Healing from C-PTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and developing that relationship with self, that is, seeing the goodness in oneself and being safe enough with other people so that what was developmentally stuck can be healed, is a journey that needs to be accompanied by movement by paying attention to the body.
Listening to the body and working with a somatic lens in psychotherapy means examining the connection between the mind, body, brain, and behaviour, using solid knowledge of the nervous system to enhance the person’s psychotherapy process. When accompanied by the stories of the body moving, the psychotherapeutic process supports, among other things, self-regulation, knowing healthy boundaries, awareness, grounding, and spontaneity.
Being spontaneous is trusting oneself, owning one’s power, exploring and being curious about life
When this is shut down, our bodies react by freezing.
When we (for survival purposes) spent/spend all of our time in hyper-arousal states such as Freeze and shutdown or Freeze and hyper-alert, then this unhealthy sympathetic activation builds up cortisol, and it builds up when we feel there is nothing whatsoever that we could have done.
What then happens in the body?
• Chronic pain and chronic illness
• Hypervigilance
• Incomplete breathing
• Body armouring (chronic muscle tension and tightness)
• Exhaustion
• Inability to be fully aware and present
• Problems with sleep
• Digestive disorders
• Physiological damage from excess of sefl medication, alcohol, food or drugs
The body holds the memory of what happened, the story of what happened, and what it (your body) wanted to happen. Dr. Schwartz, PhD, describes this as holding the truncated sequence of what we did not get to do. For example, if we did not get to run away from our abuser. It also holds the sequence of the movements of getting away (that did not get to happen). So, in processing trauma, slowly reclaiming the movements that want to happen helps us reclaim the ability to feel and trust our senses, to sense and feel.
It is the action/movement of this sequence that then results in a new outcome.
Processing and working with trauma happens in a contained psychotherapeutic relationship; it is not a one-session fix.
Reaching out and being spontaneous and curious about what allowed us to survive and be here today is a crucial part of the healing process. It encourages us to explore, experiment, and find what works best in our healing journey.
When we work somatically, we listen to the stories in our bodies; when we listen to these stories, we can reclaim our lives. This process is not about someone else fixing us but about us taking control of our healing journey, empowering us to reclaim our lives.