Understanding Somatic Experiencing

How to Slow Down and Engage with the Feeling

One of the things that makes being a counsellor so engaging, and rewarding is being in the presence of someone who is truly experiencing a feeling.

I know; that sounds simultaneously interesting and a bit voyeuristic but watching someone settle into a bodily sensation and truly come to an understanding of the truth behind it reminds me why I want to be in this profession. It is some of the boldest and most honest work that a client can do as well as being a daunting exercise at first. However, it is not outside the realm of those willing to slow down, explore a sensation, engage in somatic experiencing.

So, What is Somatic Experiencing?

At its core, somatic experiencing is a therapeutic approach your counsellor can take to work with the physiological responses of your body when you discuss/reencounter trauma. Essentially, the goal is to create a better and more conscious radar for the sensations that arise in our body. When a topic or memory arises, you and your therapist will engage approaches to process the emotions around them.

Starting the process of somatic experiencing is being aware of your body’s reaction to a particular topic.This step can be a confounding aspect because painful situations can trigger us to shut down which keeps those sensations in the background. They try to pop up, but we work hard to keep them away to keep going through our day. However, those sensations and underlying issues with them will stay stuck and rise up in inopportune moments of stress in your life.

The key to this step is to slow down when your body starts to engage a sensation. Some examples of possible responses could be as follows:
- Tingling in appendages
- The ‘pit of your stomach’ feeling or drop in your stomach
- Welling up of tears
- Heaviness in your chest or limbs

Let me state the obvious; these sensations are not pleasant. Quite the opposite! However, it is these sensations that we want to slow down and stay with for a bit. Working with your therapist at this process of gradual unearthing of the sensation is called titration. It is a fancy term to describe the method of visiting your trauma and process the experience in small doses. This can mean something as simple as sitting in silence to become more conscious of the sensation and seeing if it continues or wanes.

There can be tears; there can be sensations like shaking or shivering. These are normal as your body is given the chance to process what happened to you. At that point, your counsellor can ask what the experience was like and how you feel afterwards.

Where Do I Go from Here?

I wish I could say that your issues will be cleared up, but this really is the start of your journey. You will have to do more titration work with your counsellor to process your trauma bit by bit. Somatic experiencing can be a long process, but ultimately one that leads to understanding yourself and your heart more fully.