Releasing Sexual Trauma with Movement

I was doing a Somatic exercise with a client the other day.

At the end of the movement, she was supposed to notice what was happening in her body.

We did the movement, and her body froze.

As we played with movement, her first sexual experience was the image that came to her.

It was not a rape situation but undoubtedly an encounter that was not healthy or positive.

We made a move again; this time, I helped her move past the freeze.

We did the movement a third time, and she moved out of the freeze alone and then shook out all of her limbs.

There was a nervous system pattern of freeze stuck in her body all these years regarding sexual intimacy.

This reaction happened possibly with every sexual encounter she has had since then to one degree or another depending on the safety she felt during the time.

As we worked through this, she became aware of all sorts of decisions she had made sexually as a response to her first sexual experience.

These types of nervous system blocks are in all of us from previous traumatic experiences where our systems had to find a way to navigate the moment of great stress alone, choosing fight, flight or freeze.

Gaining perspective and knowing herself better will allow her to open up in her intimate connections differently.

What is your body holding onto?

Somatic psychotherapy works well in person and virtually.

A free consultation is the best way to start.