Which is Right For You? — Talkspace

Selecting the best remedy method will 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 concentrate on connecting thoughts and physique however differ in method and focus. Somatic remedy facilities on physique consciousness to course of saved feelings, whereas EMDR makes use of eye actions to reframe traumatic recollections.

Understanding the distinct approaches of somatic remedy and EMDR is essential in making an knowledgeable determination about your therapeutic journey. Maintain studying to discover the fundamentals and key variations between these two kinds 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 could additionally manifest by way 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 kinds of trauma as effectively.

Any such 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 will be very helpful in the event you really feel disconnected out of your physique otherwise you expertise bodily signs of trauma, like continual ache, stress, or numbness. Once you turn into conscious of those bodily sensations and begin to deal with them, you possibly can start doing deep emotional therapeutic.

The core ideas of somatic remedy

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

It’s based mostly on a central framework referred to as SIBAM, which stands for sensation, imagery, conduct, have an effect on, and which 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 induced you.

1. Sensation: Includes listening to bodily sensations in your physique
2. Imagery: Makes use of exploration of psychological pictures 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 have got which might be related to the trauma
5. Which means: Understands the non-public significance trauma had in your life

What’s EMDR?

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

Analysis reveals that EMDR is efficient in treating situations like PTSD, anxiousness, despair, and different trauma-related situations. It differs from speak remedy in that it doesn’t require you to dive into the specifics of a traumatic expertise. As an alternative, the main focus is extra on how recollections 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 determine particular recollections and triggers to concentrate on, laying the muse for focused EMDR remedy.
2. Preparation: Throughout this section, the therapist will clarify how EMDR works and deal with 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 determine a selected traumatic reminiscence you need to work on, together with the detrimental 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 commonly repeated till the reminiscence feels much less distressing, permitting you to view it with a higher sense of calm.
5. Set up: On this section, the therapist helps you reinforce constructive beliefs to interchange the beforehand recognized detrimental ones, like “I’m robust” or “I’m in management.” The objective 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 secure, typically guiding you thru leisure strategies that can assist you go away feeling calm. If wanted, they’ll counsel methods to deal with any feelings which will floor between classes, making 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 extra 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 recollections, finally serving to scale back emotional misery and fostering a extra constructive 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, method, trauma processing, and supreme use circumstances.

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 together with your physique as a part of the therapeutic course of.

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

Approach

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

In EMDR, bilateral stimulation is the central software for desensitizing and reprocessing traumatic recollections. As you consider 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 method goals to minimize the reminiscence’s depth and disrupt the distressing patterns it could trigger.

Trauma processing

Somatic remedy processes trauma by way of the physique by encouraging consciousness and launch of bodily sensations related to traumatic experiences. This method acknowledges that trauma can turn into “caught” within the physique and works to launch it by way 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 way 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 approach that feels much less distressing and overwhelming.

Use circumstances 

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

EMDR is commonly efficient for these coping with particular, distressing recollections or situations like PTSD, anxiousness, or phobias. It’s helpful when your trauma is tied to explicit occasions or experiences, making it supreme for people trying to reframe and reduce the emotional impression of particular recollections.

“Somatic remedy could also be simpler 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 way of motion and sensation. EMDR could also be extra appropriate for purchasers coping with particular traumatic recollections or PTSD, because it focuses on reprocessing these recollections with the intention to scale back their detrimental impression. It’s typically efficient for people who want structured trauma processing with out an excessive amount of concentrate on bodily sensations.”

– Talkspace therapist, Bisma Anwar, LPC, LMHC

Selecting the Proper Remedy

Selecting the best remedy will be an amazing expertise. It typically looks like there’s lots at stake, however deciding between somatic remedy and EMDR remedy simply depends upon your distinctive wants and the way your trauma has impacted your life. Fortuitously, some tips may help you identify which could be extra acceptable.

When to think about somatic remedy

Somatic remedy could be best for you in the event you:

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

When to think about EMDR

EMDR could be a great possibility in the event you: 

• Have particular traumatic recollections which might be tough to course of
• Often have flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive ideas associated to psychological trauma 
• Favor a extra structured, step-by-step therapeutic course of
• Desire a remedy type that doesn’t require you to speak or recount a lot of your trauma 

When to Take into account 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 recollections saved in your mind, utilizing each therapies collectively would possibly enable you to totally deal with the emotional, bodily, and cognitive components of your trauma.

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

– Talkspace therapist, Bisma Anwar, LPC, LMHC

In case your therapist agrees this could be a great method, you would possibly start with somatic strategies to reconnect together with your physique so you possibly can launch the vitality. As soon as you’re feeling in contact together with your physique, you would possibly then transfer to EMDR that can assist you reprocess the recollections which might be 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” solution to address trauma. Each somatic remedy and EMDR are efficient and thought of evidence-based therapies, however they use totally different approaches. Once you’re selecting which remedy would possibly provide one of the best final result, contemplate 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 superb solution to decide which remedy type could be best for you. 

Talkspace affords entry to somatic therapists on-line that may help you in your path to restoration. Whether or not you finally resolve on somatic remedy, EMDR, or a mixed method, trauma remedy may help you progress ahead and reclaim your life. Be taught extra about somatic remedy with Talkspace by reaching out at this time.