Somatic Therapy Works for PTSD
PTSD has a voracious appetite and consumes individuals who have served in the military by the mouthfuls. What we are currently doing with medications and traditional therapy is a start, but the research on trauma-induced issues such as PTSD show other options need to be embraced.
Experts in the field of trauma have described someone who has PTSD's nervous system as a person having one foot on the brake and one on the gas at all times.
When this is physiologically happening to a person, their nervous system is living as though they are still in the past.
A service member returning home's body is still responding as though they are in the middle of a conflict zone even if they consciously know they are not there.
The idea of the body as a safe place is demolished and every day sights, sounds, and smells can all bring the trauma to the surface.
Surprisingly one of the least helpful ways to release trauma is to talk about it.
In most instances talking about our experience leads us to disassociate or block the feelings from our body. While this serves us as we sit across from our therapist and helps pass the hour session it brings us no closer to healing our trauma.
Somatic Therapy can bridge the parts of the brain necessary for healthy functioning.
This therapy starts with sitting in a calm, safe place. A session may begin with simple breathing techniques, Biodynamic craniosacral work, and establishing safety in the body with gentle movements.
Together we will create positive body sensations in order to counterbalance feelings of irrational reactions. Through these gentle reorientations in the body, the sense of living in the present can find a foothold.
Once a client can recognize their inner feelings only then can they start looking at the moments of the trauma they have experienced. People with PTSD need to reconnect safety in their body, connect language with it and remember the past while staying grounded in the present.
The one thing I can promise is that sensations in the body will shift as trauma leaves, and the clients' ability to self regulate will increase. There is no magic pill for those afflicted with this, but there is a new approach, and it works.
No storytelling needed as with talk therapy, no remembering memories as needed in EMDR. Somatic Therapy provides skills to manage current overwhelm, but most importantly it aligns your inner sensations with your daily experience. Clients begin to feel a sense of self, embodiment, and control. You will no longer feel alienated from who you are.
If you have PTSD please reach out and connect with me. Together we can find a therapy that will work for you. I promise, we got this.
Free Somatic therapy consultations always available.
Books on dealing with trauma
The Body Keeps The Score–Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
Peter Levine