Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a gentle, potently effective, neurobiological approach for relieving chronic pain, stress response patterns, anxiety and depression, and is effective at easing the effects of trauma, including PTSD, accident/injury trauma, and developmental trauma. I can support you in developing greater capacity to realize physical and personal goals. Rather than a "top-down" cognitive approach, Somatic Experiencing® and Somatic Bodywork for trauma and nervous system regulation is a process of teaching the thinking brain from the "bottom-up" what the body instinctively knows: how to heal and be the most vital YOU.
You might be searching for a sort of "somatic massage therapy" session without knowing quite how to describe it what that might be. Massage therapy by itself can be very helpful in finding temporary relief, but pain or tension patterns can sometimes develop that don't go away. Similarly, talk therapy can be useful, but without incorporating knowledge of how the body is integral to our experiences, a sense of "still needing something" can stay present. Our work together can be about transforming the energy it takes to stay “stuck” into a renewed sense of vitality and purpose. I have found that vulnerability equals courage, and that reaching out for help equals a willingness to grow and learn more about being your best self. Managing the stresses of every day can be challenging, and reaching out for support can feel vulnerable. But finding the right kind of help managing challenges can be a turning point from surviving to thriving.
I offer a free phone consultation (up to 20 minutes) for us to get a sense of each other and how we might best work together, and to answer any questions about somatic bodywork for trauma or nervous system regulation. Please feel free to reach out via the contact page, and let me know the best number to reach you. I would be honored to meet you, and if you would like, set up an appointment for a session at my office in Saint Paul.
Coming from my background as a massage therapist and yoga instructor, I will work with you slowly to develop awareness of your physical body sensations and be comfortable with them. Somatic bodywork for trauma-related injuries (physical or otherwise) might not include touch at all, in the early stages. An effective session can be done seated with some verbal interaction, and may involve some active movement of the body in space. Our focus will be on finding your body’s felt sense of safety and calm. An SE session can include little to no touch, however, if some light to moderate massage to certain areas feels right for you, integrating hands-on touch into our work together can be very beneficial and rewarding.
In your first session, which is 90-minutes, you and I will discuss whether integrating elements of Somatic Experiencing with somatic bodywork is necessary or beneficial for your goals - the direction of each session is guided first by your expectations and desires for the session, and by my assessment of how your nervous system might respond to touch and the nature of your physical and/or other symptoms. The goal is always to work within the range of what feels most comfortable for you. Every session following our initial session is 60-minutes.
If we decide that being on the massage table to do somatic bodywork is the best direction, you will be lying face-up on a massage table, clothed. The nature of a session is likely to feel unlike a traditional massage session, where the expectation can be "I lie here while the therapist works on my body"; the focus now includes attention to your nervous system as it relates to the other systems of the body, with your conscious awareness and active participation in the changes in your body as they occur. Touch is used only as needed to support you in this process of nervous system regulation, and the potential exists for using movement-based techniques as they present themselves.
Trauma has many forms. At a fundamental level, Trauma can be described as "too much, too fast, too soon". It could be a shock to the system: a major or minor car accident, a slip and fall, or surgical procedure. Or it could be emotional in nature, like the loss of a loved one or a major life change, yet its aftermath effects seem to linger and remain. (e.g., “I’ve never felt the same since it happened”). It can also include early-life developmental trauma that can manifest as physical, medical or relational issues.
Trauma is not the event itself but the symptoms that develop from an unresolved stress response. Experiencing trauma is a normal human occurrence, and your nervous system’s response is natural: it exists to keep you safe; its job is to tell you "something's not right, and that might be bad - here's what to do or not do." It is the perception of danger, either acute or ongoing, whereby the body’s inherent survival energies are activated, and the neurological system becomes overwhelmed. This can result in a “freeze” state, gripping the body and mind in an exhausting, repetitious cycle, even when threat is no longer present.
Symptoms can manifest as mental or emotional ones: hypervigilance, anxiety, panic, depression, a sense of helplessness and disconnectedness, and loss of vitality. The physiological effects of ongoing stress can result in physical breakdown: chronic muscle tension and pain, limited mobility, digestive dysfunction, migraines, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Physical manifestations can include alcohol abuse, disordered eating and shame.
Somatic Experiencing® and Somatic Bodywork can help. A massage therapist who is also a somatic experiencing practitioner (see more about Andrea's credentials) can work with the body to provide what might be called "somatic massage therapy". You can find relief, a new way of responding and a better way to be in this tough world in which we live.
Yes. This approach was developed over the course of 40+ years by Peter Levine, Ph.D, who originally practiced the form of bodywork known as Rolfing, then became a Physiologist, and finally a Neurologist. His life-work of studying the the innately human response of fight/flight/freeze has added to the ongoing and developing evidence that healing the ongoing effects of trauma is possible by working with the body's natural impulses to create a new narrative. Studies have shown that SE is an effective therapeutic approach for PTSD and attachment issues, for example. Trained practitioners of Somatic Experiencing include psychotherapists and psychologists, doctors, social workers and bodyworkers like massage therapists and physical therapists, each working within their scopes of practice to provide somatic therapy or somatic bodywork for trauma from various perspectives. For more information on SE and ongoing research, go to traumahealing.org.
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