How Somatic Therapy Works

The main difference between what I do and traditional therapy is silence and noticing a sensation or movement of the body. Clients are always surprised when they stop talking and drop inside. What they learn about their nervous systems is simply amazing.

I was doing a phone consultation the other day. I asked the person to give me an example of the behavior he wanted to change. He told me of an incident with a friend a few days ago.

I had him stop at the end of the story and breathe deeply from his belly three times. I then asked him to notice his body, and he talked about his queasy stomach and tight chest.

I asked him to breathe, recognize his chest and stomach sensations, and describe how much he could talk, breathe easily, etc.

After a couple more deep breaths, I asked him to label the sensation with an emotional description, and he chose shame.

Then it all came together, and he said, "My whole life, I have felt like an outsider and misunderstood.”

BINGO.

His body sends a shameful message whenever he converses with someone who feels he is misunderstood, and he reacts from that space. His ability to behave more adult-like goes out the window. The reaction is similar to a young child being shamed for something they cannot control or understand. He shuts down and cannot speak up for himself or ask questions.

The awareness is quick and profound, sitting with a sensation for less than five minutes, which is almost always the case. It works so quickly people want to walk away and tell themselves they made up the story. But this is the ego and old patterns trying to keep you stuck. Once you understand what you are holding, healing the wounds happens naturally.  

Somatic work is both simple and hard. Most people do not desire to sit in an uncomfortable place for even one second, let alone two minutes.

Patterns of behavior, thought patterns and negative beliefs keep us from living our best lives and being the best version of ourselves.

Consultations are free. I work with people all across the nation. Reach out.