Does Somatic Therapy Mean Touching?
There seems to be a spectrum of people’s comfort with the word trauma. Either you have a picture of an one-time high intensity event such as war in your head as trauma or you believe everyone picks up traumatic events along their life and the best way through is with tools to minimize the effects, or you fall somewhere inbetween.
There is some agreement in regards to trauma. We know it’s every subjective, two people can experience the same event and have different effects from it. We also know alternative body-centered therapies have been shown to reduce PTSD symptoms and other trauma symptoms such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork. We consider these bottom-up approaches because you use your body before you use your head. Have you ever had to tell a story multiple times and you find yourself using the same phrases each time, this is similar to traditional trauma therapy.
What is Somatic Therapy Anyway?
Essentially somatics are a relationship to the body it’s understanding the body piece in mind, body, and spirit. There are two modalities that have been developed sensorimotor psychotherapy and somatic experiencing, both work with curiosity around body sensations todevleop better resourcing so the individual can regulate their nervous system better. Somatics can include a variety of other modalities such as yoga, breathwork, dance, cold exposure, sauna use, or anything that brings sensation to the body. The great thing about somatics is we are always with our body and never run out of opportunities to learn more about ourselves through our experience.
What is a Somatic Therapist?
Somatic trauma therapists are trained in traditional trauma therapy and body-centered practices such as sensorimotor psychotherapy, meditation, sometimes trauma-informed yoga, mindfulness, or other approaches that integrate the body into therapy.
We tend to see people who have experience with traditional talk therapy and became frustrated with the results. Like most experiences, there are definitely helpful parts support, coping strategies, and reflection A somatic therapist is a kind of therapy that is considered bottoms-up meaning we start with the feelings, body, and awareness while moving slowly up to the head versus traditional therapy that begin with the intellectual cognition narrative of the story and usually does not incorporate the body.
Does body-centered therapy mean touch?
I always describe body-centered therapy as informed-consent,client-centered non-judgemental, and warmth based approach. Body-centered therapy is about you exploring your own body! This is usually done by me demonstrating things on my own body such as feeling my stomach when I talk about an experience with anger or my heart for a connected feeling.
No one gets to tell you where, what, or how to touch your body. Somatic therapy is an invitation.
At Wild & Wise, somatic trauma therapy often looks like a trained therapist inquiring about feelings going on in your own body and suggesting holding an area with compassion. It can be a great tool to prepare for birth, infertility, parenthood, or postpartum. Often times we uncover a lot of sadness, depression, and anxiety our bodies have held onto for far too long. Somatic therapy helps release that.
If building a relationship with your body, regulating your nervous system, and making time for yourself. I’d love to talk about setting up an appointment. You can reach out at our contact page with any questions or to set up a consultation.
