You aren’t sure why but you frequently feel the urge to flee. When something gets hard, you want to leave. All you can do is think about getting out of the situation. Or maybe anger is your first instinct in stressful situations. You immediately jump to yelling, resentment or wanting revenge. You wish it wasn’t this way but it feels like you can’t help it. Or you notice when you are overwhelmed you freeze, you can’t think clearly or move. Your mind goes blank. No matter how much you talk about these trauma response and reactions, they don’t change. You feel stuck and don’t know what to do.

Trauma Response Behaviors:

These reactions above are called trauma responses. There are three primary trauma responses- fight, flight and freeze. These responses are in the body are triggered in response to a perceived threat or stressor. Below is a brief description of each:

1. Fight Response: When faced with a threat, the fight response prepares your body for danger. Your heart rate increases and muscles tense. This allows you to take on the threat aggressively.

2. Flight Response: The flight is impulse to escape or leave a threatening situation. It readies the body for movement and quickly getting away from danger.

3. Freeze Response: The freeze response occurs when you become immobilized or "freezes" in response to a threat. You experience a pause in movement, reduced heart rate, and muscle tension. This response can be a survival strategy to make you less noticeable to a threat.

Talking about the fight, flight and freeze response can be helpful. It can help you gain insight into what is happening in your mind and bodies. Sometimes it can have limited ability to change what is actually happening. That is where somatic therapy comes in!

What is Somatic therapy?

Somatic therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the connection between the mind and the body. The goal of somatic therapy is to help you tolerate your physical sensations. It also can help you understand your emotions associated with trauma. Somatic therapy can treat PTSD, C-PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders. It helps you bring awareness to your sensations and emotions in a nonjudgmental and compassionate way. This then allows you to process and release the symptoms of trauma that are stored in the body.

Types of Somatic Therapy:

There are many different types of somatic therapy, two of which are described below!

Somatic Experiencing:

One type of somatic therapy is called Somatic Experiencing (SE). Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma, developed by Dr. Peter Levine.  Somatic Experiencing emphasizes the release of trauma responses from the nervous system. This can be the fight, flight or freeze response. Embodied Wellness, PLLC has trauma therapists trained in Somatic Experiencing. They are here to support you in your healing journey. 

EMDR:

Another type of somatic therapy is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, EMDR is a therapy that uses bilateral stimulation, such as eye movement or tapping. This helps you process and release traumatic memories. This reduces the emotional distress associated with them. EMDR allows you to remember the trauma memories without being consumed by them. Embodied Wellness, PLLC has therapists who specialize in EMDR and can guide you in the process.

Examples of Somatic Exercises:

Somatic Experiencing and EMDR are not the only types of somatic therapy. There are other practices and exercises that can help release trauma from the body. These include (but are not limited to!):

• Mindfulness practices like meditation and yoga. These can help you become more aware of your physical sensations and emotions.

• Bodywork such as massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic. These techniques can help release tension and pain in the body.

• Creative outlets such as art, music, and dance can provide an outlet for expressing and processing emotions.

  Begin Somatic Therapy in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Throughout Michigan

  If you are interested in learning about different types of somatic therapy including Somatic Experiencing and EMDR, we provide a free 15 minute phone consultation. here to support you every step of the way!

  1. Schedule a free phone consult!

  2. Get matched with a somatic therapist.

  3. Release trauma from your body.

  Other Virtual Counseling Services We Offer

  At Embodied Wellness, PLLC we treat teens and adults using the latest evidenced based treatments including ERP to treat OCD, EMDR to treat trauma and DBT therapy via online therapy in Michigan. También ofrecemos terapia en español en Michigan. Now is the time to start feeling better.