What is a
session like? The most important thing is that you feel comfortable.
You may choose to sit in a chair or to lie on a massage table fully
clothed. If you wish, the session may include hands-on bodywork to help
support the body in letting go of past patterns. Touch is always respectful
and done with your permission. Most of the session will include coaching in
paying attention to your internal experience of your body and guidance in
processing any discharges. It's a process that looks very similar to guided
meditation, with some added techniques to help encourage the "thawing" of
past freeze states. You may also be taught some yoga poses and other
self-care techniques. You will typically experience a deep state of
relaxation. You may also experience pain relief, physical releases such as
trembling, and emotional release. You may feel tired and need to rest
following your session. Taking this time to rest helps the nervous system
recover.
How can I tell
if I've been traumatized? Most people have had some degree of
trauma. One way you can begin to see if you have any trauma history is to look at the list of common
symptoms. Also, if you notice that your
body reacts as you think or talk about an event in your past, this can be
another indicator that there are still lingering effects from that event.
How many sessions
will it take before I feel better? This depends on many
factors, including the severity and number of the traumatic experiences, how young you were when the
trauma happened, how well resourced you
are, and how much you practice the techniques on your own. In any
case, Somatic
Experiencing® is a much more short-term approach than traditional
psychological counseling for trauma. SE can also reduce or eliminate
the need for medication in many instances.
Do I have to talk
about the event? No. It can sometimes be helpful to talk
briefly about any traumatic events you remember, but it's not essential. Your
wishes about privacy will be respected and everything about your session is
confidential. SE is very different from some forms of "talk therapy"
in that you will not need to go into detail about your story, which can
often feel like reliving the event.
What if I can't
remember any traumatic event? This will not interfere with the
process. If there is any trauma it is "in the body" not "in the event."
Repeating the story and trying to analyze are counterproductive, they
actually get in the way of bringing awareness to the more instinctual wisdom
of the body. The patterns in the body's reaction to stress are what we work with, not
any intellectual or psychological focus.
I'm sure that I
haven't been traumatized, but I have many of the trauma symptoms. Can
it just be stress? One of the reasons that it can be so
difficult to determine for yourself if you have been traumatized is that
denial is a major part of the trauma process. When we've been traumatized, part
of our past has been shut off from us. The experience was too much, so
our natural instinctual defenses protected us by storing it away for later
processing. This denial is not a conscious choice, nor does it mean we
are weak. But it does mean that we may not be the best judge of the
degree to which we have been traumatized.
