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Somatic therapy is a holistic therapeutic approach that emphasises the mind-body connection. It uses the body as a resource to help explore emotions, sensations, and belief systems that might be challenging to reach with traditional cognitive-based methods. This approach places a spotlight on the connection between suppressed emotions and traumatic experiences and their manifestation as physical sensations in the body.
What Are The Benefits?
One of the primary benefits of somatic therapy is its ability to reduce physical symptoms linked to trauma, such as chronic pain, tension, and digestive issues. Trauma often causes the body to retain stress, leading to various physical ailments. Somatic therapy helps to identify and release this stored tension, significantly easing these physical symptoms.
Another significant advantage of somatic therapy is its role in improving emotional regulation. Trauma can leave individuals overwhelmed by their emotions, making it difficult to manage feelings of fear, anxiety, or sadness. Somatic therapy aids in developing a deeper awareness of the body's reactions to emotional triggers, leading to better control and management of emotional states. This increased body awareness and ability to regulate emotions can significantly enhance an individual's mental and emotional well-being.
How Do I Know If It's Right For Me?
Somatic therapy can be helpful with the following:
Trauma and PTSD
Grief and depression
Anxiety and stress
Chronic Pain
Addictions
Dissociative symptoms
Self-sabotage and overwhelm
Anger
Insecurity and self-doubt
Obsessive thoughts
Relationship Issues
ADHD
When you recall an event or issue and feel your body responding with symptoms like a closing throat, pressure or heaviness in your chest, increased heart rate, nausea, or muscle tightening, these are somatic responses. If these sensations are uncomfortable, intense, or persist chronically, Somatic Therapy can help.
Diverging from traditional therapeutic techniques that hinge on cognitive abilities. Somatic therapy uses a bottom-up approach. It unravels bodily sensations first and then navigates back to thoughts. Some people simply resonate better with bottom-up therapies than top-down approaches. It's a very personal experience, and finding the approach that is the most comfortable for you is an important part of feeling safe and supported throughout the process.
"The body always leads us home... if you can simply learn. to trust sensation and stay with it long enough for it to reveal appropriate action, movement, insight or feeling." – PAT OGDEN
The Balancewise Approach To Somatic Therapy
I guide you through meeting your body exactly as it is and work with you to shift the experience of wanting to 'fix' to getting curious and exploring. By doing this, we move from self-rejection to self-acceptance and help to be with an experience from a place of presence rather than trying to manipulate or change it.
We are wired to move away from intense feelings and sensations; in somatic therapy, our work is to cultivate the capacity to move toward them from a place of safety and attunement. As we journey through healing somatically, individuals experience moments of integration and transformation. Old patterns and wounds begin to loosen their grip as stored stress and emotions are released.
This process invites profound insights, shifts in perception, and a renewed sense of self. Over time, you'll witness how integrating body, mind, and emotions leads to increased self-awareness, confidence, and resilience.
Honour Your Intuition
If you're experiencing overwhelming feelings, I invite you to contact me for a free 30-minute clarity call. You'll be glad to know you can work on this, little by little and start feeling empowered. With the right conditions and support, your body can process and discharge anxiety, self-doubt, sadness, fears, and more, enabling you to feel lighter and more balanced at the end of each session.
Download the Balancewise Somatic Therapy Guide to learn more about my approach and the specific techniques I use.
"Working with you to create your new normal." – BRIDGET CANTARELLA
Photo by Jeroen Bendeler on Unsplash
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