Somatic Therapy
I remember a conversation I had with my therapist about meditation. I had been actively searching for new ways to evolve and heal, delving into the world of spirituality, crystals, and mindfulness. She explained to me that often, with complex PTSD, the art of meditation can be counterproductive because it can be difficult to still the nervous system long enough to sit in silence. What I think she meant was that using the mind in isolation and focusing thought on the breath or the present moment can overlook other important elements of the experience of trauma.
Dr Peter Levine, the Founder and President of the Ergos Institute of Somatic Education, illustrates this interesting point in his somatic model, which is divided into five elements of consciousness and experience. Shortened to SIBAM, it includes sensation, image, behaviour, affect, and meaning. When exposed to recurring and chronic trauma, the victim may not cohesively process the events and instead, develop a fragmented consciousness about the memory.
Meditation may be invaluable for many people, but for those who may have a disturbance in the coherence of experience, the discipline of sitting with the breath may be counterproductive in somatic therapy. My counsellor referred to the “shaking off, discharging the energy seen in animals, who have been in the fight/flight/freeze response. She focuses some of her work on bringing movement to therapy and encouraging a mind and body experience. This is central to the principle of somatic therapy.
Think of the variety of therapeutic activities underpinned by the principle of movement and creation. Who knew jazz hands might be a trauma therapy? If my therapist brings this to our sessions, I will be ready, with Barbra Streisand’s “Memories,” and we can blend the senses of hearing and movement.
We often associate psychotherapy with “thinking” and the clue is in the name” psych,” which is short for psychology, the study of the mind! New theories are emerging that challenge the idea that we can think our way out of trauma. What if, instead, we apply the elements of consciousness designed in the model by Dr Levine, to facilitate a more effective treatment for complex PTSD? What if therapy could facilitate access to the procedural memory (body memory) rather than the story (cognitive)? As they say, less talking, more moving.
Dr Levine suggests that exposure to trauma affects one or more of the five elements of consciousness, thus creating fragmented memories. When this happens, the individual has a disjointed, muddled experience of the trauma. Some may have an exaggerated and recurring visual flashback of an event, which lacks meaning because the memories of the event have not been processed appropriately. The individual may exhibit a significant fight/flight response, but find it impossible to make sense of the physical changes, having no coherent thought or memory that initiated the panic.
Trauma therapy is about making the connections with the body and the mind to locate the source of the flashback (trauma response) in the body. The book by Bessel Van De Kolk The Body Keeps the Score, is an insightful exploration of how the physical body stores trauma, and how this manifests in a variety of chronic and acute conditions. I have been in therapy for four years and realised only recently that it is much more than a talking therapy. It is about reconnecting the body with the mind, restoring the fragmented memories and emotions, and processing them safely. As Dr Levine describes the process, it’s about diffusing the power of the narrative and focusing on the body memory to restore balance and flow.
Trauma is a fact of life; it doesn’t need to be a life sentence. DR P Levine. I hope that this has brought some new ideas about how you can start processing your experiences. It offers a starting point for research if you prefer to read more information on the subject. As with all my blogs, if you need support for any mental health condition, please reach out to your NHS GP or ring the NHS 111 service to be signposted to your local crisis team service.
