Stress And Trauma Relief With Somatic Therapy: UK Therapy Resources

Stress and trauma can be difficult emotions to deal with in everyday life, affecting relationships, work, and home life. Today, innovative forms of healthcare are being used to help people deal with stress, trauma, and difficult emotions. Below, explore the trauma-informed modality of somatic therapy in more depth to decide if it’s a good fit for you.

Therapy can help with stress and trauma relief

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What is somatic therapy?

What techniques are used in somatic therapy? UK and beyond

Because somatic therapy is an alternative therapeutic approach, clients may wonder how it’s possible to use body-centered attention and awareness to access and heal emotions in the body, especially if they’re used to focusing on cognitive and emotional processes. However, since bodily sensations are connected to emotions, using attention and awareness can be helpful to understand better what your body might be telling you. For example, if you have severe trauma, you might struggle to know when you’re hungry, in pain, or sad. 

Therapists may encourage you to feel and “be with” your emotions rather than labeling them. Paying attention to bodily sensations such as warmth, tightness, heaviness, and tension may help you release and process them. Studies show that body-centered awareness and brief mindfulness meditation can help you to process emotions. Some somatic techniques therapists use to facilitate awareness and mindfulness include:

• Visualization to create a safe atmosphere for you to connect with yourself
• Sensory grounding to anchor and connect to the present moment
• Dance to creatively express yourself
• Somatic exercises and gentle movement to release tension
• Deep breathing to increase awareness and calm the body and mind 

Can you foster self-awareness with somatic therapy? UK and beyond

Because clients often practice mindfulness, deep breathing, and various exercises to enhance the body-mind connection during somatic therapy sessions, their self-awareness may naturally increase. After a few sessions with a therapist, you may find connecting with physical sensations and exploring feelings through the body easier. 

Types of somatic therapy for stress and trauma relief

Somatic therapy is an umbrella term for therapy that uses the body to relieve stress, trauma, and negative emotions, enhancing overall well-being. If you are dealing with stress or trauma, you can explore the following options.

Somatic experiencing

Often, when therapists discuss somatic therapy, they refer to somatic experiences. This process involves the tracking of bodily sensations throughout the body. During somatic experiences, your provider may guide you through visualization techniques to explore your trauma while continuing to notice what happens in your body. They may then teach you coping skills to release pent-up trauma, tension, and stress, such as mindfulness exercises. 

Somatic experiencing has been a relieving practice for many individuals, including therapists. Over time, therapists who attended somatic experience training experienced improvements in resiliency, quality of life, and psychological well-being. In these cases, therapists are able to pass on first-hand knowledge and experience of somatic therapy.

Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Another active form of therapy, eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), helps people process traumatic events. This practice involves visualization of traumatic memories while simultaneously moving your eyes in specific ways or moving an item back and forth between your hands, as guided by your therapist. These rapid eye movements mirror those made in the REM cycle of sleep and are believed to help you relate to the memory in a different way. 

For people living with comorbid psychiatric disorders, EMDR could be useful for treating trauma-related symptoms. Many people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders and mental health challenges. For this reason, they may find more relief with EMDR than other modalities. However, what works for one person might not work for another, so consult a therapist before choosing a modality. 

Sensorimotor therapy

Sensorimotor therapy combines somatic experiencing therapy with other evidence-based “talk therapy” practices, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This combination may help clients process stressful or traumatic experiences on the body and mind level rather than only focusing on cognitive processes or physical sensations alone. This method is often used for those living with intense physical symptoms, chronic pain, or ailments.

Somatic experiencing for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder can seem like a debilitating diagnosis for those impacted, so finding the proper care is often essential. Somatic experience has been a promising intervention for people experiencing PTSD, with research showing that it may alleviate symptoms. Researchers are still trying to understand which clients will benefit from this type of therapy the most. Others have found that somatic experiencing effectively reduces symptoms of chronic lower back pain. Since somatic experiencing is a treatment that focuses on bodily sensations and your relationship with the body, pain may also be impacted. 

Somatic therapy for the nervous system

The techniques learned in somatic therapy may regulate the nervous system, helping clients feel calm, at ease, and relaxed. You may notice steady breathing, a relaxed posture, and calm thoughts and feelings. Deep breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, dance, and gentle movements are all somatic practices that facilitate this relaxation and ease. 

Trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the nervous system

When trauma disrupts your nervous system, you may experience similar situations differently. Experientially, you may have the sense you’re ready and on guard, even when there is no danger or threat. The autonomic nervous system may also be affected, leading to increased heart rate and breathing. Certain studies have shown promising results in arousal regulation and PTSD symptom reduction after somatic sensory-based psychotherapy. Alongside somatic practices such as deep breathing, therapeutic interventions could be beneficial for trauma relief. 

Therapy can help with stress and trauma relief

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The benefits of online therapy in the UK

The number of people in the UK experiencing PTSD has risen in recent years. Events of social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role. Therefore, accessible therapy is becoming increasingly important nationwide. The flexible scheduling of online therapy may allow clients to alter appointments around their lifestyles. Companies like BetterHelp also offer sliding scale pricing, basing the cost of sessions on your income. This option gives more clients the chance to prioritize health and well-being.

The patient-client relationship plays an important role in therapy outcomes. Research shows that for PTSD treatment, a positive and effective therapeutic relationship can be formed online. For this reason, more individuals can speak to therapists for guidance and support if they’re dealing with PTSD symptoms. While there is limited research on somatic therapy online, one somatic psychoeducation program effectively reduced stress and anxiety in female university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Promising studies like this show that future somatic therapy programs could be effective for treating PTSD and other mental health conditions online.