Somatic Trauma Therapy
The most important question is: ‘Do I feel a sense of safety or do I feel a sense of danger?’
Often, when dealing with complex health and trauma, the answer is ‘I feel a sense of danger’.
When our physiology is flooded with survival signals, there is a felt sense of danger… ‘all is not well. I am not safe’.
During traumatic events (note: illness itself can be a traumatic event), the autonomic nervous system switches into either a high tone sympathetic (fight or flight) or high tone parasympathetic (freeze) activation. These states of arousal are known as ‘survival physiology’ and utilise the reptilian part of the brain, bypassing the prefrontal cortex where reason and rational thought are accessible. There is either a sense of fight/defend/flee or shut down/hide/freeze (like a deer in the headlights). These are all reactions that are designed to self-protect from threat. The body is designed to respond to danger, and in most cases, it is very good at completing this task. When the imminent danger has passed, a healthy nervous system will return to ventral vagal ‘rest and digest’.
If the danger response does not complete, our neurophysiology may remain in a state of high tone activation. The base line of neurophysiological experience orients to one of threat. Even when the danger has passed, the system registers danger. As a result, there is a ‘splitting off’ of parts of self that may have ‘gone offline’ in order to protect and defend. They cannot re-integrate until there is a felt-sense of safety.
Incomplete survival responses can be caused by a number of reasons including:
Insecure attachment / mis-attunement
Developmental Trauma
Shock trauma
Traumatic Stress/Burnout
Chronic illness
When we live in a constant sense of internal danger, it spans across all facets of self:
Physiological, Mental/Emotional, Relational & Spiritual
So, the question becomes, how do we complete the danger response, re-integrate our parts, and return to internal safety?
The common denominator in all cases of trauma may be dysregulation. While our experience is crafted from a unique set of circumstances and our own neural platforms, dysregulation will ultimately be present in the nervous system and manifest at different intensities through these facets of self. They are inextricably linked.
Natalia’s approach works towards internal safety by increasing regulatory capacity from an integrated approach.
Regulation is achieved through a range of engagement systems including:
Disidentification and narrative resolution (somatic and verbal processing)
Relational Resonance /co-regulation
Relational and regulation focused therapy
Embodied orientation to the present
Resilience building (working with creating and increasing window of tolerance)
Empowerment to self-regulation
When we can truly feel ‘all is well. I am safe.’ and self-orient towards a place of internal safety, there is no more danger.
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For more information or to book a session click below or contact: natalia@illumahealth.org or WhatsApp Illuma Health: +61 433 453 804
