telling your story in somatic therapy

Some of what I'll say here may seem a bit repetitive to anyone who read my other (also very long) post, but this is actually a much more clinical (I hope) take on things. I'm studying to be a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and am blown away by the effectiveness of this work (I've been seeing an SE therapist for awhile now, and it's going to be interesting being on the other side of things.) I'm interested primarily in developmental trauma, particularly that of sexual abuse.

It is admittedly difficult with developmental trauma, as the cognitive brain has developed a kind of ongoing reel about a person's worthlessness, and it is more than happy to remind the person that no, despite what they imagine in the process of renegotiation, they were not mothered, they were in fact abused, and no one did love them as a child. This is where somatic intelligence steps in. It is not a process of denial, but one of trust in this sacred somatic archive that documents the proper development that was supposed to occur. This information is, again, entirely impersonal, and stored in the energy system. When trauma is healed, the hard facts can be acknowledged, and the nervous system can still have regained equilibrium through its innate memory of stored experience.

I find this process endlessly delightful. The only area in which I would not so much disagree with Somatic Experiencing, as suggest that it is more frequently mentioned in seminars and their literature, is that some practitioners make it a habit to not want to hear anything of someone's “story” for a while. This is with the intention of keeping the client in the present. Yet I have seen this philosophy scare off sexual abuse survivors, which is a shame since SE can be so effective for sexual abuse. A good deal of cognitive processing is also necessary when it comes to developmental trauma. It does very little good to directly tell someone with long-term developmental trauma that the therapist does not want to hear their story (something a responsible, sensitive therapist, regardless of therapeutic affiliation, probably wouldn't do anyway, but I've seen it done.) The traditional SE route is to resource a person before they go into their trauma, which means stabilize their anxiety through resourcing, and which is necessary. Still, I find it would be most effective if there is a promise on the therapist's part that the client's story will be heard.

Healing from sexual abuse, though unique to every person, still seems to have a very particular and somewhat predictable arc-and one of the first things that happens, along with the physical meltdown, is voracious reading of all the literature a person can find on the subject; and obsessive desire to frame their experience. This is why the telling of the story is important; the person needs to understand, and their experience needs to be framed. I am fortunate enough to have an SE therapist who is a powerful bodyworker but also cognitively sophisticated, and she can monitor me well enough to allow me plenty of time to talk my experience over, which is necessary for me, with an acute understanding of when to interject to have me track my felt sense. The combination of these have done for me what I believe many years of analysis may not have done half so well; it is not enough to understand, nor is it enough to simply observe my sensations. I suppose this is where integral therapy comes in.

Again, I believe most responsible therapists understand the client's need to tell their story; it is just vital that they understand the importance of their own energy when receiving a client's plea to have their story heard. In the instance of sexual abuse, I believe receptive energy on the part of the therapist, rather than directive, works best. It is perfectly possible for a therapist to be receptive, understanding, and also gently directive toward a resource state when the client is over-activated.

I would love to hear what anyone else, particularly other somatic therapists or those with any experience with developmental trauma, think.