Beyond Words: The Power of Somatic Therapy
If you have ever felt like traditional talk therapy isn’t quite helping you reach your goals, you are not alone. Feeling this way doesn’t mean that you are failing therapy, that you can’t get better, or that professional help can’t be effective. Feeling like you have hit a wall in therapy is often a normal part of the therapeutic experience, but sometimes it is a sign that you need to change the approach to treatment. As a licensed therapist, I have witnessed the power of Somatic therapy transform many therapeutic journeys. In this post, I will explain what Somatic therapy is, how it can feel different than talk therapy, and who it can help.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to therapy that helps people to release things that have been stored in the body, such as stress or trauma.
If you have ever watched the Discovery Channel, you have probably seen an animal moving through a stress response. For example, prey facing a predator might attempt to fight its attacker or flee to safety. If you aren’t much of a nature show enthusiast, maybe you have heard of the phrases “deer in the headlights” or “playing possum”. These showcase three survival mechanisms that all mammals are wired with – the reactions of flight, fight, or freeze.
The most important factor in whether or not a stressful event becomes traumatic is what happens after everything is over. After prey has successfully fled and made it to safety, it may begin to tremble or shake before it continues on with its day. While the possum or deer may be overcome with immobility in the face of danger, they will go through a similar shaking, trembling, or twitching once the threat is no longer present. These animals then get up and move on as if nothing ever happened. When we look at animals in the wild, it’s clear that there is something to be said about the lyrics in Taylor Swift’s popular song “Shake it Off”.
Just like other mammals, human bodies are hard-wired to encounter stress and trauma. In the face of danger, they instinctually know how to react, release, and move on – no trauma-related disorder required. Sometimes, however, the trauma response cycle can get interrupted. When this happens, the body may not have the chance to release the event and move on. The body never really gets a chance to register that the threat is over, and it is no longer in danger. The stress and trauma then get stored, leading to things like chronic illness, hyperarousal, anxiety, feeling detached, and difficulty regulating emotions.
What to Expect in a Somatic Therapy Session
Even if you have been to therapy before, a Somatic therapy session could look a little different than what you are used to. This is because Somatic therapy is a body-based approach. Unlike traditional talk therapy, Somatic therapy incorporates the wisdom of your body to help you ground yourself, process, and release stored emotions. While there are similarities to traditional talk therapy and Somatic therapy, let’s look at some things that might be different.
The pace of therapy might feel slower
Somatic therapy really relies on de-coding the messages your body is trying to send you. These can easily be overlooked if you are trying to get the words out as fast as you can or breeze over emotional topics. Somatic therapy presents an opportunity for embodiment and connection. To extend an invitation to do this, your therapist might frequently ask you to pause or sit with your experience. I’m not going to lie – some people might find this annoying or uncomfortable at first. But, it doesn’t take long for it to start feeling like an impactful part of the process.
You might feel things more intensely
Somatic therapy is all about feeling. It is an incredibly powerful way to lean into emotions, body sensations, and experiences. Sure, you will probably cover difficult emotions in talk therapy, but somatic therapy takes it to the next level. This approach can be incredibly helpful for people who have experienced trauma and those who have a difficult time feeling their feelings. If that sounds scary, do not fret. As Somatic therapists, we may encourage you to feel the hard stuff, but we do not want it to feel unmanageable. We are trained to help you recognize when you are starting to feel a little too much, stop, and utilize skills before you get to a point that you are overwhelmed.
It could feel like you are putting in more work than you have before
Feeling your feelings can be a lot of work! With Somatic therapy, you are stretching your ability to handle difficult emotions and re-training your nervous system. So, it makes sense if you come out of sessions feeling a little tired. Working with the mind-body connection is like exercising a muscle. If you haven’t used it in a long time, it is probably going to feel like you are putting in a lot of effort to strengthen it. But, it gets stronger over time. The more that you show up to sessions and do the work, the more natural it will become.
You may experience a breakthrough that you were not able to achieve with other approaches
I have seen the Somatic approach become a game changer for clients who have previously not had the best experience with traditional talk therapy. I think that this is largely because Somatic therapy is a trauma-informed approach, which means that it takes into account common dynamics experienced by those who have a trauma history. When someone struggling with the impact of trauma seeks treatment from a therapist who does not utilize a trauma-informed approach, they may feel misunderstood, unseen, or that therapy was ineffective. Somatic therapy focuses on the individual’s nervous system and personalizes treatment based on what your body is telling us. The result is often authentic connection, transformative insight, and genuine healing.
Will Somatic Therapy Help?
As a Somatic therapist, I may be a little biased when asked whether or not Somatic therapy can be effective. But, I am not just speaking to this from a clinical perspective. Before I ever became a clinician, I worked with a therapist to do a lot of my own Somatic work. What I found was an approach that allowed me to feel seen, heard, and understood like never before. I had worked with a variety of other therapists in the past, but I was not able to regulate myself, move through trauma, or find healing in the same way that Somatic therapy was able to help me.
As a therapist, I have seen Somatic therapy have a similar impact on many of the clients that I work with. That being said, it is not a cure all, and not everyone will find this approach helpful. Whether or not Somatic therapy will help you is not something that anyone can definitively answer. The only way to find out is to give it a shot!
Interested in Somatic Therapy? Let’s Talk Next Steps!
Deciding that you need to get help is a huge step, but it is only the beginning. It’s important that you are able to find a therapist with an approach that feels like the right fit. For those who have experienced trauma, chronic anxiety and stress, or feel like they have not gotten what they need from traditional talk therapy, a Somatic approach could be just that. If what I have talked about resonates, I encourage you to look more into Somatic therapy.
If you are not quite ready to go out and get a Somatic therapist but are interested in learning more about it, here are some books that could be helpful:
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
If you are ready to take the leap and want to incorporate a Somatic approach into your therapeutic journey, I’d be happy to connect. You can find my website at www.therapywithkenzie.com or view my full profile on MiResource.
