A Guide to Trauma-Informed Somatic Healing
There is no singular path towards healing from trauma. Everyone will have their own journey which could include a variety of healing modalities. One particular approach to healing which is gaining more visibility is somatics. This means holistic healing including the body, which could be with movement, exercise, breathing, or specific approaches such as yoga. Before exploring what it means to be trauma-informed as a somatic practitioner, it is vital to ensure that any healing modality for survivors centers their self-determination and consent. This can look like discussing goals for somatic healing, providing information about a specific approach, and trusting that the survivor is an expert in their life or experiences. Consent is an ongoing, specific, and informed mutual negotiation process — all components must be present in a therapeutic setting for trauma survivors.
What does it mean to be trauma-informed?
As more collective knowledge is built around the profound impact of trauma on our lives, more healing practitioners are centering a trauma-informed approach to their work. However, there is a lack of clarity about what exactly that means. An overarching understanding of being trauma-informed works from the assumption that we are interacting with traumatized people daily.
While mainstream culture may work from the understanding that trauma is a rare occurrence, being trauma-informed acknowledges the breadth of what is considered traumatic.
Everyone processes these events differently, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all display of having been through a traumatic event. Being trauma-informed is about prioritizing safety, choice, building trustworthiness, a collaboration between practitioner and client, focusing on resilience, and empowerment. This ensures that treatment and support are holistic–they engage with every aspect of their client, not just zeroing in on the event that caused trauma. These healing spaces may feel different from traditional care spaces, which have a history of re-traumatizing patients through non-consensual in-patient treatment or lack of cultural competency.
This approach to healing is different from trauma-specific or healing-centered approaches. However, they are often conflated. Trauma-specific spaces focus on empowering the survivor/victim to heal the part of themself which feels wounded. This approach directly treats the symptoms of experiencing trauma, primarily through relational tactics of talk or group therapy. This facilitation of trauma recovery might be akin to an in-patient eating disorder clinic.
Alternatively, a healing-centered approach differs from being trauma-informed. It focuses on strengthening the persons’ core that foster joy and pleasure. This holistic approach includes a person’s culture, spirituality, civic action, and community. Practitioners who work from a healing-centered approach view those impacted by trauma as agents in creating their well-being instead of victims of trauma.
Aspects of somatic healing.
The word somatic has roots in the Latin word soma, which directly translates to the body. Peter Levine, PhD. and founder of Somatic Experiencing, described unprocessed trauma as the “unspoken voice” of the body. Clients will often seek somatic healing — whether they do so intentionally or not — when they hit a wall with traditional modes of therapy or wellness. This could include exercising, spending time in nature, going to a workout class, doing breathwork, taking a long bath, stretching, or deep awareness through meditation. While many people seek these somatic healing modalities to reprieve their physical symptoms of trauma, it can take a trained professor to guide clients through a trauma-informed somatic approach intentionally. A somatic therapy approach prioritizes healing through the body. This can be as simple as a therapist acknowledging how a client’s body moves as they discuss their struggles. A practitioner then might guide their client in bridging the gap between mind and body to create a more holistic approach to healing.
While there is not extensive research on the impacts of somatic healing, many indigenous healing practices are rooted in somatics. Much can be gained from exploring the cultural roots of one’s ancestors and discovering the healing techniques which were utilized.
The current research that does exist has linked somatic psychotherapies as favorable treatment for PTSD. The aim is to release trauma memories that are somatically held in the body through various practices, as there is no singular approach to somatic healing. With this comes a release of emotions, which the body was clinging onto. Symptoms such as digestive issues, teeth grinding, headaches, shortness of breath, or other physical signs can be related to past trauma. However, it is essential to consult with a physician to ensure you are getting proper treatment.
What does this mean in practice?
If you feel as though traditional talk therapy styles are not working for you — that could be indicative that a somatic approach is needed. Our bodies can store trauma long after we have mentally processed or healed in that regard.
If you are new to somatic healing, be sure to ask your practitioner specific questions about their approach, consent practices if touch is involved, and what it means to them, personally, to be trauma-informed. Having pre-care, consent practices throughout, and aftercare are vital for somatic healing. This work can bring waves of emotions that often feel challenging to process — what is being released from the body sometimes is not accessible via mentalization.
Once you build familiarity with how your body responds to somatic practices, you can integrate this work into your daily or weekly routine as a modality for checking-in with your healing process.