Somatic therapy is an interdisciplinary field at the cutting edge that seeks to reunite the mind-body split that has historically dominated the field.
Emerging studies in the fields of neuroscience and traumatology have shown what somaticists have been observing for several decades now — that the body is intrinsic to a person’s lived experience, and therefore, body-based approaches to healing can offer support where other modalities haven’t.
Most historical literature addressing trauma recovery concludes that people suffering from the mental, emotional, and physiological impacts of trauma (especially severe trauma) face long-term treatment protocols, and still — as discouraging as it may be — have little chance of full recovery.
The last few decades have seen the cultivation of a number of promising, innovative approaches to trauma therapy, most notably in the fields of somatics. By accessing trauma in the body — where it has been stored — a therapist can bypass the usual defenses that are erected by the survival systems of the ego-mind. This can translate into more direct, rapid, and effective treatment and a “metabolization” of the residual trauma through a person’s mind/body/emotional system.
So, rather than simply expecting a patient to come to terms with and learn to live/cope with the trauma — the way most traditional protocols are designed to operate — the trauma residue actually gets worked through and out of the system.