6 Essential Premises of Somatic Therapy

6 Essential Premises of Somatic Therapy

When people seek counselling, they are often looking for support to overcome a situation or experience that has become unbearable.

Clients often say to me that they're sick of talking things through. They want something deeper, something more intuitive, more creative. Don't get me wrong...talking it out can be supportive, but oftentimes we've already done that enough. The somatic perspective says that cognitive processing is not enough to make a real change.

Somatic therapy comes from a different way of seeing the world, and prioritizes finding a felt sense of relief in our experience.

I help people create a new relationship with their inner experience. The result is that we release tension, trauma, and stress, leading to improved emotional and physical well-being.

Every counselling modality has its fundamental beliefs and perspectives from which we work. Here are five premises of somatic therapy and somatic work:

1. The body holds innate wisdom

Somatic therapy operates on the knowledge that the body holds valuable information and wisdom, and that we can listen to that wisdom. Our bodies have a remarkable ability to store and process experiences, emotions, and memories.

This information bubbles up from our subconscious memory in the form of sensations, gestures, and images. By paying attention to this information and working in the present moment, therapists can help individuals access and understand their emotions on a deeper level.

Through somatic work, people can learn to trust their bodies, regulate their nervous system and tap into their innate wisdom.

2. Our body is always talking to us

Somatic therapy is an approach to counselling that focuses on the mind-body connection. We recognize that our physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts are interconnected, and we gather information by cultivating interoception.

Interoception is a skill that we use to sense what is happening in our body. For example, when we feel our stomach rumble, we know we're hungry. Similarly, when we realize that our anxiety shows up with the sensation of tightness in our chest. We think 'I'm anxious,' but we feel tightness and restlessness in our chest, our legs, etc.That's interoception.

With somatic therapy, we cultivate this skill of interoception in order to listen to the messages of our body. Messages come in the form of sensations, images, memories, gestures and movements. We learn to listen closely to our experience in the present moment. This approach naturally supports regulation and release - we need to acknowledge what is and be present with that which has been under the surface for so long.

Oftentimes the body isn't a safe place for people to feel into, and they may not feel anything or be able to access any sensation at all. That in itself is also interoception - to be able to realize 'I don't actually feel anything.' And we start there, respecting your current experience as it shows up in the moment.

3. Trauma is stored in the body

Somatic therapy recognizes that trauma is not only stored in our minds but also in our physical bodies.

Our bodies remember everything that has ever happened to us (actually they remember much more, including layers of our cultural experience, our mother's nervous system, and our collective conditioning), and our bodies also hold our unique instructions for returning to our wholeness.

Traumatic experiences leave a lasting impact on our nervous system, contributing to anxiety, depression, and health issues.

Unresolved trauma can manifest as chronic pain, tension, anxiety, depression, or other physical symptoms. By addressing these manifestations, somatic therapy aims to 'release' stored trauma, complete survival responses, regulate the nervous system, and create an ideal internal environment for healing.

4. The power of physiology, breath & movement

Now, all of this can sound kind of vague, but there's actually specific physiological mechanisms behind nervous system regulation and trauma healing. Breath and movement are powerful tools in somatic therapy, because they support nervous system release and regulation, and connect us to our internal experience.

For example, consciously extending our exhale can help down-regulate the nervous system, bringing us out of a state of 'fight or flight' and signalling to our system that we're safe enough in the present moment.

There are many physiological cues that we offer the body in somatic therapy in order to influence our felt sense of safety and help the body move out of a threat response. When movements arise, we pause to explore them, knowing that these too are messages from our subconscious.

In this way, we listen to your inner experience and honour what wants to happen in the present moment, rather than trying to figure everything out with the mind.

5. We are interconnected (inside and out)

Somatic therapy recognizes the inseparable connection between the mind and body (are they really 2 separate things?) An essential premise of somatic work is that our thoughts and emotions can affect our physical well-being, and vice versa.

By working with the body, somatic therapy aims to address both the physical and emotional aspects of a person's experience. This integrated approach can lead to profound healing and transformation.

In addition, we know that our nervous system's don't work in isolation - we are always coregulating with our environment! People are an essential part of our life experience, and we are influencing each other's felt experience all the time.

Trauma rarely happens in isolation - it usually involves other people, including whether we felt supported and held in our pain or all alone to navigate our toughest moments. Conversely, healing happens together: in community, in safe relationship, and in coregulation.

6. Healing happens in the present moment

Somatic therapy emphasizes the importance of being present in the here and now. While past experiences and traumas may have shaped us, healing occurs in the present moment. In sessions, we focus on what is emerging in each moment, and allowing an internal rhythm to guide us.

I guide individuals to develop awareness of their present experience, including sensations, emotions, and thoughts. By cultivating these skills of interoception, presence and mindfulness, we can release old patterns and create new, empowering ones to experience ourselves in a new way.

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