Somatic Therapy: Healing Through Body and Mind

In this episode of 'Wicked Psychotherapists', Tanya and Erin discuss somatic therapy, exploring its application and benefits in mental health treatment. 

They introduce somatic therapy as a method that bridges the connection between the physical body and mental health, particularly beneficial for clients dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. 

They also provide guidance on identifying suitable candidates for somatic therapy and discuss the importance of developing a mind-body connection for better emotional regulation. 

The episode concludes with recommendations for practicing somatic techniques and inviting listener feedback.

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Transcript

0:08

You are listening to Wicked Psychotherapists, a podcast where two psychotherapists show you that taking care of and learning about mental health doesn't have to be wicked hard.

erin: 0:31

Hey everyone, this is Tanya. Hi, this is Erin and welcome to Wicked Psychotherapist. So how you doing today, Erin? What's going on? I'm doing pretty good. I don't know, it's starting to get a little nice and hot. Yeah, I'm laying. Well, I'm not laying. Paige is laying next to me. I showed you a picture. I'll have to post it on Instagram. Paige got a new collar and you would think she got all the presents in the world. She's so happy about it.

Tanya: 0:57

Paige loves her collars. That's really that's so cute. Yeah, she looked adorable. Yeah, so she's kind of, she's with us today. She's settling. Yeah,

erin: 1:05

she's sleeping. Just resting. I wanted to, before we get started, I think people might notice we're starting to post weekly. So I did wanna say that like, you know, for our episodes where we were going every other week, we're now switching to a weekly. Weekly method you might see some repeats like some I guess they're called re releases or encores But, I think this is the second, tomorrow, in real world, will be the second week that we're doing the, every week, but, when this comes out, it would have already happened for a while.

Tanya: 1:40

Yeah, that, that's a good point, I forgot about that yeah, but we are, we're trying this new cadence, we think it might, You know, attract people and kind of keep people week to week. So, let us know what you think about it. We like doing it and yeah, it's, it seems like something that works for us, so we're just, we're trying out some new things. But today we are talking about something that we thought we could shed a little light on. It's probably a type of therapy that you've seen but maybe are not fully aware of what it means, how it comes out in practice, and that is somatic therapy. So we thought we'd just kind of talk about what that means, who it's for like what clients are ideal for that, or, you know, might be, might consider it, and you know, what it's used to treat, as well as some examples. So somatic therapy is, you know, the connection of the physical body. With mental health and being able to align that with a mind body connection.

anyone: 2:37

So

Tanya: 2:37

basically it's incorporating the physical with the mental and, you know, being able to use that as a treatment course. And this is something that can be used with. clients if they are well requesting it because I think it's been Have you seen it popping up a lot more lately kind of like the word somatic therapy or the phrase? And it's

erin: 2:57

interesting too Because I knew we were doing this episode It seems like it's been showing up a lot on my instagram feed of people Advertising that they do stuff with it. So I was like, all right, it's time Now that's creepy in my brain, But yes, I have been same for me, It's weird, but I have been seeing it more and I know a lot of times people, I was thinking the book, the body keeps the score. I know a lot of people talk about that and know that, and if they have read it or heard about it, that you're like, oh, well there is a mind body connection to trauma to anxiety. So that. And it's an older book, but it has opened the conversation about it, too.

Tanya: 3:36

For sure. That's like the, I feel like the bible of like, somatic therapy, you know, for us therapists. I find myself recommending that if people are inquiring about the somatic effect, you know, of trauma on the body or grief or disorders. And there's also, This is just a little random tidbit fact, but there's a workbook that goes along with it that I've used with some clients and it's really helpful. It's really cool. That you can get on, I think like Amazon or something. We're not affiliated with it. I'm just saying it's really helpful. But, it's so true that, it pops up everywhere, especially once you say it out loud, it'll pop up on your feed. But it certainly can be used for a lot of different things like trauma, grief chronic pain disorders, depression PTSD, grief. Addiction sexual dysfunction, things like that. Because there, there is a large component with those, diagnoses with having a physical. Manifestations that may not be completely addressed in talk therapy. So it works with how maybe like trauma stored in the body and how different things, different exercises that you can do in order to try to relieve that while also processing some of these mental health issues. So it kind of all works together. It's all very symbiotic. But. I just kind of wonder, was this something that you were familiar with when you first started practicing as a therapist? Was this something that you incorporated, automatically, but didn't know it was somatic therapy? Or did you kind of not really have that understanding of it?

erin: 5:10

I think A little bit of both. I did incorporate it, but I don't think I knew what the term was at first because I would try to, I'd work on the breathing, guided meditation, encouraged people to start a meditation practice or Go to yoga, or take a yoga class, or walk, or have movement, not realizing what it might be called.

Tanya: 5:34

Yeah, that's exactly, that's the same, that's why I asked you, because it's the same for me. I feel like this is kind of always an incorporation of the therapy because of course there's going to be other components other than just the actual speaking back and forth. And I think we maybe are just now starting to kind of categorize that or, you know, really kind of put an emphasis on like, Oh, that's a type of therapy that you might want to focus on and can't even be a specialization. You can look for somatic therapy. I don't know what certificates they take or what, you know, kind of certifications, but people that are looking for, you know, this particular type of therapist you know, some therapists may just work with it and some of their methods. Like I think you and I, we will incorporate some of those methods, but we're not considered like somatic therapists. That's not like our specialty kind of thing. So that is kind of, I guess, you know, just the vocabulary to it. If anybody's wondering if they're looking for something like that you know, yoga and meditation in and of itself are somatic therapies because they incorporate that mind body connection. But you know, I think. I wonder, who are the clients that you feel would be appropriate for this, or when do you think this would come in as a discussion of using some of these somatic practices?

erin: 6:46

I usually will suggest it or talk about it if it's somebody who comes in presenting with high anxiety or has history of anxiety or trauma. You know, not current unresolved trauma, but maybe they, maybe PTSD or something that we're working on the anxieties with it. So usually a lot of anxieties or fear or panic disorder, those type of things I do tend to use it with it a lot.

Tanya: 7:13

Where there's like a lot of physical components to that, like there's a panic attack.

erin: 7:17

Yeah, because with that, with the panic attack, with the anxiety and things like that, you are feeling it in your body and sometimes you're able to recognize where it's showing up or where it's coming From and with the breath work, that seems to help people recognize it a little bit too. And I have had clients tell me after they started going to yoga or even when they do the guided meditations at home, that it really has helped lessen their anxiety a lot, incorporating that with going to talk therapy.

Tanya: 7:48

Yeah, I think is a really good combination, a really good way to combine that and incorporate that. Yeah, I similarly, I often, I've found with some clients, I will feel like there's a plateau in the talk therapy, and there may be some physical symptoms that they're bringing up that just are not quite being addressed. Or maybe there's some sort of kind of a you know, kind of feeling of there's something more to this, but I can't, I can feel it, but I can't quite express it verbally and you know, chronic illnesses, things like that to deal with managed pain. You know, I think there's been some clients that you know, have had like complex PTSD that just cannot get out of that. freeze state and in terms of like they're in that survival state and I think that's a really good candidate for somatic therapies. I think some of these practices just to shed some light on some of the things that you had mentioned already, Erin, you know, some of the breathing work, grounding, meditation, yoga progressive muscle relaxation body scanning, things like that. These are all things that can be practiced. in session. And usually, personally I will like practice a little bit, kind of see how that feels, get some feedback and kind of say, maybe this is best to try when you're in the moment with these symptoms. Maybe it's best to try if you know, like before going into a situation that causes some stress. Or, you know, maybe it's, this is a good kind of post you know, symptomatic kind of practice to help kind of bring you down. And so I think kind of setting up that schedule is really important to know how the client can use it as well as practicing and getting the feedback from the clinician, you know, the client can say, okay, now I know how to do this. I'm not just kind of guessing. Right. And you're

erin: 9:38

giving them and you're giving them other coping skills too by doing that and it reminded me too and another one is like different grounding techniques because you are being aware of all your senses and kind of being Almost forced to look inside your body a little bit too to help alleviate some of the anxieties

Tanya: 9:59

Yeah, for sure. And you know, I do think there are some with that in mind I do think there are some clients that maybe this might be you might want to be really careful and Trying not to you know, maybe kind of trying to see if this is something that works well with this client or not, or maybe this might have to be someone who is well versed in somatic therapy, maybe an in person. Somatic therapist. And that may be was just thinking of this, maybe somebody who has, you know, been a sexual assault victim or, you know, somebody who has something with the, you know, the presence of being in their body and not knowing what's going on. What that might cause if they go back to that trauma. And so really needing someone to be there and to guide them and to have that support. I think that might have to be something that you have to be kind of particularly careful. about in terms of like as a practitioner.

anyone: 10:51

Right. Just

Tanya: 10:51

to make sure for that. That's part of, probably would be the, in the, you know, screening process and just talking about it. But can you think of any other clients that may not be like a good candidate just for, you know, having some somatic exercises, but maybe would need, maybe like a specialist or, you know, someone like someone

erin: 11:08

who, like we mentioned PTSD, but someone who has fresh trauma, maybe someone who has like a mood disorder that might not be treated or I, the word that's coming to me is controlled. I know that's not the right word, but yeah, managed. Thank you. And so I think those would not be very good candidates. Like someone with, you know, schizoaffective or schizophrenia who it's not managed or medicated properly. Those might not be the best for this. Thanks. Right now

Tanya: 11:38

And we're not saying they may not be the best for somatic therapy overall but they may want to consult what they You know if that's what they're seeking out. They may want to seek like a specialist in that to see if they are appropriate for that or not, right they might be but they might just need kind of a different process than that, you know, and I have I

erin: 11:56

have heard really great things about where people incorporate dance or like almost, you know, like where they do yoga in the, therapy groups and they do incorporate dance and different things. And that might be in a group setting and something like that also might really benefit different varieties of clients. That have an expert doing, you know, an expert teacher, an expert therapist doing this.

Tanya: 12:20

Yeah, I think so. And, you know, I think this is, you know, the goal of somatic therapy ultimately is I think for clients to develop their own resources and to regulate their own emotions, which is, I mean, that's what we're looking for, you know, mentally, this is just kind of connecting the physical components. So,

erin: 12:41

well, and this is the goal of most of our time in therapy is to help our clients to get some skills and to have the ability to regulate. And, you know, with the somatic therapy, it's. It is, it's looking, it's using your body too, and not just, as Tanya said, not just traditional talk therapy.

Tanya: 13:00

Yeah, for sure. And it certainly has been. It's an area that I I've been exploring a lot lately because I have been seeing an uptick in clients asking about it. And I've also been curious about it myself just because of feeling like sometimes talk therapy does not address some of those symptoms. And so I've kind of just been like, okay, well, what can I add on as an adjunct? Yeah. So I, I have a training that I am going through. It's like a self paced training. And I do think it is really helpful to have that. And, you know, in case anyone doesn't know, I think we've talked about it here. We, we are constantly having to have CEs or continuing education credits every two years for our license renewal to keep it, And so, and I just, I like to learn things like anything I can kind of have that is like useful in the moment. Like I'll say, okay, if clients are asking about somatic therapy, I'm going to take a CE program on, you know, somatic therapy so I can have some of that.

erin: 13:55

Yeah.

Tanya: 13:55

I kind of take like a general survey of like what people are asking and what I'm interested in. So, I do think that you can definitely build up these skills as a therapist. But again, if you're, you know, it depends on if you're looking for, you know, a, someone who specializes in this, if this is something that you feel like this is what you need or if, you know, this person maybe knows some techniques, but maybe it's not their specialty. And either one, it just depends on your situation. And it's just about kind of asking about that and in the intake you know, and kind of seeing what fits or not. So with that in mind, I was curious, have you yourself ever used any of these somatic therapies or, you know, kind of had any experiences with

erin: 14:38

them? I think so. I, well, I try to incorporate meditation. I do the guided meditations. I haven't lately, but I do like yoga and I try to incorporate that. And I noticed when I do incorporate both yoga and meditation, my mental health feels better. I feel like my anxiety is lessened and quieted down a lot. I, Try to get out in nature and walk. So I guess I do try to move my body and I think that helps me see where my anxiety might be showing up, too. Like the more aware I am of my body, I think the more aware I am, like, oh wait, it's showing up like in my chest or I'm feeling a little tightness or, you know, maybe I need to breathe, take some deep breaths or something.

Tanya: 15:22

Yeah, that's a good like signaling mechanism to see kind of where it's showing up And you also do gardening which can be considered. It's a meditation.

erin: 15:30

Yeah, I do. Yeah I do find that very meditative like just I actually like doing the weeding and Digging and all that like the heavy not fun stuff. I find I definitely It quiets my mind completely because it's You don't really have to think about anything. It's just like, okay, is this a weed or a flower? Let me just pull that out and just throw it in the ground, throw it in a bucket, dump it somewhere. And that's all I have to do. It's just, you know, and it does, it just quiets the background.

Tanya: 15:58

Yeah. Yeah. That's really I, that sounds like such a meditative way of just kind of, you know, processing your emotions and just feeling good and calm within your Mind and body.

erin: 16:11

Yeah, and how about you? I know you do yoga and

Tanya: 16:14

I do I do hot yoga. I do just regular yoga and that for me is very helpful. It is absolutely, I can feel the mind body connection in that. I was telling Aaron earlier, if you have an instructor who kind of speaks on some of these elements, I When you're in particular poses, they'll kind of talk about and this may not be, you know, everyone's experience, but I think a lot of yoga instructors will incorporate kind of some of these maybe like meditative slash mental health components that I'm not even sure if they're aware of, but it very much is like mindfulness, like thinking about when you're in a particular pose, which may be hard to hold. You know, they start to talk about, you know, you're at your edge and what is it that you can do and this moment is for you and this is something that, you know, you can concentrate on and you can have. And it just is something that really sticks with me and really helps me to slow down my very anxious future oriented mind and it's really helpful to calm my anxiety and kind of that inner chatter that I have going on there. I definitely like meditation. I've been doing that through a live stream place that I subscribed to recently and that's been A really great way to start out the day, I think. And that's, you know, kind of gives you like to, you know, a feeling of what is it that I do want to focus on. Again, kind of pushing away some of that stuff that we carry in from the previous days. And saying, okay, let this day be as it needs to be. Yeah, and I just find these things really helpful. And I, You know, I think that it's important for you to know how it works for yourself. So you can also, you know, as a clinician to be able to say, well, this can also, I personally, you know, know this. I mean, not that you have to tell them this, but you know, you can recommend it because you know that it does help with You know, I think it's fair to say Aaron and I have anxiety. So, you know, it's uh, it's certainly helped us. Yeah

erin: 18:10

But also I was thinking too it when you're saying that it's really important for The client or whoever you're talking about to Have a connection a mind body connection because a lot of times people are very disconnected With what's happening You In their body and they're just like, ah, I'm getting these stomach issues or I have a headache or I'm having trouble breathing Or all of a sudden my body hurts and I don't know why and Having some form like some way to connect it really does help figure out like oh Maybe this is connected to something that's happening With my mind or happening with my emotions

Tanya: 18:51

Yeah, definitely and I think that can certainly come from you know, experiences like we were talking about difficulties with grief, PTSD, anxiety, depression. I also just had a thought that maybe there is some dissociation from our bodies with all the technology available, and we kind of are really inside of our heads. And maybe that just might be helpful for a lot of mental health in general with that, to reconnect with your body.

erin: 19:16

Yeah, because that is a way that I think a lot of people go to for their disconnect or their unwinding instead of automatically saying, well, I'm going to go for a walk. I'm going to go garden. I'm going to yoga, go do yoga or whatever. They'll say, well, let me go start playing a game. Let me do this. I know I, I get stuck on that a lot. I'm like, well, let me just play on my iPad for a little bit and play a game or something instead of instantly being like, well. Do I want to do that or should I go outside? Let me just sit, you know, sit in the grass or go for a walk or a lot of times we don't think about that because it's like, ah, it takes so much time. But in theory, it probably takes the same amount of time, but it's just what would actually benefit our mind and body better at that moment.

Tanya: 20:01

Yeah, and I think it's in developing that feeling of Oh, this actually feels really good. And the more and more you practice it and saying, okay, I actually do, you know, really need some sun or I need some you know, exercise or some movement that would help this along. Because I, I remember I'm starting to realize that connection. Because like you said, there can be a huge disconnection after a while of just kind of going to this and saying, that's fine, that works, that's fine, that works, you know, and going to scrolling, going on social media, going, you know, whatever it is. And so I think that this is really important. I think that's probably why this is popping up a lot. Other than probably there's something probably on TikTok or something talking about it too. So there's probably a trend in that. But I, I do think there is a need for this connection at this point and Our technological era for sure. I think it's probably something that we're just gonna keep developing and meeting. I don't think it's going anywhere.

erin: 20:56

Yeah

Tanya: 20:56

Because it certainly is a disconnect with technology in general. Of course, it is connecting in other ways, but it is also Disconnecting.

erin: 21:05

Yeah, well think about how much better you feel like if you work in an office or you know and you have a couple of the friends that you walk around the building with or you know, then when you come back in it's like Wow, I felt like I just had like a two hour nap or something. You just feel more refreshed. And it's because you're moving, you're outside, and you're socializing. in that moment, that is a form of somatic therapy, but you don't realize it. You're just walking with friends.

Tanya: 21:28

Yeah, and kind of realizing those moments when you need them, and the times when you need them, and the frequency maybe of needing it, you know, is kind of something I think we would work with in, in therapy, and just kind of recognizing those patterns of Oh, maybe, you know, instead of, you know, going to I don't know, look on Instagram, you know, scrolling down and everything, maybe replacing that even once a week with this and seeing how that feels. Does that feel a little better? Maybe start to associate that with, oh, that's my, that should be my go to.

erin: 21:56

Yeah.

Tanya: 21:57

And so, dealing with patterns of that and behaviors and how that feels is a big part of this semantic therapy too. have you recommended somatic therapies to clients in terms of like, for homework or practiced in session?

erin: 22:10

I have like with the guided meditation, there's a couple apps that I really like or even have like there's some YouTube channels that have good guided meditation. Same with yoga. Uh, there's a couple, actually, it seems like a few people like. This one person on YouTube, they follow her, and then, or if they have the money go to a live class, because that's also nice too, to be in a room with people, with real people. Yeah. It's something about it. So, I do recommend that, I also always ask people, how often do you go outside? When do you go outside? How can we set this up? How can we get you to move a little bit? Even if it's just Throw in a ball to your dog for five minutes outside. Maybe that can become a walk. Maybe that can become something else. Just because with both anxiety and depression any form of movement Even 10 minutes a day can really help lessen both of them. And a lot of people don't realize that, you know, a lot of times we hear like, oh with depression move and move in, but it also helps with the anxiety too.

Tanya: 23:15

Yeah, for sure. And just being able to associate a time when you can feel good and you have control over that and that you can go to that, it can definitely become a coping skill. Yeah, and I've definitely had, I think like, you know, we've probably all along been recommending this and just didn't know it was somatic therapy, but just the practice of grounding, like I've done the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with the senses, kind of exercise with people. Yeah,

erin: 23:39

I see. I, that's my go to, too. Like, you know, what colors do you see? What sounds? What do you smell? What, you know, those are great because those are things you could teach them, but then hopefully when they're feeling Concerned feel stress that can help them. Yeah.

Tanya: 23:53

Yeah, and kind of that feeling of if they're feeling disconnected from themselves I'll kind of give like a broad list go over some and then Person may come back and say this actually made me feel kind of frustrated or I didn't really like this or you know And then so we kind of cater it around to say hey, maybe this just isn't for You know, maybe you like the breathing exercises or you like The, you know, progressive muscle relaxation, right? Or the visualization, but you don't like these and that's totally fine. Not, you don't have to like all of them. You can like just one side, whatever it is that works

anyone: 24:24

for you. Yeah.

Tanya: 24:25

But yeah, that's I like to give a nice variety and kind of work on a few of them and then say, Hey, I want you to practice when you're feeling calmer and see which ones kind of appeal to you.

erin: 24:34

Yeah.

Tanya: 24:35

That's kind of what I like to try and do in our sessions. And

erin: 24:39

then another two is, reminding people to drink water when they're feeling a little anxious or because sometimes that will help. It helps you slow, just slow down a little bit. It helps you because you have to kind of slow down your breath a little bit while you're drinking water and while you're having it. And that, that also helps with the mind body connection a little bit too. I recommend that a lot.

Tanya: 25:00

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so, I mean, this is just kind of, we were just wanting to throw out there some knowledge, throw out some, uh, lessons on somatic therapy, how we use it just so you can have a little bit of a clear picture on how it runs in a therapy session. But, uh, we hope you enjoyed this, and this can help to just expand your knowledge a little bit, of different types of therapies that we use. But I think we're good to, to wrap it up here, right? It's uh, I think

erin: 25:29

so. I think, I hope they learned a lot and you know, and you might you all might be doing some of it You might be doing it and you don't even realize it or didn't know what it was Yeah,

Tanya: 25:38

and that's a good takeaway too is you might be and it's just if it's you know Something that you have a problem incorporating or you need help with that, you know, that might be an option for therapy

anyone: 25:47

Or

Tanya: 25:48

if you just want to practice with someone so Don't forget to leave us comments and suggestions for future episodes. We love that. Leave us a review, that helps. Where can they find us on Instagram,

erin: 26:04

Facebook, yeah, Instagram is the, what is it the Wicked Psychotherapist, at

Tanya: 26:08

Wicked Psychotherapist, Facebook is the Wicked Psychotherapist. Yeah, subscribe, tell your friends, help us out, leave a review, share but yeah, let us know, uh, anything you want and we are always open for suggestions, ideas, comments but in the meantime, don't forget, stay wicked

erin: 26:30

and keep your mind well. Okay, well, have a great day. Bye bye. Bye guys. We'll see you next week.

26:38

We Wish You a Merry Christmas I'm going to be doing a lot of this stuff. Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye!