Hello, I have noticed that for many people, the idea of somatic trauma healing can be intimidating. Some individuals may be hesitant to try this type of therapy or any therapy that involves directly addressing traumatic memories due to fear of experiencing overwhelming discomfort or pain that is difficult to cope with. Getting stuck in pain is different from discomfort or something you can cope with so it's just uncomfortable and not super painful. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this topic. Thank you.
This is a really great question thurenberg, thank you for asking! Yes, absolutely, if someone is used to getting stuck in their pain this type of work could sound intimidating. Overwhelming discomfort or pain is something very different than what I am describing here in this essay. In my example with Nathan, he would be experiencing discomfort that does not feel like "too much" or overwhelming. In our work we would be dipping our toes in lightly to the feeling of discomfort and overwhelm, and then moving away from it. Usually, for our first many sessions, we would work on building up the resources and capacity in the body to decrease the possibility of overwhelm or pain before we start moving towards discomfort. And even then, when we do, we take very small bites at a time, so that they are still within the person's capacity. Exactly like you said, some bite-sized discomfort is very different than super painful, and our goal in this work would be to move away from anything causing that much pain. I'm going to write some more in response to this question in another essay, keep an eye out for the next one!
This is great, thank you! It really helps me understand how somatic work can help un-stick trauma, and makes lots of sense in the context of my knowledge about trauma. But ironically I'm a bit confused about how you define regulation still, lol! You opened the essay talking about the difficulties of defining it, and it seems implied that you think of the kind of somatic work you do as a form of regulation. But AFAIK the way psychology usually uses the word regulation is about things that don't necessarily actively heal trauma, but help us get back to that flow state and unstuck temporarily, in the moment--taking a walk, making art, talking to a friend, etc. So I think that caused some confusion for me, since that stuff usually *is* designed to help us feel better temporarily, as well as regulate us (also temporarily). Which are indispensable skills, but different from healing that gets us back to a state of psychological homeostasis in the long term, perhaps akin to more long term regulation. Would be great if you clarified. Thanks for this helpful essay!
Hi Scarab, thanks for these great questions! Regulation basically just means a nervous system that is able to flow freely between states. When our nervous systems are able to flow from one state to another, our nervous system is regulating. There are all kinds of things that can keep us from regulating, and there are all kinds of ways in which we might support returning to regulation. All of the examples you listed here such as taking a walk, making art, talking to a friend are all great ways to encourage returning to a flowing nervous system when we become stuck. When I say regulating doesn't always make us feel better, what I'm trying to highlight for folks is that sometimes, in order to help us return to flow, we need to head towards the discomfort rather than away from it. This isn't always the case! Each person is going to be unique, and the sensations and context/environment they're in will be unique. Sometimes we will need to head away from discomfort, and sometimes we will need to head towards it. If we go in expecting that our intention should always be to feel better, or to make an uncomfortable sensation go away, we might actually become more stuck. This happens to a lot of people because of this misunderstanding and was the inspiration for why I wrote this essay. Hope that helps! I think I might write a longer essay in response to this as well.
Hello, I have noticed that for many people, the idea of somatic trauma healing can be intimidating. Some individuals may be hesitant to try this type of therapy or any therapy that involves directly addressing traumatic memories due to fear of experiencing overwhelming discomfort or pain that is difficult to cope with. Getting stuck in pain is different from discomfort or something you can cope with so it's just uncomfortable and not super painful. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this topic. Thank you.
This is a really great question thurenberg, thank you for asking! Yes, absolutely, if someone is used to getting stuck in their pain this type of work could sound intimidating. Overwhelming discomfort or pain is something very different than what I am describing here in this essay. In my example with Nathan, he would be experiencing discomfort that does not feel like "too much" or overwhelming. In our work we would be dipping our toes in lightly to the feeling of discomfort and overwhelm, and then moving away from it. Usually, for our first many sessions, we would work on building up the resources and capacity in the body to decrease the possibility of overwhelm or pain before we start moving towards discomfort. And even then, when we do, we take very small bites at a time, so that they are still within the person's capacity. Exactly like you said, some bite-sized discomfort is very different than super painful, and our goal in this work would be to move away from anything causing that much pain. I'm going to write some more in response to this question in another essay, keep an eye out for the next one!
This is great, thank you! It really helps me understand how somatic work can help un-stick trauma, and makes lots of sense in the context of my knowledge about trauma. But ironically I'm a bit confused about how you define regulation still, lol! You opened the essay talking about the difficulties of defining it, and it seems implied that you think of the kind of somatic work you do as a form of regulation. But AFAIK the way psychology usually uses the word regulation is about things that don't necessarily actively heal trauma, but help us get back to that flow state and unstuck temporarily, in the moment--taking a walk, making art, talking to a friend, etc. So I think that caused some confusion for me, since that stuff usually *is* designed to help us feel better temporarily, as well as regulate us (also temporarily). Which are indispensable skills, but different from healing that gets us back to a state of psychological homeostasis in the long term, perhaps akin to more long term regulation. Would be great if you clarified. Thanks for this helpful essay!
Hi Scarab, thanks for these great questions! Regulation basically just means a nervous system that is able to flow freely between states. When our nervous systems are able to flow from one state to another, our nervous system is regulating. There are all kinds of things that can keep us from regulating, and there are all kinds of ways in which we might support returning to regulation. All of the examples you listed here such as taking a walk, making art, talking to a friend are all great ways to encourage returning to a flowing nervous system when we become stuck. When I say regulating doesn't always make us feel better, what I'm trying to highlight for folks is that sometimes, in order to help us return to flow, we need to head towards the discomfort rather than away from it. This isn't always the case! Each person is going to be unique, and the sensations and context/environment they're in will be unique. Sometimes we will need to head away from discomfort, and sometimes we will need to head towards it. If we go in expecting that our intention should always be to feel better, or to make an uncomfortable sensation go away, we might actually become more stuck. This happens to a lot of people because of this misunderstanding and was the inspiration for why I wrote this essay. Hope that helps! I think I might write a longer essay in response to this as well.
Hm this helps me understand the work we’re doing more!!
I’m so glad!