Has anyone tried Somatic Experiencing therapy

[hatfullofrain]

I've done a bit of research and this sounds interesting to me. I was telling my sister that I feel like I'm holding on to some trauma, but nothing so serious that I would qualify for PTSD. I feel like it's just been a slow drip, drip of things that have just got too much for me and the last thing was the final straw that broke me.

I've had talking therapy in the past which has helped other issues, but I don't feel like that's what I need right now.

I feel like I'm tense all of the time and I can't relax and I'm in pain because of it. Normally I go for massages, but due to Covid-19 I'm not so keen on having a stranger touch and breath all over me.

Does anyone have any experiences they can share of therapy that has helped for this kind of thing.

ABOUT US - Somatic Experiencing - Continuing Education

 

[Littlefirecracker]

Hi coincidentally I just looked at this. There is a lovely lady on YouTube called Irene Lyon, she has educational videos as well as excersises, and there is a fb group called Healthy Nervous System Revolution, there is a questions thread which you could post in?

Good luck

 

[Thinx]

Yes I read one of Peter Levines books a while ago, what he says makes sense. Actually I think the approaches that work with trauma in physical ways make a lot of sense and seem to have good results. People are different and some will find one approach better than another. You can get his book 'Waking the tiger' as a free PDF, just Google it.

 

[Thinx]

Other trauma rerouting therapies I know of are, EMDR, I believe this is especially good for one off traumas, like a car accident, but may also help with other types of trauma.

Also there's an approach called Rewind which has been used to useful effect to help refugees and survivors of traumatic events. Both of these are very brief therapies that aim to move the trauma from being stuck , so it can be processed.

A major issue with trauma, as Peter Levine notes too, is that the trauma may not get processed by our body and brain, and all these therapies aim to restart that processing, using an element of movement, whether it's the individual responding to suggestions for self expressive art work and moving on in Rewind, or a guided movement of eyes in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy. They also use buttons in each hand that flash green or red in EMDR, it's basically causing a left to right movement. It often works, and often quite quickly.

Another version of this is Tapping therapy, or the Emotional Freedom Tapping technique, that in a different yet somatically related way, processes distress. No therapist needed for this, though it's a good adjunct to therapy, Google Emotional Freedom Tapping therapy. Helps with anxiety too.

 

[hatfullofrain]

Thanks for the info guys.

A friend of mine has had the tapping therapy via a trained therapist. She had a few sessions and thinks that it helped her.