What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a newer type of empirically-based therapy that works with the body to release stress, tension, and anxiety that resides in the body from common mental health issues. Based on the philosophy that emotions are stored in the body, Somatic therapy aims to release negative emotions by identifying them and working through them using various techniques.
Initially, Somatic Therapy was created to help trauma survivors experience relief from flashbacks, difficulties sleeping, dysregulated eating patterns, and toxic relationships and lifestyle choices. However, in the last few years, Somatic Therapy has been used to help individuals achieve more intimacy in their life, mend broken relationships, feel more trusting, and manage difficult emotions. Ultimately, it’s a great avenue to renegotiate our systems and heal trauma.
Who is Somatic Therapy For?
Sometimes, there may be emotions and sensations that live in our bodies that we are completely unaware of. That is why some individuals experience physical symptoms when they are not always necessarily experiencing negative emotions. An example of this is having “fight or flight” triggers in otherwise normal situations or reacting to triggers in our environment such as loud noises.
When our bodies store trauma in our bodies, it keeps us stuck in the past. If you have tried cognitive therapy or have not felt much relief from talk therapy, somatic therapy can be a good way to discover whether you are harboring these emotions in your body instead.
When we are able to release this emotional tension in our bodies we begin to create more harmony between ourselves and the world around us.
How Does Somatic Therapy Work?
Just like in regular therapy, somatic therapy begins with talk therapy. Much in the same way, your therapist will want to know your background, goals, and reasons for seeking therapy. The difference between Somatic Therapy and talk therapy, however, is that your counsellor will guide you to focus on the underlying physical sensations that may arise during your session.
Somatic therapy uses physical methods like dance, stretching, breathwork, and meditation, in conjunction with talk therapy to provide a holistic therapy that treats the mind and body as a whole.
This encourages you to reconnect with your body and pick up on physical cues that may arise that are directly related to how you are feeling. There is also a lot of resourcing involved to make sure that you feel safe and comfortable.
From here, meditation, massage, and eye training exercises will be used to refocus and heal your mind depending on how your therapist works.
What are Somatic Therapy Techniques?
Using physical techniques, Somatic Therapy works with the mind-body connection. The idea is that emotions can manifest themselves as physical symptoms in your body.
Some clues that your mental health is causing physical symptoms can be, stress and tension in your back and shoulders, tingling in your fingers and hands, shaking or trembling hands, migraine headaches, stomach issues, dry throat and eyes, and more.
Somatic Therapy uses techniques that help you recognize different sensations in your body that might be manifested as a result of mental stress and release these emotions through movement.
Some techniques include:
Developing Awareness - The first step in Somatic Therapy is being able to identify the different sensations in your body.
Resourcing - This is a way to store more positive feelings in your body so that you can then use them when anxiety, depression, or trauma arise.
Grounding - Grounding helps you focus on the here and now and uses techniques to bring you back to the present moment.
Detailed Descriptions - Once you are able to describe exactly what is happening around us including the sensations in your body, you are then able to connect to the present moment fully.
Alternating Focus - Shifting your focus between stressful situations and calm situations to help release tensions in a technique called Titration and Pendulation.
Movement - Learning to move your body through yoga, stretching or dance can be a powerful experience for people whose bodies have been stuck in trauma or fear.
Co-Regulation and Self-Regulations - Co-regulations refer to the way you are able to regulate your own emotions through someone else’s sense of warmth and comfort. Self-regulation is when you are able to regulate your own emotions. Self-regulation gives you the inspiring freedom to live more fully in the moment and enjoy life's small pleasures.
Act of Triumph - This is a powerful technique in which you use your body to literally push against or run away from an event that hurt you, using the physical act of running or saying no to release the trauma of that event and take back power.
Boundary Setting - Boundaries are crucial in the steps toward any form of healing. Learning how to set healthy boundaries that are in line with your values and how your body reacts when you set these boundaries. Notice the non-verbal cues that your body communicates when you don’t like or approve of something.
Final Thoughts
Acknowledging the mind-body connection is a powerful part of all healing therapy. Often, we store emotions at our core, which have the power to affect us at any stage of our lives. Learning to manage these emotions is an important part of the healthy human experience.
Somatic therapy can help us recognize the sensations in our bodies and can provide tools that help release these emotions.
If you don’t feel like you are fully benefiting from talk therapy and would like to explore Somatic therapy, speak to one of our counsellors today.
Here we can introduce you to new ways to, quite literally, move through your emotions and help make movement an integral part of your life. Having the tools to self-regulate is really the end goal of any healing journey, and we are here to help.
