Body Wisdom and Trauma Healing with Somatic Experiencing
When trauma happens, our body's self-protection mechanisms get triggered to keep us safe from harm and help us deal with the threat as effectively as possible. These mechanisms are in-built: Fight, Flight, Freeze. They emerge as a survival energy movement that is usually fast and powerful. It surges through us before we even have a chance to think. And that's a good thing. Otherwise, it would not make for a very effective defensive system!
When it comes to psychotherapy, the importance of talk is undeniable. Yet, when it comes to trauma, psychotherapists are recognizing that the body's state is of primary importance and becoming aware of the body is largely a non-verbal process. This is where Somatic Experiencing comes in as an excellent tool.
When it comes to psychotherapy, the importance of talk is undeniable. Yet, when it comes to trauma, psychotherapists are recognizing that the body's state is of primary importance and becoming aware of the body is largely a non-verbal process. This is where Somatic Experiencing comes in as an excellent tool.
What Is Somatic Experiencing?Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of the trauma healing approach called Somatic Experiencing, observed that animals in nature face life-or-death situations all the time, yet they are do not become traumatized. How come? They are able to release their body's defensive energies and impulses completely, returning to relaxed homeostasis.
Body functions are usually subconscious and instinctive. Human beings, having a highly developed neocrotex, tend to supress the subconscious impulses of the body. This ends up interfering with the natural releases the body needs to complete its defensive response. What Somatic Experiencing does is to slow down time by putting the stories aside and tuning in to the level of body sensation. During an SE session, no interpretation or analysis is needed. Rather, what is needed is a safe space for the body to do what it needs to do. Often, we track differences in body temperature, sense of weight, tremors, shivers and shakes. We also track impulses to movement, stretching, yawning, making sounds and making gestures. We listen to what the body needs to do and we give permission, we give time, we give space. On the other hand, when traces of survival energy remain stuck in our body, we can often end up with chronic pain, a sense of fragmentation, hyper alertness, racing thoughts, and an inability to connect. As we integrate our own selves better, connecting with others becomes easier too. |
Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the event itself. They arise when the energy, mobilized to meet an extreme or life-threatening event, is not fully discharged and integrated. This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds." 
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What Causes Trauma?Trauma can happen in many ways: physical impacts like car accidents and falls; emotional shocks like bad news on the phone or personal loss; developmental trauma like abuse and neglect in childhood in family or at school; collective trauma like wars and racism; natural disasters; medical procedures... etc. In fact, trauma, though horrible, is a normal part of life. Where a breach of our boundaries has happened and we felt unable to execute the natural defensive response, there will likely be some kind of post-traumatic stress.
Common Post-Traumatic SymptomsPhysical: muscle tension, high blood pressure, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, numbness, paralysis.
Emotional: anxiety, panic attacks, rage, depression, feeling out of control, apathy, numb. Mental: flashbacks, night terrors, memory loss, inability to focus, spacing out, obsessive thinking, insomnia. Spiritual - feeling disconnected from life, alienated, despairing, hopelessness, helplessness. |
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Working on healing and releasing our traumas improves the quality of life, not only for ourselves, but also for the world around us.
Somatic Experiencing creates an environment of safety through which the natural process of the body can unfold. The process is slowed down and gentle so as not to overwhelm or re-traumatize, but rather, to re-integrate and stabilize. As the capacity to connect with the body in safety improves, energies and movement patterns that had been stuck in defensive modes are carefully and gradually released. Bit by bit, like a new unfolding, life becomes fuller, easier, open to more possibilities.
Somatic Experiencing creates an environment of safety through which the natural process of the body can unfold. The process is slowed down and gentle so as not to overwhelm or re-traumatize, but rather, to re-integrate and stabilize. As the capacity to connect with the body in safety improves, energies and movement patterns that had been stuck in defensive modes are carefully and gradually released. Bit by bit, like a new unfolding, life becomes fuller, easier, open to more possibilities.
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Financial Aid
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Some of the most traumatized people in the Arab region are the ones with least access to trauma-healing support. Reduced-rates and packages are available for Arabic-speaking clients seeking help. Interested clients, organisations, therapists/social workers who wish to set up a collaboration with me are welcome to get in touch.
*For clients facing financial hardship, please fill out this form. |
حل الكثيرمن الصدمات في العالم العربي و قد يكون الأشخاص الأكثر عرضة لها هم أيضا ألأشخاص الأقل قدرة على الوصول إلى وسائل الدعم و المعالجة للتعافي منها. نوفر أسعار مخفضة و نرحب بالعملاء المهتمين والمنظمات و الناشطين الاجتماعيين الذين يرغبون في إقامة تعاون حول توعية أو ورشات عمل أو جلسات علاج عن التشافي من الصدمات.
*يرجى تعبئة الطلب. |