# Cathexis — Sensation before emotion

> Somatic therapy tool for understanding body signals and emotions. (iPhone/iPad app by JUSTIN JOSEPH DEGARBO.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cathexis/id6756632094 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [JUSTIN JOSEPH DEGARBO](https://appshunter.io/developer/1861951619)
- Category: Health & Fitness, Medical
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 4 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 26.1 · 35 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2025-12-31
- Data updated: 2026-06-07
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cathexis/id6756632094/reviews.md

## What is Cathexis?

Your nervous system is doing something right now. Tightness somewhere. A hum of energy. A heaviness you've learned to ignore. Cathexis starts there — with what your body is actually telling you — and builds outward.

Cathexis is a somatic therapy tool grounded in seven neuroscience frameworks: how your brain constructs emotions from body signals, how it predicts and updates predictions, what drives your motivations, how body states shape decisions, how the whole brain coordinates emotion, how unconscious patterns surface, and how memory can be rewritten through practice.

YOUR BODY, MAPPED

Each session begins with a body check-in: where you feel sensation, what quality it has, how intense it is. Tag your context — energy, location, what's happening — and over time, patterns emerge that your nervous system has been running without you noticing.

With your permission, Cathexis integrates with Apple Health, your calendar, motion activity, weather, location, and Health Records (FHIR) — building a picture of what your body does in the context of your life. All data stays on device.

NINE 30-DAY THERAPEUTIC PROGRAMS

Each addresses a specific way your nervous system learned to protect you:

• Living with Threat — anxiety, hypervigilance, panic
• Living with Shutdown — low mood, numbness, fatigue
• Living with Loss — grief, yearning, hollowness
• For Those Who Feel Too Much — flooding, overwhelm
• Living Under Siege — when the past keeps intruding on the present
• Living with Conflict — being torn between opposing truths
• Living in the Body Under Strain — chronic pain, body image, disordered eating
• Living Under Pressure — burnout, chronic stress, system exhaustion
• Navigating Change — identity shifts, life transitions

Six learning levels per program — from guided body awareness to independent practice.

FOUR FREE REGULATION PRACTICES

Extended Exhale, Five Senses Grounding, Foundation Body Scan, and Box Breathing — always available, no subscription required.

TWO FREE CRISIS-RESPONSIVE PROGRAMS

Still Here — a 7-day somatic safety practice for when staying feels difficult. Builds a personal Somatic Safety Plan.

New Ground — a 7-day practice for when your world changed without warning. Builds a personal Somatic Crossing Map.

Both free. No trial, no limits. Verified resources for crisis, self-harm, eating disorders, substance use, domestic violence, and sexual assault are always accessible.

ON-DEVICE INTELLIGENCE

AI runs entirely on your iPhone using Apple's on-device models — your data never leaves your phone. Your somatic field — built on reaction-diffusion mathematics — visualizes your nervous system in real time. During practice, it breathes with you. Ask it questions by voice or text and receive observations grounded in your own data. Morning predictions and evening check-backs help your brain update its patterns.

Substance use and medication logging help your patterns make sense. Siri Shortcuts let you check in, start a practice, or get a somatic summary by voice.

BUILT FOR YOUR PROVIDER

A Session Report PDF captures your patterns and practice data in clinical language — ready for any provider. Your Treatment Plan is a living summary you own. My Story builds a portrait of your experience over time.

INSIGHTS

Three views: brain network activation, body sensation mapping, and the connections between your internal systems. Regulation trends, somatic trajectories, and prediction accuracy track what's changing. Monthly Reflections generate ongoing narratives as you progress.

PRIVACY AS ARCHITECTURE

Everything on-device. Nothing uploaded. Full data deletion anytime. A local Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets external AI tools access your data with explicit permission at four granularity levels.

BUILT BY A CLINICIAN

Designed and built by a licensed therapist in residential treatment. Every practice, every word, every safety threshold reflects direct clinical experience with these patterns.

## Key features

- Body check-ins with sensation mapping
- Nine 30-day therapeutic programs
- Six learning levels per program
- Four free regulation practices
- Two free crisis-responsive programs
- On-device AI for personalized insights
- Integration with Apple Health

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Practice | $12.99 | per month |
| Independence | $4.99 | per month |
| Independence | $39.99 | per year |
| Cathexis Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| Cathexis Premium | $79.99 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifetime Access | $199.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cathexis/id6756632094/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Great tool to incorporate in my daily practice!!

*2026-04-09*

Fantastic app for checking in with your mind and body. Very helpful!

## Frequently asked questions about Cathexis

### What is Cathexis?

Cathexis is a somatic therapy tool that helps you understand your body's signals and how they relate to your emotions. It uses neuroscience frameworks to guide you through body awareness practices and therapeutic programs.

### Does Cathexis have ads?

No, Cathexis does not contain advertisements. The app is designed to provide an uninterrupted experience for users focused on their mental and emotional well-being.

### What therapeutic programs are available in Cathexis?

Cathexis offers nine 30-day therapeutic programs addressing specific nervous system responses like anxiety, low mood, grief, overwhelm, and chronic stress. Each program has six learning levels.

### Are there free features in Cathexis?

Yes, Cathexis provides four free regulation practices, including Extended Exhale and Box Breathing, and two free crisis-responsive programs: Still Here and New Ground. These are always available without a subscription.

### How does Cathexis use my data?

Cathexis processes all data on-device using Apple's models, meaning your personal information never leaves your iPhone. It integrates with Apple Health, calendar, motion, weather, location, and Health Records with your permission.

### What are the subscription options for Cathexis?

Cathexis offers a Premium subscription with a 7-day free trial. You can choose between a monthly plan for $9.99 or an annual plan for $79.99.

### What age rating is Cathexis suitable for?

Cathexis has an age rating of 17+, indicating it is intended for mature audiences due to the nature of the therapeutic content it addresses.

### How often is Cathexis updated?

The latest version of Cathexis is 2.3.5, which was last updated on May 21, 2026. This suggests a relatively active development cycle for the application.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.3.5 — 2026-05-21

Two new free programs for people in crisis. Still Here is a 7-day somatic safety practice for when staying feels difficult — it builds a personal Somatic Safety Plan grounded in your body's signals. New Ground is a 7-day practice for when your world changed without warning — displacement, disaster, violence, forced transition — and builds a personal Somatic Crossing Map. Both are completely free.

New territory program: Navigating Change — a 30-day program for identity shifts and life transitions.

Six data sources now feed your patterns: Apple Health, Calendar, Motion & Activity, Health Records (FHIR clinical records), Location, and Weather. All on-device.

Substance use and medication change logging — your patterns make more sense when the full picture is visible.

Ask your somatic field questions by voice or text and receive personalized observations grounded in your own data.

Five Siri Shortcuts: check in, start a practice, somatic summary, weekly observation, and practice recommendation.

Monthly Reflections generate ongoing somatic narratives after you complete a program.

Verified support resources for crisis, self-harm, eating disorders, substance use, domestic violence, and sexual assault — always accessible from the Resources tab.

Daily Briefing, cross-tab navigation between Profile and Insights, full style and typography sweep, and narration density improvements across all programs.

### 2.3.4 — 2026-04-07

What's New in 2.3.4

Apple Intelligence integration — your somatic field now observes what your body is doing and tells you what it notices. All processing happens on your device. Your data never leaves your phone.

Observations surface after check-ins, during practice, and across sessions
The intelligence remembers what it said and builds on it over time
Voice reads observations aloud
Observations adapt to your territory and deepen as your practice develops
Personalized program recommendation during onboarding

### 2.3.1 — 2026-03-25

Fixed a crash that could occur when using voice input during somatic explorations.

### 2.3.0 — 2026-03-25

See your nervous system from three angles. BRAIN: a living neural map that illuminates as you accumulate data across 19 brain regions. BODY: a 30-day thermal portrait of where your body carries its patterns. WORLD: your ecological map showing who and what correlates with your activation.
New in 2.3: structured context chips connecting your world to your body's response. A somatic narrative that builds over your first two weeks. Dashboard with personal metrics and a zone-by-context heatmap. Voice input for somatic explorations. AI voice guidance during practices. Treatment plan with clinical formulation. Session reports shareable with your provider. HealthKit integration. Prevention signals when patterns escalate. MCP server for AI agent integration. New typography throughout.

### 2.2.1 — 2026-03-14

Bug fixes and polish: improved day counter accuracy across all screens, refined onboarding flow, and minor visual improvements.

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-07.*