[peaches100]

Has anybody here done any Somatic Experiencing in therapy? If you did, what was it like? Did it help you?

[Kiya]

Hey, can you explain more about it? i have a vague memory tickling the back of my brain.... but i can't make it any more real than that....

[Miri]

I don't know what you mean exactly by Somatic Experiencing, but my therapy with my first therapist was virtually based on paying attention to whatever was happening in my body - sensations, emotions, sometimes flashbacks and other things that many survivors just call body memories. She just called it body work. If i started to feel an emotion she would ask me where i felt it in my body, and when i focused my attention there, although very difficult to face, that was mostly what brought the emergence of memories or alters coming forward to tell their stories. It was the mainstay of our work and i really valued it. It takes a lot of trust - in yourself, your truth as it emerges and your therapist to help it from becoming overwhelming - that's the role of pacing. Some people have referred to this as building a somatic bridge, or using physical sensations to get in touch with deep memories. Is this making any sense, or is it way off base?

[peaches100]

Miri,

Yes, that sounds right. My therapist told me that I may need to work temporarily with a different therapist who knows how to do Somatic Experiencing because she is not trained in it. I've been looking on the Internet about it and it does seem like it is mainly focusing very closely on body sensations and what they bring up for you.

[peaches100]

Kiya,

Have you done that kind of work in therapy before?

You know, I tried that on my own once. I didn't get any flashbacks or anything, just more physical sensations. Maybe I should leave it be until I'm with a professional or I'll make things worse...then they already are

[multipixie9]

i heard a quote once, "what the mind forgets the body remembers". maybe they do teach you how to pay attention to your body because it will tell you some things that your mind had lost or pushed away.

i can see how that could be helpful to go some places in your mind where memories are stored that need relief.

leslie and her pixies