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Somatic Re-experiencing Therapy?

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Addy

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Hi Everyone... it's been months since I've posted. I'm not doing very well. I'm very depressed and my PTSD is in full-force. All I do is work and sleep...sleeping is my 'drug' of choice, as I use it to block out memories. Life is easier when I'm asleep. All that said, my therapist just suggested a new therapy (somatic re-experiencing therapy). Does anyone know anything about it, or whether it is more effective than other forms of therapy? Right now I'm willing to try just about anything because I'm just barely holding on right now. I think about dying regulary, as life just has no meaning or future in sight. I feel like I'm existing, not living... a very faint heartbeat... barely a pulse. I'm sorry I'm rambling, but I'm curious if anyone knows anything about this therapy or has had any success with it? Because I'm just about at my limit... I think of ending my life every hour of every day. Is there hope?????
 
My favorite saying is "While there's life, there's hope"

I was where you are only a short few months ago. I promise you, it does get better. I laughed at the people who said it to me, I felt they really didn't understand just how low and just how depressed I was. But, I'm making my through the other side now. Hold on. It's worth it.

I don't have any experience with this type of therapy, but would be interested to see what others con contribute.
 
thanks for the encouragement Smushroom... it's real hard to hang on. It seems like I've been hanging on forever... the best I ever get is fair. Never good, or great, no fun days...nothing to look forward to...its so hard to keep on trying. I really hoping someone will have something positive to say about this therapy...:unsure:
 
Hi Addy

I have never heard of this therapy.

Interestingly I was studying the effect and differences of somatic and cognitive anxeity.
Cognitive anxiety was defined by Morris et al (1981) as 'the cognitive elements of the anxiety, such as negative expectations and cognitive concerns about oneself, the situation at hand and potential consequesces'
Somatic anxiety was defined as 'one's perception of the physiological-affective elements of the anxiety experience, that is, indications of autonomic arousal and unpleasant feeling states such as nervousness and tension.
It is recommended that cognitive anxiety should be treated with a mental relaxation technique, and a somatic anxiety should be treated with a physical relaxation technique; Davidson and Schwartz (1976)

I found this quiet interesting when reading your post. I used to throw myself into work to take my mind of anything else. Used drugs to help me sleep and relax so I do not think about things. I inevitable started to fall apart. I think for me it was an avoidance of having to face my emotions and fear of not being able to control them or make sense.

So it sounds like this might be the basis of this therapy? To be able to release these emotions and face things in a controlled way, relaxed and thinking rationally. It will allow you to slow down in life and start making time for important things in life, some things might even trigger yes, but also there will be times that life can be good without triggers and will be better equipped mentally to face it.

I could be totally wrong though :)

best wishes
Saffy :)
 
Thanks saffy... I realized after posting this that I got the name wrong. It's somatic experiencing therapy...not re-experiencing...don't know if that makes a difference. I guess I'll find out soon enough. Today I'm off from work...don't quite know what to do with myself. I'm on the computer now (hey atleast I'm out of bed) and thought I'd check in to see if anyone had any insight. I hope this therapy will work, but I'm not counting on it...seems like light years since I've felt normal (whatever that is). I just want to be free, and not so haunted by my past. Because life like this isn't worth it... any way if anyone else knows anything about somatic experiencing therapy PLEASE share. thanks... --Addy
 
I'm sorry you're struggling so much. I hear you.

I read Peter Levine (US trauma therapist)'s book called "Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma" and it made a huge difference to me. I recommend getting a copy if you can. The book is about somatic experiencing (SE). I'm in the UK, where SE isn't common and the nearest practitioner I could find at that time was 500 miles away (ie, inaccessible). However, this led to me to SE's very close relative, craniosacral therapy (CST) and that helped me enormously. CST uses the same principles, but the therapist works with whatever they sense coming up in the body, rather than the client consciously presenting a memory to work on.

So, I'm talking about CST, and of course only my own personal experience. This therapy, done with a well-trained and experienced therapist, was a real breakthrough for me. I still need talk therapy, and I still have a long way to go. Because I had multiple traumas starting at birth, and I'm now dealing with the long term effects as well as the trauma itself, CST couldn't fix everything. But I reckon the one year of weekly CST treatments helped me a great deal in themselves and then actually made it possible for me to even have talk therapy in the first place.

So I can't talk about SE particularly, but this type of somatic therapy generally - I would definitely recommend. It works with your central nervous system and cell/muscle memory directly. It can bypass your thought processes - which can often get in the way - and communicate with your system at the level of the fight/flight/freeze response, which is where trauma originates.

There are some older threads here about somatic experiencing - if you search on these keywords you might find something helpful.

My only possible reservation about somatic experiencing is that it does involve some deliberate reliving of an event. Many people see this as an integral part of trauma therapy, and it should be done in a safe way - the whole point is to resolve the memory and make it safe for you. Not having had this myself, I can't comment other than to say that I noticed that in "Healing the Tiger", Levine starts to consider that reliving the event may not even be necessary. This is the CST approach. I never had to relive any trauma, never had to talk about it or even think about it. That was important to me, it may not be to other people. If you already have particular trauma memories which are haunting you, it may be very helpful.

Another thing I'd say is that you need to be prepared to take care of yourself through any therapy. CST didn't ask me to process trauma directly, but a lot came up for me between sessions emotionally. A lot of somatic stuff also came up - especially shaking (a release of long-held trauma energy). Also, waking up sweating - not from night terrors but from a more gentle processing. That part I loved, although it was weird at first. I loved feeling trauma energy leaving me.

Finally, like any other therapy, I'd have somatic therapy for trauma only with someone trained, licensed and with substantial experience of my kind of trauma. The first CST therapist I saw was a very kind and sympathetic person who I had trust in, and she was properly trained but she didn't have enough trauma experience. I had to find someone else who really knew what they were doing. I'd recommend the same for an SE therapist.

I realise I had CST and not SE, but the basic principles are the same. I'd like to give you hope because somatic therapy has been a very big part of my healing journey. It has helped me so much.
 
Thank you Hashi... very much. I will look for the book you suggested, and try to learn more. I, like you, am a bit frightened about having to relive the trauma, but traditional talk therapy has not worked, so I may be open to this. Something has to give because I can't go on like this much longer. I need to feel some glimmer of hope... maybe just maybe you have given me something to hang on to... thank you!
 
don't quite know what to do with myself

Hi Addy

I understand this. I find myself trying new things to see if I can find something to get my teeth into, if that makes sense, to take up time I suppose.

I was reading about trait and state anxiety today. Going on what I posted earlier a distiction has been made which will affect which type of therapy will be more beneficial.

State anxiety is subjective, consciously percieved feelings of tenson and apprehension associated with arousal of the autonomic nervous system and is a response that individuals make when they are confronted by threatening situations.

Trait anxiety refers to the general disposition that certain individuals posses to respond to a variety of reletively unthreatening situation with high levels of state anxiety.

If we are experiencing state anxiety the worry about how your body will react to what we percieve to be threatening situations can cause avoidance and isolation altogether. SImply put by working on your state anxiety reactions you can reduce your apprehension and tension in certain situations and enable you to face them, therefore also working on self confidence, which is also linked to this. If that makes sense.

Echoing Hashi's post I can only think that somatic experiencing can be good therapy for this reason.

Sorry I could not be more help :)

Best wishes

Saffy :)
 
Thank you Saffy... I neglected to mention that my therapist doesn't offer the somatic experiencing therapy and that she would have to refer me to someone else. I'm not so sure how I feel about this as it is very hard for me to establish a sense of rapport and open up to someone. I'm so tired of seeking help and reaching out... I worn out. For once I wish someone else in my family or circle of friends would notice something wrong... anyway, this therapy sounds pretty interesting. Maybe I'll try to get up the energy and courage to try it. Anyone else out there who has experienced this type of therapy, and found it successful, PLEASE share with me. Thanks.
 
my therapist doesn't offer the somatic experiencing therapy and that she would have to refer me to someone else. I'm not so sure how I feel about this as it is very hard for me to establish a sense of rapport and open up to someone. I'm so tired of seeking help and reaching out... I worn out.

That's a tough one, and understandable that you have that concern.

I had somatic therapy with a different therapist from my talk therapist. It worked because the somatic therapy was very contained. It had a particular focus and didn't go into other areas. I don't know if that could apply with somatic experiencing - I think it's something to discuss with your therapist and with the potential SE therapist, before deciding.
 
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