Did you know that the human body has the ability to heal itself? My work as a therapist and coach is to help you to listen to your body and forge a connection with it. Once you’ve learned to listen to your body, you can pay attention to what it needs from you.
I accomplish this state of mind via a technique called somatic therapy. Somatic therapy makes use of both traditional conversational psychotherapy, combined with physical techniques.
How Somatic Therapy Works
The body copes with unresolved anxiety, stress and depression by storing it in our body. If unresolved, the body will express these conditions via physical symptoms such as muscle tension, heart palpitations, sweating, and insomnia. If we learn to calm the brain and treat the underlying conditions, we can alleviate these symptoms.
The converse also holds true- if we can address the physical symptoms, we can release the body stress caused by the mental conditions. As a result, clients will be able to release their trauma and improve their mental health.
Somatic Therapy Techniques
Helping my clients to develop a better awareness of their bodies is an important aspect of somatic therapy. To help my clients accomplish this goal, I might ask them to notice physical symptoms they might feel when they feel stressed or upset. We can then connect what they feel with the specific emotion involved, as well as develop their own way to deal with that particular sensation.
Once they’ve developed their own technique for keeping an even keep, they can avoid the usual “fight or flight response” that typically comes in a stressful situation. With time, educating your brain to calm down will allow you to purge negative emotions from the body.
Body scanning along with conscious breathing are some of the other techniques I use to teach my clients to connect with their emotions and/or their trauma, to acknowledge these emotions, and to let them pass over and through their minds.
To aid in developing self-awareness, the body needs to find an outlet, a language and a narrative. My practice provides a safe space where you can learn to listen to your body and to identify the emotions that are attached to it. Aside from questions and answers you might expect, listening to music, meditating, and taking time to slow down are a few examples of the activities we will explore in order to connect and come back to your center.
Improve Your Well Being Via Somatic Therapy
Through somatic therapy, my clients can learn to develop awareness of the connection between body and mind. By doing so, they can release their anger, frustration and other emotions that prevent them from fully engaging in their lives. In doing so, they will improve both physical and mental well being.
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