How Somatic Therapies Treat PTSD and Trauma
Trauma is Common
Experiencing a traumatic event is, unfortunately, not rare. Accordingly, awareness about this trend has dramatically increased over the years. For example, many more people have a basic understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). That said, there is much more to trauma than potentially severe emotional distress.
We’re talking about physical symptoms and outcomes like unexplained body aches and tension, perspiration, fatigue, trembling, dizziness, digestive issues, blurry vision, headaches, and trembling. Fortunately, somatic therapy is available. It’s an approach designed to address the full spectrum of trauma and PTSD symptoms. Somatic (Greek for “of the body”) therapy calls on both psychotherapy and physical therapy.
Trauma’s Impact on the Body
When faced with a horrific experience (or string of experiences), the human body naturally switches into survival mode. Such a stress response is meant to stay in effect until the danger has dissipated. However, some circumstances short-circuit this cycle, such as:
The event feels like more than we can handle
Escape seems impossible
The trauma is being caused by someone we know
It happens during childhood
For a variety of reasons, we just cannot process and resolve the experience
In cases like this, a person gets stuck in a fight-flight-freeze response. Someone diagnosed with PTSD has trouble differentiating between real and perceived threats. So, the body holds onto the pain, and we experience symptoms like those listed above. For someone in this scenario, somatic therapy can be a powerful option.
How Somatic Therapy Can Treat PTSD and Trauma
Using techniques like message, dance, hypnosis, deep breathing, acupressure, and yoga, somatic therapy directly addresses the ways emotional trauma is being stored in the body. Think about it; if a negative body sensation exists, you are still dealing with trauma. A trained somatic therapist understands this and will focus on parallel tracks of emotional and physical healing.
It’s a mind-body strategy that can lead to suppressed emotions being released. In turn, as physical distress is decreased, it becomes easier to target the feelings created by traumatic events.
Three Components of Somatic Therapy:
Resourcing
Part of PTSD involves the replaying of an endless loop of negative thoughts and memories. SE resourcing is a technique designed to help you shift emotional priorities. You and your therapist compile a list of positive thought patterns. It can be incredibly grounding to catch yourself before a negative spiral starts and instead focus on the positive resources you’ve stockpiled.
Titration
It sounds like a fancy word, but its meaning here is simple. Using titration, you can connect what you feel in your body with the specific events that caused them. Unexplained headaches, for example, could relate to sounds you heard while being traumatized. An association like this is useful when it comes to deciding what to work on first.
Pendulation
Another fancy word with a basic meaning, pendulation, relates to the distressing memories dredged up while titration is being done. Tying all three techniques together is the point when you use the resourcing stockpile to help calm the discomfort caused during pendulation.
The Body is the Starting Point
Somatic therapy includes elements like talk therapy, but it plans to guide trauma survivors to trust their bodies again. They need to feel safe while doing the challenging work of managing PTSD. Somatic therapy takes the tension down several notches and creates room to focus on ugly memories without being triggered. In this state, serious progress can be made.
We would love to talk more with you about somatic therapy for trauma and PTSD. Please feel free to contact us directly.