Exploring Somatic EMDR

In the realm of mental health and therapy, there’s a profound understanding that healing isn’t just about addressing thoughts and emotions, but also about integrating the body’s experiences. Two therapeutic modalities, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Somatic Therapy, have gained recognition for their transformative potential. When combined, they create a powerful synergy, offering a deep, holistic healing experience.

Understanding EMDR:

EMDR is a psychotherapy approach developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. The therapy involves stimulating the brain’s natural healing processes through bilateral stimulation, typically achieved through eye movements, hand taps, or auditory tones.

The process of EMDR involves the following key steps:

        1.      Assessment and Preparation: The therapist works with the client to identify specific memories or experiences to target during the sessions. Preparation involves teaching coping mechanisms, relaxation and grounding techniques.
        2.      Desensitization: The client focuses on the targeted memory while simultaneously undergoing bilateral stimulation. This process aims to reduce the emotional charge associated with the memory, making it less distressing.
        3.      Installation: Positive beliefs and emotions are introduced to replace negative ones associated with the targeted memory. This helps in building resilience and confidence.
        4.      Body Scan: The client checks in with their body to notice any physical sensations or tension that may have shifted during the process.
        5.      Closure: The session concludes with grounding techniques to ensure the client feels stable and safe before leaving.

Understanding Somatic Therapy:

Somatic therapy recognizes the intimate connection between the mind and body, acknowledging that psychological issues often manifest as physical symptoms. This approach emphasizes the importance of bodily sensations, movements, postures and expressions in understanding and processing emotions and trauma.

Key elements of somatic therapy include:

        1. Body Awareness: Clients become more attuned to their body, helping them identify areas of tension, discomfort, or relaxation and how each physical manifestation connects to their emotional experience.
        2.      Breath Work: Conscious breathing techniques are used to regulate emotions, calm the nervous system, and release physical tension.
        3.      Movement and Expression: Clients may engage in gentle movements to facilitate the release of stored emotions and trauma from the body.

The Synergy of EMDR and Somatic Therapy:

When EMDR and somatic therapy are blended together, they offer a unique and comprehensive approach to healing that addresses both the cognitive and somatic aspects of trauma healing. As the client becomes more self attuned their capacity to stay with and acknowledge challenging emotions and memories increases. Reprocessing in EMDR is not likely to be successful if the client becomes hyper or hypo-aroused. Somatic therapy is a beautiful process for fostering mindful presence and for building resilience within one’s nervous system so that reprocessing using EMDR becomes tolerable and successful.

Key Difference Between EMDR and Somatic EMDR:

Somatic EMDR places a stronger emphasis on staying connected to the body during processing.

In my experience, this distinction matters because staying attuned to the body’s sensations allows implicit memories—those deeply stored, nonverbal memories that shape our emotions and behaviors—to be reprocessed more efficiently. Research suggests that implicit memory is stored in subcortical brain structures like the amygdala and cerebellum, meaning it operates outside of conscious awareness (Schacter, 1996). Since these memories often show up in the body as sensations, tension, or reflexive responses, a somatic approach helps bring them into awareness for integration.

By maintaining a somatic focus, we can also ensure that the nervous system isn’t overwhelmed. This means tracking where you are in your window of tolerance and using regulation techniques to help your system stay within a range where healing can occur. If the system becomes too activated, processing can become ineffective or even retraumatizing.

Somatic EMDR helps expand your nervous system capacity over time, and integrates resources into every step of the process.

Please connect with me today to inquire about starting your own Somatic EMDR Journey! I look forward to connecting with you!