Selecting the best remedy method might be difficult, particularly when navigating choices like somatic remedy and eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), two highly effective strategies for addressing trauma and emotional therapeutic. Each therapies give attention to connecting thoughts and physique however differ in approach and focus. Somatic remedy facilities on physique consciousness to course of saved feelings, whereas EMDR makes use of eye actions to reframe traumatic reminiscences.

Understanding the distinct approaches of somatic remedy and EMDR is essential in making an knowledgeable choice about your therapeutic journey. Preserve studying to discover the fundamentals and key variations between these two sorts of trauma remedy.

What’s Somatic Remedy?

Somatic remedy is basically a body-centered method to therapeutic previous trauma. It focuses on connecting the physique and thoughts. Somatic remedy acknowledges and acknowledges that trauma doesn’t simply have an effect on your feelings. It may well additionally manifest by means of bodily sensations within the physique. Somatic experiencing remedy has been discovered to be an efficient remedy for PTSD, and it’s generally used to deal with different sorts of trauma as effectively.

Such a remedy helps you course of any unresolved trauma you’ve saved all through your physique. It tunes into sensations you’re feeling and makes use of these cues that can assist you launch vitality that may negatively impression your life and relationships.

Somatic interventions might be very useful in case you really feel disconnected out of your physique otherwise you expertise bodily signs of trauma, like persistent ache, stress, or numbness. Whenever you develop into conscious of those bodily sensations and begin to tackle them, you possibly can start doing deep emotional therapeutic.

The core ideas of somatic remedy

Somatic experiencing remedy’s fundamental precept is that your physique holds onto trauma, and therapeutic can solely happen as soon as you’re employed by means of the bodily sensations it creates. You’ll be able to faucet into the trauma and launch it by focusing in your physique as a substitute of cognitive processes like ideas and feelings.

It’s primarily based on a central framework referred to as SIBAM, which stands for sensation, imagery, habits, have an effect on, and that means. The mannequin guides the remedy course of by specializing in the connection between bodily sensations and emotional experiences. You should use SIBAM to grasp your trauma and begin to regulate the emotional and physiological response to emphasize it has precipitated you.

1. Sensation: Entails taking note of bodily sensations in your physique
2. Imagery: Makes use of exploration of psychological photos that come up throughout remedy
3. Habits: Notices bodily actions or actions associated to the trauma you skilled
4. Have an effect on: Identifies feelings you may have which are related to the trauma
5. Which means: Understands the private significance trauma had in your life

What’s EMDR?

Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured fashion of psychotherapy that relieves stress brought on by traumatic experiences and reminiscences. EMDR makes use of bilateral stimulation — sometimes eye motion or tapping — to assist your mind reprocess trauma. It’s a noninvasive method that goals to reprocess reminiscences in a more healthy method in order that they have much less of an impression in your each day life.

Analysis exhibits that EMDR is efficient in treating situations like PTSD, nervousness, despair, and different trauma-related situations. It differs from discuss remedy in that it doesn’t require you to dive into the specifics of a traumatic expertise. As an alternative, the main target is extra on how reminiscences are saved within the mind and how one can alter the emotional response related to them.

The 8 phases of EMDR

EMDR follows a structured step-by-step method that’s divided into 8 distinct phases. Every has a selected recognized objective in the way you course of trauma.

1. Historical past Taking: Your therapist will collect detailed details about your life historical past, important occasions, and trauma-related signs. This section helps the therapist establish particular reminiscences and triggers to give attention to, laying the muse for focused EMDR remedy.
2. Preparation: Throughout this section, the therapist will clarify how EMDR works and tackle any questions or issues you’ll have. They’ll additionally educate you self-soothing and leisure strategies, like deep respiratory or visualization, that can assist you handle any misery which will come up throughout or between classes.
3. Evaluation: Collectively, you’ll establish a selected traumatic reminiscence you wish to work on, together with the damaging beliefs or feelings related to it, corresponding to “I’m unsafe” or “I’m powerless.” This step helps set up a transparent goal for the reprocessing work, setting the stage for change.
4. Desensitization: Utilizing bilateral stimulation (corresponding to guided eye actions, faucets, or sounds), your mind is inspired to reprocess the traumatic reminiscence, decreasing its emotional cost. This step is usually repeated till the reminiscence feels much less distressing, permitting you to view it with a better sense of calm.
5. Set up: On this section, the therapist helps you reinforce optimistic beliefs to switch the beforehand recognized damaging ones, like “I’m sturdy” or “I’m in management.” The aim is to create a more healthy affiliation with the reminiscence, fostering a extra empowering perspective on previous occasions.
6. Physique scan: You’ll be guided to scan your physique for any lingering bodily sensations, corresponding to stress or discomfort, that could be related to the trauma. This step helps launch any remaining bodily responses, selling a way of ease and permitting for extra full emotional therapeutic.
7. Closure: Earlier than ending the session, the therapist ensures you’re feeling protected, grounded, and steady, usually guiding you thru leisure strategies that can assist you depart feeling calm. If wanted, they’ll recommend methods to deal with any feelings which will floor between classes, getting ready you for the subsequent section of labor.
8. Re-evaluation: Within the following session, your therapist assesses your progress with the reminiscence to see how a lot misery stays and whether or not further classes are wanted. This ongoing analysis helps gauge your therapeutic progress, permitting for changes to fulfill your particular wants.

Every of those phases is essential in supporting the protected and structured processing of traumatic reminiscences, in the end serving to cut back emotional misery and fostering a extra optimistic outlook.

Key Variations Between Somatic Remedy and EMDR

Whereas somatic remedy and EMDR are each highly effective strategies for trauma remedy, they differ considerably in focus, approach, trauma processing, and perfect use instances.

Focus

Somatic remedy is rooted within the physique’s bodily response to trauma. This method encourages you to tune into bodily sensations, recognizing them as pathways to emotional launch and therapeutic. By specializing in bodily emotions, corresponding to stress, discomfort, or leisure, somatic remedy goals that can assist you reconnect along with your physique as a part of the therapeutic course of.

EMDR, against this, facilities on the mind’s processing of traumatic reminiscences. It makes use of a structured, step-by-step methodology with bilateral stimulation—corresponding to guided eye actions or faucets—to reprocess distressing reminiscences. This method goals to assist your mind retailer these reminiscences in a much less emotionally charged method, decreasing their impression in your each day life.

Method

In somatic remedy classes, your therapist will information you to note and join along with your bodily sensations. Utilizing strategies like breathwork, light motion, and mindfulness, they’ll provide help to keep current and grounded, permitting your physique’s pure responses to information the remedy course of. This bodily focus supplies a protected atmosphere to discover and launch saved trauma by means of the physique.

In EMDR, bilateral stimulation is the central instrument for desensitizing and reprocessing traumatic reminiscences. As you concentrate on a traumatic occasion, the therapist guides you thru eye actions, sounds, or faucets, which assist the mind combine and neutralize the reminiscence. This structured, evidence-based approach goals to minimize the reminiscence’s depth and disrupt the distressing patterns it could trigger.

Trauma processing

Somatic remedy processes trauma by means of the physique by encouraging consciousness and launch of bodily sensations related to traumatic experiences. This method acknowledges that trauma can develop into “caught” within the physique and works to launch it by means of aware consideration and therapeutic practices that focus on bodily responses.

EMDR, however, processes trauma primarily within the thoughts. By activating the a part of the mind the place the trauma is saved and guiding it by means of reprocessing, EMDR goals to scale back the emotional cost related to the reminiscence. This psychological method permits the mind to retailer the reminiscence in a method that feels much less distressing and overwhelming.

Use instances 

Somatic remedy is useful when trauma manifests as bodily signs, corresponding to persistent ache, muscle stress, or bodily numbness. It’s a useful method in case you really feel disconnected out of your feelings, have problem figuring out emotions, or discover that your trauma exhibits up bodily in your physique.

EMDR is usually efficient for these coping with particular, distressing reminiscences or situations like PTSD, nervousness, or phobias. It’s useful when your trauma is tied to specific occasions or experiences, making it perfect for people seeking to reframe and reduce the emotional impression of particular reminiscences.

“Somatic remedy could also be more practical for purchasers who’ve a disconnect from their our bodies or who carry psychological trauma as bodily stress, because it focuses on physique consciousness and releasing saved trauma by means of motion and sensation. EMDR could also be extra appropriate for purchasers coping with particular traumatic reminiscences or PTSD, because it focuses on reprocessing these reminiscences as a way to cut back their damaging impression. It’s usually efficient for people who want structured trauma processing with out an excessive amount of give attention to bodily sensations.”

– Talkspace therapist, Bisma Anwar, LPC, LMHC

Selecting the Proper Remedy

Selecting the best remedy might be an amazing expertise. It usually appears like there’s quite a bit at stake, however deciding between somatic remedy and EMDR remedy simply will depend on your distinctive wants and the way your trauma has impacted your life. Luckily, some tips may also help you identify which could be extra applicable.

When to contemplate somatic remedy

Somatic remedy could be best for you in case you:

• Expertise persistent bodily signs like ache, stress, or numbness due to trauma
• Really feel disconnected out of your physique or feelings
• Are thinking about a therapeutic method that integrates thoughts and physique
• Have tried discuss remedy earlier than, however really feel like there’s a deeper bodily stage of trauma that wasn’t totally addressed

When to contemplate EMDR

EMDR could be choice in case you: 

• Have particular traumatic reminiscences which are tough to course of
• Continuously have flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive ideas associated to psychological trauma 
• Choose a extra structured, step-by-step therapeutic course of
• Need a remedy fashion that doesn’t require you to speak or recount a lot of your trauma 

When to Think about Combining Each Therapies

Combining somatic remedy and EMDR can create a robust ongoing remedy plan that addresses trauma’s emotional, bodily, and cognitive dimensions. As a result of somatic remedy focuses on the physique’s response and EMDR addresses traumatic reminiscences saved in your mind, utilizing each therapies collectively would possibly provide help to totally tackle the emotional, bodily, and cognitive components of your trauma.

“Combining EMDR and somatic remedy might be extremely efficient for purchasers who want each cognitive processing and bodily/emotional launch. EMDR helps reprocess traumatic reminiscences, whereas somatic remedy addresses how trauma is held within the physique. This method permits purchasers to course of disturbing reminiscences in addition to launch saved trauma within the physique.”

– Talkspace therapist, Bisma Anwar, LPC, LMHC

In case your therapist agrees this could be method, you would possibly start with somatic strategies to reconnect along with your physique so you possibly can launch the vitality. As soon as you’re feeling in contact along with your physique, you would possibly then transfer to EMDR that can assist you reprocess the reminiscences which are tied to your traumatic occasion. 

If that is the route you are taking, it’s best to discover a therapist who’s educated in each EMDR and somatic remedy approaches.

Making the Proper Selection for Your Therapeutic Journey

There is no such thing as a “proper” strategy to address trauma. Each somatic remedy and EMDR are efficient and regarded evidence-based therapies, however they use completely different approaches. Whenever you’re selecting which remedy would possibly provide the perfect consequence, think about issues like your particular person wants, how the trauma has impacted your life, and which therapeutic method resonates with you most. Speaking to a therapist who makes a speciality of trauma is a wonderful strategy to decide which remedy fashion could be best for you. 

Talkspace affords entry to somatic therapists on-line that may assist you in your path to restoration. Whether or not you in the end determine on somatic remedy, EMDR, or a mixed method, trauma remedy may also help you progress ahead and reclaim your life. Be taught extra about somatic remedy with Talkspace by reaching out right now.