Animal Instinct: fight, flee or freeze



Body Centered Therapy: Somatic Experiencing

By Janice & Janine

Body-Centered Psychotherapy helps us rediscover the innate wisdom of the "knowing body". The body is always giving us messages in different forms whether it's a constricted feeling in the chest or a lump in the throat or butterflies in the belly. Body-based sensations/messages let us know the truth of our experiences in every moment. While our minds may be logically telling us that everything is okay, our bodies may be giving us signals that are telling us otherwise. Unfortunately, most often, those logical thoughts override the "true" body feelings.

Over time, unacknowledged feelings from past experiences are stored in our bodies and then unconsciously have a powerful effect on who we are, how we behave, and how we feel about ourselves. These repressed feelings can also have an effect on physical health over time. Using the body as the gateway to awareness, buried feelings and memories can surface, freeing us from old patterns and energy blocks that keep us feeling stuck and unable to live life to the fullest.

Two examples of body-centered psychotherapies are discussed below: Somatic Experiencing and EMDR

Somatic Experiencing

Trauma happens to all of us at some time in our lives. The sources of trauma are wide-ranging and are interpreted differently by each person depending on one's sensitivity to the event. Some of these trauma events include natural disasters, exposure to violence (physical, mental, emotional, sexual), accidents, falls, serious illness, surgeries, sudden loss of a loved one, medical and dental procedures, childhood neglect and abuse, difficult births, divorce, and high levels of stress.

A stressful event can trigger what is sometimes referred to as a "fight or flight" response - we become startled, breathing speeds up and gets shallow, our hearts race, and feelings of anger and/or fear are prominent. When everything is operating smoothly, our body responds by releasing the "tension" and then comes back to balance. At times, this process doesn't work; perhaps the event is too overwhelming to process at that time. This is when the stress response can get stuck and unresolved symptoms manifest in the body, affecting the nervous system. Symptoms are often associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or commonly known as, PTSD.

Common Symptoms of Unresolved Trauma Can Include:

* Sleep Disorders

* Chronic Pain

* Hypervigilence

* Anger

* Depression

* Dissociation / Numbness

* Anxiety

* Chronic Illness

* Addictions

* Eating Disorders

* Chronic Stress / Tension

* Panic Attacks

* GI Problems

* Chronic Headaches

* Sexual Disorders

* Intruding Thoughts / Images of an Event

* Agoraphobia and other Phobias

Somatic Experiencing is a system of healing techniques designed to help our emotions and body return to their naturally regulated and balanced state after responding to a stressful event(s). Our bodies naturally want to come back to a place of inner balance and can do so easily with help. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing is a gentle and effective therapy for resolving and discharging unresolved survival energies while helping to heal the symptoms of trauma. It is based on the fact that we, like other animals in the wild, are biologically designed to do this. Our bodies are designed to move towards healing with adequate support.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing or EMDR, as it is commonly referred to, was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro as a way to help resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life events. EMDR is a highly researched modality over the past 20 years that has been proven effective in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but has been successfully used by clinicians to treat unresolved grief, phobias, anxiety disorders, stress, disturbing memories, performance anxiety, addictions, abuse, body-image problems and eating disorders, and attachment issues.

EMDR involves bringing to the present moment an uncomfortable past event and reframing the memory of the event with a different and positive belief in the present. Unlike many "talk" therapies, EMDR does not require the client to go into detail about the distressing events of the past. Instead, a trained therapist helps clients connect what was seen, felt, heard, and believed at the time of the trauma to the present moment with the help of bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation thus induces eye movement which is thought to decrease the vividness and /or negative emotions associated with traumatic memory.

While theories as to why EMDR is such an effective treatment are still being studied, nothing has been conclusive. Some researchers have theorized that the eye movements involved with EMDR are similar to the REM sleep cycle, a time of the sleep cycle when deep dreaming takes place. The active dream state is a time when it is thought that we are trying to work through problems and experiences. Other researchers believe that EMDR reactivates parts of the brain that were shut-off as a way of coping with the traumatic event more easily. EMDR becomes a way for cognitive restructuring to occur, allowing for underlying and unresolved, difficult emotions to be resolved more safely.

Animal Instinct: fight, flee, or freeze

“Animals have a reptilian brain and act purely out of instinct to survive. When animals feel threatened, they have three choices of action that help them survive: to fight, flee, or freeze. All will help the animal stay alive. For instance, a cat who is being approached by a large dog will evaluate the area and decide if it has an escape route. If it does, it will flee—and burn off all the adrenalin pumping through its body as a result of fear. If there is no escape, the cat may fight. This will also burn off the adrenalin. If the cat decides the dog is far too large to fight, it may freeze. In freezing, there is a surge of chemicals in the animal’s body that slows the respiratory system, the heartbeat, and all other functions. The system is basically ‘shut down,’ and the animal is immobilized. The key with the freeze response is what happens afterward. Let’s say the dog decides not to go after the cat any more and goes away. Since animals naturally know how to discharge the chemicals and energy that has built up, the cat will shake and tremble to effectively burn them off. And then the cat will go on its way, basically no worse from the experience. Humans, too, have this reptilian brain and the fight, flee, and freeze responses. But we also have a rational brain that moderates whether we follow our instinct or ‘thwart’ it. It is the ‘thwarting’ that leads to trauma symptoms” (Sawatzky, 2007).

Reptilian Brain:

[pic]

*Neo-cortex = cognitive

*Limbic System = emotional

*Reptilian Complex/Brain = sensorimotor

*Top down vs. bottom up

Assessment:

Trauma Related Symptoms

* Panic or anxiety (including panic attacks)

* Hyper-vigilance

* Chronic pain of all kinds

* Sleep disorders

* Chronic tension

* Addictions of all kinds

* Migraines

* Gastrointestinal disorders

* Sexual dysfunctions

* Dissociation

The Goal of Somatic Experiencing:

*Traumatized clients may switch between hyperarousal (fight or flight) and hypoarousal (passivity) and avoid optimum arousal.

*When these states are triggered, reprocessing and integration of trauma is becomes challenging

*Within Somatic Experiencing, the goal is to bring clients to optimal arousal so that trauma may be processed safely.

Interventions

Resourcing - inviting the system to experience what it is like to feel calm and focused on the present moment. This can lead to you breathing more deeply, feeling tense muscles relax, or a slowing of your thoughts.

Looping - moving gently between feeling calm and charged. When you are not overwhelmed, your body does this automatically. You get nervous about something then you relax; you are able to switch back and forth between different emotions without getting stuck in particular one.

Titrating - inviting the system to experience small portions of the traumatic material so each biological step may be completed. If the client tried to absorb the entire traumatic event at once, the client would miss the subtle cues that a biological step needs to be completed.

Discharging - the process whereby the nervous system lets go of unused energy that was roused when the threat came. This could be experienced as sensations like tingling, vibration, or heat.

Alternative Outcomes - The therapist helps the client to develop alternative outcomes / endings to traumatic experiences.

(Kerrigan, 2011)

Benefits: What Does Somatic Experiencing do for the Client?

Eliminate or significantly reduce the symptoms of trauma:

*Improve sleep, digestion and concentration

*Decrease frequency and intensity of nightmares and flashbacks

*Decrease anxiety, angry outbursts and depression

*Ease physical discomforts associated with the traumatic event

*Decrease need to feel on-guard

*Decrease muscle tension

*Increase of energy

Improve sense of connection to others:

*Decrease isolation or detachment from others

*Improve sense of belonging

*Increase sense of feeling alive and “real”

*Increase capacity to feel confident and capable

*Deepen sense of connection to the spiritual world

(Kerrigan, 2011)

Shortcomings:

*Somatic Experiencing is not for clients with psychological disorders

*Somatic Experiencing is not evidence based

*Difficult to study because hard to access information, training, and control group 

*Training is expensive and using techniques without the training can be dangerous  

*Case studies provided in articles about sensorimotor therapy indicate improvement for the individuals receiving the therapy however can’t be generalized.

Therapeutic Relationship:

*A collaborative therapeutic relationship fosters healing

*The client is regarding their experiences and the therapist is the expert regarding the process

Somatic Experiencing Short-Term vs. Long Therapy:

*The length of the therapy is dependant upon the extent of the trauma experienced by the client.

Outcomes

The desired effects of the therapy are for the nervous systems to return to a more regulated state and regained resilience, and people will be able to respond in a more flexible, open, energized way in the present. Body-centered therapy relieves stressful feelings and it creates a sense of well-being. Many clients report that EMDR is effective in showing them that they are separate beings from their trauma history. Individuals are able to gain a better sense of their bodies and emotions in the present moment, not unlike mindfulness practice. Higher levels of loving-kindness, self-acceptance, and inner-body awareness develop in time, allowing clients to more readily disengage from stressful thought patterns.

Body-centered therapy can be used in conjunction with any variety of therapies. I observed some practitioners practicing other therapies such as Neurofeedback, Cranial Sacral, Attachment and talk therapy. Termination would be decided between the client and therapist after the desired level of contentment is achieved.

My perception of moving toward psychological health is a balance between the mind, body and spirit.

Additional Resources:

Levine, P.A. & Frederick, A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.





References

Levine, P. (2008). Healing trauma: A pioneering program for restoring the wisdom of your body. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

Levine, P. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma: The innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Shapiro, F. (2001). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Basic principles, protocols and procedures (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

The Center for Wellbeing (2010). Somatic Experiencing. Retrieved from: .

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