Somatic Therapy
Connect Your Body, Heart and Mind and Find Relief from Trauma
After a disturbing event, we often feel powerless, scared, and confused—or judgmental of ourselves for not doing something different. Our nervous systems become overwhelmed. Our bodies flood with adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine, creating a huge upsurge of energy within us. We just don't feel right or good, and sometimes, we can feel really, really bad.
We weren't able to take off our seatbelt and run from our car before we were hit. We weren't able to stop our loved one from experiencing suffering and pain. We weren't able to fight off an assailant. Unable to prevent or stop what was happening, this energy remains bound up inside our bodies.
Somatic therapy is designed to help if you are experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress, having difficulty recovering from trauma or having symptoms that are hindering you from living your life in a way that feels good.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a highly effective body-centered approach to healing stress disorders and trauma.
We know from extensive research that memories impact our bodies as well as our minds. Trauma and stress dysregulate the nervous system and are held in the body. To experience real and sustainable relief, it is essential for the nervous system to restore balance and for the bound energy of trauma to be released from the body.
For most of the history of psychotherapy, the body has been the missing piece in trauma recovery.
Our awareness consists of thoughts, feeling and body sensations but talk therapy addresses only thoughts and emotions, often leaving people with an understanding about what happened to them and how it has impacted them, but without alleviating distressing symptoms. They may still experience anxiety, sleep disturbances, and intrusive thoughts and memories, and begin to believe that there is no help to be had.
The weight of our traumatic experiences saps our vital life force. Somatic therapy is designed to help restore the body's self-regulation that has been thrown out of balance by trauma.
Understanding the Body's Response to Trauma
The Brain-Body Connection
Our brains and bodies are intimately intertwined. The brain sends out innumerable signals and instructions to the body every second, and the body sends back even more. Not understanding or attending to the impact of stress in the body blocks the path to healing trauma.
The Three Survival Responses
The body has three primary responses to danger:
Fight - The body prepares to confront the threat
Flight - The body prepares to escape from danger
Freeze - The body shuts down when fighting or fleeing isn't possible
When we are overwhelmed, our bodies go into one of these responses and it becomes our default mode. In this highly activated state, we become hypervigilant, scanning the environment for danger and ready to fight or run, or freeze and shut down completely.
The Traumatized vs. Regulated Body
A traumatized body is on constant guard and ready for danger. Often unable to recognize when it is safe, the body becomes unable to settle and rest. This is different from a regulated and resilient body, which is able to feel at ease under normal conditions and kick into a higher gear when danger is present.
Somatic therapy is necessary because we can't "reason" our bodies into regulating itself. For example, think of someone who has a fear of flying. They can learn all about the statistics of airplane safety, but that doesn't stop the body from becoming panicky, dizzy, nauseous or tearful when they even think about getting on a plane.
Our Approach
Combining Powerful
Healing Therapies
Healing Trauma with Somatic Therapy and EMDR
We like to use Somatic Therapy, specifically Somatic Experiencing (SE), in conjunction with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in much of our trauma treatment work. The reason is simple and practical. For trauma therapy to be deeply effective, we recognize the need to take a multi-pronged approach.
Comparing EMDR and Somatic Experiencing
EMDR
Quickly relaxes the body
Allows revisiting of troubling memories
Blurs visual and auditory memories
Reduces emotional reactivity
Changes meaning of traumatic events
Effective for single-incident trauma
Somatic Experiencing
Releases pent-up energy in the body
Helps complete defensive responses
Works with micromovements of the body
Re-establishes natural rhythm of nervous system
Helps the body tell its story
Addresses complex, developmental trauma
These two trauma therapies both create new neural pathways and provide relief from difficult experiences, but they do different things. EMDR is a powerful tool that we have used for decades in our trauma therapy practice. Somatic therapy provides additional and crucial relief in a way that EMDR does not.
EMDR quickly relaxes the body and allows us to revisit troubling memories. It often blurs visual and auditory memories, reducing emotional reactivity and spontaneously changing the meaning of the traumatic event, while also helping to boost and reinforce our sense of self. EMDR can provide relief in a short period of time in many cases, especially with single-incident trauma. But, what EMDR doesn't do is release the pent-up energy in the body.
Somatic Therapy: Whole Body Healing & Deep Relief
This is where somatic work comes in. As longtime Somatic Experiencing therapists with extensive training and experience, we have a particular resonance with the body's language. We have developed what we call "somatic eyes," and are highly attuned to your body’s impulses to find relief.
We attend to the micromovements of your body, helping it to tell its story and complete what it was powerless to do at the time of the event. Through posture shifts, clenched fists, shallow breaths, the almost imperceptible twitch of the foot, your body is trying to express something. It knows the way for you to release energy so that it, and you, are able to calm and relax deeply.
With time and respectful attention to your body's needs, we help you find your way to what is called completing the defensive response—finally releasing all of that energy that became bound in the body when the traumatic event overtook you.
When we release trauma from the body, the body becomes less stressed, symptoms ease and we feel a sense of safety.
What to Expect
in Somatic Therapy Sessions
Somatic sessions are unique because whatever comes up in the moment is addressed in the moment. Every body tells a nonverbal story of what happened and it is our work as highly attuned trauma therapists to help your body reveal and resolve that story.
A Typical Session May Include:
Releasing stored energy: Assisting the body in releasing stored traumatic energy
Completing defensive responses: Aiding the body in completing the defensive response that it wasn't able to do during the actual traumatic event
Nervous system regulation: Reestablishing the natural rhythm of the nervous system so that it can come out of a chronic state of feeling unsafe into feeling calm, relaxed and resilient
Who Can Benefit from Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy can be particularly helpful for people experiencing:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Anxiety and panic attacks
Chronic stress and tension
Recovery from accidents or injuries
Childhood trauma and developmental trauma
Relationship issues stemming from past trauma
Physical symptoms with no clear medical cause
Sleep disturbances and nightmares
Our Somatic Therapy and Trauma Therapy Practice
At Cutting Edge Counseling trauma therapy practice in Los Angeles, we offer the most compassionate, comprehensive and effective trauma therapies available.
Our Comprehensive Approach
To best support you and all of our clients, in addition to EMDR and Somatic Experiencing, we also use:
Mindfulness Therapy: Helps you develop skillful ways to notice, work with and reframe negative thought patterns and beliefs
Attachment Therapy: Especially helpful if you experienced early, developmental trauma and feel a lack of safety in relationships and in the world
We know how painful living with trauma can be, and we are here to help.
Our Experience and Commitment
With over 30 years of treating trauma and engaging in our own personal healing journeys, we know and have lived, both personally and professionally, the healing power of somatic therapy.
Even if you have tried therapy in the past and haven't found it successful, a somatic approach to healing is often what it takes to finally heal trauma and tap into the strength and resilience that resides within you.
With the support of an attuned therapist and a thoughtful approach to healing, it is possible to release trauma, regulate your nervous system and live with more peace and ease.
Free Phone Consultation
If you’re seeking Trauma Therapy or PTSD Treatment, we invite you to call us for a free 15-minute phone consultation.
Call Stephanie at 310-339-5812 or Lee Ann at 310-980-8988.