Somatic Approaches to Trauma Therapy: Reconnecting with Your Body for Healing

By:  Amanda Coval, MSW, LCSW

EMDR Certified, EMDR Consultant in Training 

Somatic approaches for trauma treatment are great tools for clinicians to add to their toolbox. These approaches can help clients learn to regulate their nervous system and begin to feel safer in their bodies.  

When working to bring one's attention to their body, you have to think about the sensations they are experiencing. Typically, we think about the 5 senses when we think about sensory systems and what our body is telling us about the world around us. Somatic approaches tend to focus more on the sensory systems we don’t think about: proprioception, interoception and vestibular.

Proprioception is the sensory system that helps us know where our body is in relation to itself. Think of spatial awareness. Interoception is our internal signals like hunger, thirst, fatigue. Vestibular is the system we use for balance, so think of your inner ear. 

These are the systems we mostly focus on when trying to bring awareness to our bodies. So how can we implement somatic work into our trauma practice? 

• Body Awareness
  Body awareness helps one learn more about what their body is telling them and how to trust those signals. Ask clients to bring their attention to their bodies and what they are noticing. A great technique to use to bring more attention to the body and learn what it is signaling is a progressive muscle relaxation. 
• Grounding
  Grounding is a great way to help a client center and be in the present moment. Using this helps teach clients how to remain in their bodies when experiencing distressing sensations.

• Humming
  Ask clients to make a gentle Voo sound and bring their awareness to the sensations the sounds make in their body.

• Pendulation
  This helps clients alter between distress and feelings of calm. This can help increase their tolerance for the distress.
• Explore only the sensation of a traumatic memory (tight chest), then return to grounding.
• Revisit distressing memory for 30 seconds, then pendulate back to an internal resource (protector, calm place). 

• Imaginal Resourcing
  Support clients in visualizing a person or place that feels safe/calm. Guide the client through envisioning this person/place by walking through the senses. 

One somatic modality to helping clients heal trauma is EMDR. This approach brings awareness to thoughts, visual memories and somatic sensations as a way to heal the entire traumatic experience. 

For clinicians seeking more information or training in EMDR, visit traumaspecialiststraining.com for continuing education and certifications.