive, while also challenging me to face things I may have been ignoring/dismissing. I’m really grateful to have been able to work with her.

- Autumn
Five black stars in a row on a white background

Cris is a wonderful therapist. As a pediatrician, I was prone to over-thinking. She has helped me to work through my thoughts and to be in tune with my body.

- Lisa

hi i'm crisCristina Maria Fort Garcés-Somatic Therapist & Nervous System Healing

I am a licensed psychotherapist and somatic guide offering virtual therapy across New York State, including Schenectady and the Capital Region. My work brings somatic intelligence, shadow practice, art therapy, and gestalt awareness into a space for the ones who have kept the lights on for everyone else and are finally ready to let someone tend to them. Nearly twenty years of clinical experience and a lifetime of sacred practice went into building this room. Not everything that aches in you needs fixing. Some parts are asking to be seen, remembered, and reclaimed.

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FAQ about my psychotherapy services

  • How does virtual therapy work?

    Sessions are held weekly through a secure, HIPAA-compliant Zoom link. You only need a private space, a stable connection, and a device with a camera and microphone. Each session lasts 45 minutes and is designed to build trust and continuity, allowing the process to unfold with depth and safety.



  • What kind of therapy do you offer?

    I offer somatic therapy, gestalt therapy, shadow work therapy, and eco art therapy. Each modality blends intuitive insight, spiritual reflection, and body awareness to support deep healing and self-understanding.



  • What if I need to cancel or reschedule a session?

    Please give at least 48 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. Late cancellations will be charged in full. You may cancel up to four times per year with proper notice at no charge. This structure helps maintain the flow and depth of our work together.



  • What if I’m not sure this is the right fit?

    You can book a free 15-minute consultation to see how it feels to work together. This conversation helps us sense alignment before beginning the process.



  • With whom do you work and where?

    I work with women and gender-expansive adults based in NYC metro area and serving clients across New York. My clients often seek clarity, healing, and energetic balance as they move through transitions or rediscover their purpose.