Reading The Language Of The Body
Can you hear what they are not saying?
Using Somatic Skills in Trauma Therapy Sessions.
Which one is your body stance?
Take a look at the above photo- you likely have this already from the Trauma Therapist Toolkit that you've gotten. If you don't have it yet, grab it here.
Now, take a moment and look at the body postures. Which one looks like the one you embody. How are you sitting or standing, right now? There is no right or wrong way to hold the body, it's simply about becoming aware of how you're carrying your body.
Our bodies tell a story.
They share how we are feeling, in this moment, and reflect our emotions. Or, they may also carry beliefs or stories of the past.
In therapy, our goal is to be able to help our clients experience relief and be able to feel differently in their bodies. Why? Because the body is what carries us around in the world, it's what holds cellular memories and beliefs. And our bodies communicate nonverbally- and 80% of communication is nonverbal.
As we help our clients change negative body beliefs to positive ones, the way they carry themselves shifts, which allows them to interact with the world and others in a healthier, empowered way.
---
As Founder of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Pat Ogden, shares:
“Psychological capacities and beliefs are inextricably linked with the structure and movement of the body.”
----
Bringing it Home To Your Practice
In session, our clients want to feel seen.
They want to know that we have the answer to their suffering.
Relief to their pain.
Hope to their despair.
They feel held and seen when we "get" what they are tending to internally, and externally. They feel seen when we pick up on the explicit and implicit messages they are telling us. When we read the language of the body and incorporate it into our work, they feel that support.
-----
Let me give you an example to highlight this point.
Marissa | Helping her Shift What Her Body Was Saying
Marissa was a 43 year old who reached out for counseling. She had tried therapy but it left her spinning in circles, feeling hopeless. She heard I was a somatic therapist and wanted to try this method.
Marissa was looking to connect with her 20 year old daughter. Nearing tears as she told me about how Jennifer , her daughter, had pushed her away - barely allowing any contact.
”Theres got to be more”, I thought.
Over my time in working with Marissa, I realized that though Marissa said she wanted connection with her daughter, her body language was completely shut down to authentic connection with her daughter.
And her daughter felt it, and was protecting herself from opening herself up to a shut-off mom. In a future blog, I'll share how I worked with Marissa's body language. Using my somatic skills, I worked with the beliefs she was holding (about herself, and others), and over time, she was finally able to slowly build a more fulfilling relationship with her daughter.
------
For now, I want you to marinate with the question:
Aside for what my clients are saying, what is their body saying?
--------
I am here to help you learn to read the body.
As a trauma expert and Sensorimotor Psychotherapist (yes, 3 years of training + more), I've got skills that have changed my practice and the practice of clinicians I supervise and train.
For now, check out this little sneak peek into Somatic Skills - working with the body, from my Trauma Therapist Training Program.
Have a lovely weekend,
X
Esther