Somatic Therapy for Trauma: A Gentle, Client-Centered Healing Approach
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, client-centered approach. When clients reach out to me to inquire about somatic therapy work for trauma healing, they often say something like “I’ve seen all of these videos of somatic exercises where people are crying and having big reactions to tension in a part of their body, is this going to be me?” They often report deep curiosity but also a hesitancy to do the work because it seems like it could be a really overwhelming experience when healing from trauma. It is important to understand that this is not the goal of somatic therapy – to have these big emotional experiences that can feel like “releases” at every session. Oppositely, a gentle approach to somatic therapy can be more helpful.
Somatic Experiencing is highly effective when we work at the client’s pace of healing from trauma. It is of the utmost importance that the therapist is attuned to the client’s trauma healing experience, allowing the client to feel like they are in the driver’s seat, but also that they are supported and understood in their experiences. The somatic therapist should be looking for cues of consent from their client’s nervous system so that they are ready to explore deeper challenges in sessions to heal from trauma.
While it is certainly important to guide the sessions in order to facilitate trauma healing, the client is also in charge of assessing their readiness to “go there.” It can’t be stated enough that the client has to be willing and ready to touch into their trauma in order for therapy to be effective. The somatic therapist is absolutely never going to force a topic or awareness of a sensation or emotion at any time.
How Somatic Therapy Supports Nervous System Regulation
Understanding the Window of Tolerance
As a therapist, I talk a lot about the window of tolerance with my clients. Here is a great infographic that I often describe or draw for them about what the window looks like. In essence, the window of tolerance is the space we want to be in; the space between hyperarousal (being overwhelmed, anxious, nervous, jittery, or on edge) and hypoarousal (feeling avoidant, withdrawn, or dissociated).
In the beginning of our work, I work with my client to understand and identify emotional and physiological cues that they are handling the subject matter well. This is how the therapist creates a safe “container” in order to help the client feel supported and empowered to work on their trauma healing. This is not to say that people are never emotionally overwhelmed in session, or that they don’t dissociate from time to time. This is to say that we are wanting to work within the window of tolerance as much as possible, understanding the limits of each person. The goal with somatic therapy work is to eventually expand the window of tolerance so that each client can live with their trauma without being overwhelmed by it.
Signs You Are In or Out of Your Window of Tolerance
Below are some easy ways you can identify that you are within or outside of your tolerance window (of course, these are not exhaustive lists and vary from person-to-person).
Signs you are within your tolerance window:
Ability to feel oriented to time and space
Ability to notice feelings and sensations
You can create coherent sentences
You feel like you are in control
Ability to make decisions and problem solve
Ability to tolerate your environment
Signs you are outside of your window of tolerance:
High heart rate or breath rate
Feeling like you want to come out of your skin
Disorientation
Irritable or full of rage
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling brain fog or “zoned out”
Difficulty understanding what others are saying
Inability to problem solve or make decisions
Again, these are merely examples but not an comprehensive list. Some of the early work in somatic therapy is learning to identify not only how you experience being in and out of the window of tolerance, but also how to come back into the window. Watch this video on four ways to practice being present, which demonstrates how to orient yourself to regulate your nervous system.
Trauma Healing with Somatic Therapy
Navigating Trauma and Healing Vortexes
One misconception about any trauma healing therapy is that the somatic therapist will solely focus on the trauma, the issues, the challenging emotions and sensations. Somatic Experiencing works better when we also focus on the good as well. By “good” I mean internal resources that the client has (such as resiliency, perseverance, creativity, ability to see good in others, etc) as well as external resources (family support, strong connection with children or partner, satisfaction at work, connection to nature, etc). This allows the client to be able to tolerate somatic therapy for trauma healing.
The Pool Analogy
I like to use the “pool” analogy to help clients understand how this works.
Say you are in the deep end of the pool without any floaties and are not super confident in your ability to swim. It would be pretty scary to not be able to be close to the wall of the pool or even have your hand on the wall if you needed it. You probably wouldn’t want to get into the pool at all.
This is exactly how trauma therapy is; you wouldn’t want to explore and experience difficult emotions, sensations, and memories associated with trauma if you felt like you’d get stuck there. Being well-resourced (or being able to really feel into your internal and external resources) is like the wall – it allows you to be able to flow back into something stabilizing if the trauma you are experiencing feels like it is too much.
Somatic Experiencing explains this phenomenon as going back and forth between the trauma and healing vortexes. To understand more about this, read this blog post written by another Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. The ultimate goal is to help each nervous system flow back and forth between each vortex, easily without getting stuck or becoming overwhelmed.
Supporting Client Choice In Therapy
As I explored above, clients always have the choice as to whether or not they are going to “go there” in trauma therapy or not. Even if the therapist feels as if the client has a good window of tolerance, is connected to their internal and external resources, and it seems completely safe to tap into some of the trauma work, the client always gets to decide if and when it is time. Always. It can actually be a big part of the healing process to be able to express boundaries in session with a trauma therapist when the stakes are low and the therapist is providing that emotional safety. That is trauma work in and of itself.
I also encourage client choice in smaller ways in my office. I remind clients that they are more than welcome to leave at any time, that they are not trapped. I allow my clients to choose where they sit, providing different seating options oriented in different ways. I encourage my clients to listen to their bodies, allowing themselves to take off their shoes, or lay down, or sit cross-legged on the couch or chair. I give permission to look at me or not look at me when we are talking. We explore if it feels safe for me to be sitting closer or further away from them. They can eat, drink, or walk around the office if they want. There are so many somatic ways I hope to create safety even in my office by allowing clients to explore their choices. Again, the practice of allowing clients to be curious about their needs and express them not only creates safety but can be a big part of the therapeutic process. It builds trust with the therapist and also helps each client to get more comfortable with self-advocacy.
Conclusion: Why Gentler is Better in Trauma Healing
At the end of the day, a gentle approach to trauma healing is better. It keeps clients in control, helps build a bigger window of tolerance, and ultimately facilitates healing and nervous system regulation at a faster pace.
Learn More About Somatic Therapy
Have questions about somatic therapy? Don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m always happy to help people get the healing process started.
Stevie Spiegel is a Licensed Therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner located in Kansas City. She uses Somatic Experiencing as her main body-based trauma healing modality, as well as EMDR. As an Intuitive Eating Counselor, she uses these principles to help her clients challenge their relationship with their cultural misconceptions about their body and food.
