Somatic Experiencing

[Kat]

Today I met with a Somatic Experiencing therapist for the second time.  Last week we talked and she got acquainted with my story.  I got a really good feeling about her.  Her background is in dance.  From there she got into the Alexander Technique which helps people identify where they carry tension in their muscles from stress so that they can retrain the muscles to relax.  She said that many of the people she worked with would become very emotional and that her training didn't equip her with how to address that part of the work.  That's how she ended up training as a somatic experiencing therapist.

Today she had me lie on my back on a massage table.  She put one hand under me around the area of my kidney.  She placed the other hand on my belly so she was kind of sandwiching my torso with her hands.  She simply left her hands there and we talked and at times she asked me to focus on what sensations I was feeling or what images came up, etc. 

It was very interesting and I learned a lot about some of the things that happen in the body as a consequence of trauma.

I thought I'd share a bit of the experience for anyone who's curious to know about S.E., but also to ask if anyone else has experience with it so that we could exchange notes, so to speak.

[Three Roses]

Thanks, this is one of the therapies I'm most interested in.

[strugglin]

I searched somatic experiencing and this came up. I'm interested in knowing more, have you had any more s.e. sessions Kat, and have they been helpful?

[Kat]

Yes, I've seen the SE therapist about four or five times now.  We're sort of easing into things.  We'll talk and then move on to the body work usually. 

The last session she had me get on the massage table right away.  I had come in feeling very anxious and like I might cry.  She started by sitting at my head and just sort of holding my shoulders.  I immediately began to cry.  She sort of talked me through it asking me to pay attention to the emotion and the sensations in my body and to let it all flow on through me.  I didn't cry for long and a feeling of peace came over me.  And then pretty soon I was crying again.  Same  procedure--noticing and allowing the feelings to move through me.  Again, it didn't last long and I felt very calm afterward.  She pointed out how the emotion comes in waves and how I was able to just ride the wave.

She then moved her hands under my back just to the outsides of my shoulder blades.  Whereas she'd just sort of lightly held her hands on my shoulders earlier, she used a firmer grip to support my back.  She told me her intent was to have me feel supported.  She had done this in a previous session.  In the previous session I was calm at first but then became very scared and felt like sitting up because I felt like I was in a vulnerable position.  I told her this and she asked if I wanted to sit up.  I chose to stay as I was.  She asked me to visualize sitting up and then to visualize running for as long as I needed to in order to escape the feeling of fear.  She's told me to practice doing this out of session when I'm feeling anxious, and I've found it helps.  Anyhow, this time around I didn't feel that same panic.  I just felt as if I were sort of floating on water.  While we were like this, she asked what images or thoughts came up.  I mostly kept pointing out the sounds of different birds I could hear outside.  She talked about this being a good sign because if I were in a fight/flight/freeze response I wouldn't be able to notice those sounds.

After this, she went back to the kidney support I described in my first post.  I noticed that my digestive system seemed to have kicked in and was doing its thing.  It might sound odd, but I can sometimes feel that my digestion has just sort of stopped.  When I told her this, she said it made absolute sense.  Digestion is one of the processes shut off when you're in a fight/flight/freeze response.  So, the fact that I could tell things were moving was a great sign in her opinion.

I left with a deep feeling of serenity.  The days following were good days.  I do believe it's helping. 

[sanmagic7]

that sounds great, kat.  i'd love to try it.  i know my body is still holding so much.  i've used massage before to release it, but it was very painful.  this sounds so much better.  thanks.  big hug.

[Kat]

Yes, it's all very gentle so far.  I feel lucky to have found her.  We connected right off.  I looked at the webpage of the institute where she earned her certification.  It's no easy process.  She actually trained with Dr. Levine.  She said he was very cerebral, as you'd expect.  I'd like to hear of others experiences with SE to kind of compare notes.

[strugglin]

Thanks for sharing your experiences kat. I didn't realize there would be physical contact. I don't get much of that in my life so I can i imagine it would evoke some emotions. I'll have to do some more reading but it sounds like it's working for you which is great.

[Kat]

I've heard that some SE therapist don't do the hands-on bodywork, but I'm not sure how that works.  I specifically sought out someone who offered body work.