The word somatic floats around quite a bit in the context of healing nowadays. Most of my clients, however, have not heard of it before I bring it up. Somatic comes from the greek root "soma" - meaning "body" - so it means, related to the body. Simple enough. You might be wondering at this point, why is it key to consider the body in psychological treatment?
It's important because life events and our interpretation of them can leave marks in our nervous systems, cueing responses that we need to follow through and integrate. We can start by considering the body's automatic responses designed to protect us from threat and danger: fight, flight, and freeze. Prehistorically, these systems would most often come in to protect us from predators, enemies, and things like natural disasters. As we continued evolving as a species and developing more civilized lifestyles, these particular threats have lessened - but other threats take their place and engage the fight-flight-freeze system just as well!
The triggers and intensity of sensation are different for everyone, and some people are less prone to act out of these defenses than others. The nervous system reactions of flight and fight get us ready to either attack or run from a real or perceived threat. The flight response usually comes in as a last resort - the equivalent of playing dead for animals in the wild.
The issue with our ability to think is that we can rehash triggering scenarios constantly in our minds, and send the body into states of alarm even when the threat is not imminent. For the most part, we have grown away from our natural capacity to let things roll off our backs, as animals do. When we allow our bodies to release stress in this way, it can look something like this:
Peter Levine, a prolific leader in the Somatic Psychology field, explains this beautifully through his observations of animals in the wild. Levine explains what happens when, say, a polar bear gets shot with a tranquilizer dart and falls asleep before getting to enact the body's automatic response. When the animal wakes up, although the threat is gone, it still goes through a series of bodily reactions to quite literally shake off the energy - it needs to discharge the cued body response. Why would it be any different for us humans? Think about it: every time you've wanted to cry but held back; every time
someone angered you to the point of aggressive fantasies; every time you've wanted to leave a situation but couldn't - times like these become imprinted in our nervous systems. And if they have, in order for therapy to be effective, we must process the bodily reaction with mindful awareness. Ideally, before we punch a hole in the wall, impulsively leave a job/relationship, or depression comes through to numb us up.
There is a so much more I can say about somatic therapy (I particularly love Polyvagal theory) and I will - but for now, I leave you with this to chew on. And maybe look up Peter Levine on Youtube - you won't regret it.
If you're interested in trying this, or you have questions, set up an appointment with me! Book your complimentary 30 minute consultation today by reaching out to alexandra@yourtherapycorner.com
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