Talk Therapy vs. Somatic Therapy: When to Consider a Body-Centered Approach
Talk Therapy Has a Time and Place
Talking is comfortable. Mindfully and patiently listening to the body can feel more vulnerable. Our culture has adopted a standard of talking to make meaning of our lives and problem-solve. And yet, it’s not uncommon for our clients to seek somatic therapy after having engaged in talk therapy in the past, and finding it unsuccessful for treating the root issue. Many of these clients also express that they feel intimidated by somatic therapy. It’s true, it’s a new language to learn. But we want you to know that it’s okay to be a beginner here. You don’t need to already be familiar with your body’s sensations to start somatic therapy; we only ask that you are willing to try something new.
Talk therapy is good at exploring cognitive processes and helping clients identify and challenge negative thought patterns, which is what cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) offers. This can be a helpful approach if you are looking for a therapy that focuses on addressing specific challenges and problem-solving. Talk therapy usually has an element of skill building and learning tools for managing strong emotions and internal triggers, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Both CBT and DBT are useful in working with negative beliefs; they are often helpful precursors to beginning trauma therapy.
Talk therapy has a time and a place. The verbal processing of what comes up during and after a somatic therapy session with your therapist is an important part of the therapeutic process. We feel strongly, though, that it is worth taking the time with the help of a skilled somatic therapist, to start to build a deeper relationship with your body.
What Makes Somatic Therapy Different?
You may consider somatic therapy for the following:
Embodied Trauma-Healing
Somatic therapy focuses on the interconnectedness of the mind and body. Emotional and traumatic experiences are stored in the body (as they say, “Our issues are in our tissues”!) and somatic therapy is particularly effective in addressing trauma. By tuning into your body’s sensations, you might start to notice long-held patterns, like tightness in your jaw and shoulders, that remind you of an earlier time in your life. In our sessions, you will learn how to pay attention to your body and use mindfulness to explore sensations. You will also learn how to use self-soothing techniques to bring nurturing or soothing to the discomfort. Over time, we can teach our body to shift out of a trauma response (“fight/flight/freeze”) and into a regulated state by practicing mindfulness and self-soothing.
Non-Verbal Expression
Somatic therapy is experiential, meaning that the magic happens through experience and not only by talking about it. Sometimes, words alone may not fully capture your emotions. Somatic therapy allows for non-verbal expression through movement, gestures, and body sensations, offering an alternative and potentially more intuitive way to communicate and process emotions. Often, when we let go of words and instead connect with the felt sense of the body, emotions come. So often clients will experience a big emotional release during a somatic therapy session and say afterward: “I don’t even know where that came from!” When we get out of the way, our body knows exactly what to do.
Increased Somatic Awareness
Somatic therapy enhances your awareness of body sensations and cues. This heightened awareness can lead to better self-understanding and improved emotional regulation, empowering you to navigate life's challenges with greater ease. Plus, as you develop more body awareness through the use of mindfulness, you learn to engage the pre-frontal cortex in your brain (the front part that’s responsible for making logical and rational decisions, connecting with others, and feeling calm). When you’re operating from your pre-frontal cortex, you’re less likely to forget what you planned to say during an important work presentation or get into a fight with your partner.
Personal Empowerment
Somatic therapy requires active participation from you, the client. Again, while there is a learning curve to this “new language” (and we will help you with that!), it is often an empowering experience for clients to be able to stay present in their bodies, even when triggered by a partner or boss. It can feel satisfying to know that you are responsible for your own healing and that the growth and changes that have occurred are through your commitment and effort. Learning how to take responsibility for managing your own emotions and practicing skills to stay regulated in times of stress is deeply empowering.
Holistic Well-Being
By addressing the body-mind connection, somatic therapy promotes holistic well-being. Somatic therapy techniques can help release physical tension and stress held in the body. If you often feel physically tense or experience psychosomatic symptoms, such as poor sleep, aching joints, tension headaches, and eczema, somatic therapy may offer relief. As you create an arsenal of somatic tools for self-soothing and nervous system regulation, you may notice that your tension headaches lessen, you’re sleeping better, and you have fewer sugar cravings (or at least, you know how to work with the cravings when you do have them!).
Somatic therapy requires a willingness to do something different–even counterculture–to what you’ve been taught in school, by your family, and your workplace your whole life. To respond to your life from your body’s wisdom, not your head’s. Talk therapy is often an important gateway to therapy since it may feel more familiar and safe, which is a critical first step. And, it’s a useful precursor to deeper trauma work and nervous system healing. However, it can only take you so far. If you have tried talk therapy and notice that symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD aren’t budging, you may consider somatic therapy and EMDR therapy (a trauma-focused modality designed to treat trauma and trauma-related symptoms, which we often use in tandem with somatic therapy).
By embracing the mind-body connection, addressing trauma at its core, and tapping into the language of non-verbal expression, somatic therapy offers an alternative to talk and other traditional forms of therapy.
Next Steps
In your therapeutic journey, you will most likely discover that the more you practice connecting with your body and listening to its messages, the easier it will become to connect with your intuition and respond to your life more grounded and clear. If you would like to learn more about somatic therapy, please schedule a complimentary consultation.