When I ask myself: “What do all human beings have in common?” I always come to the same conclusion: we all have a wounded child that lives within us. That child may have been wounded by different systems and in different ways, but in the end, even if our identities are filled with privilege, we all have been injured, in one way or another in our early relational dynamics and that is part of being human.

Throughout my practice as a somatic trauma therapist, I see patients whose painful experiences muted their connection to the body. For trauma survivors, focusing on their body sensations - even if only for a brief second - can become extremely overwhelming because it brings them back to their experiences of being neglected, abandoned, or abused.  Let’s explore the concept of somatic awareness and to help trauma survivors understand why this practice holds the key to understanding emotions, traumas, and overall well-being.   

If this time of the year brings up anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or loneliness for you, your body can be at the center of it. For many people, the memories that arise are filled with joy and happiness, for others  - survivors of childhood trauma - the body remembers this season with complex emotions.

Trauma survivors are often immersed in intrusive sensations, thoughts, and emotions, as a result of remaining stuck in a trauma response. They become hypervigilant about their surroundings, avoid hard conversations, or shut down with depression or fatigue. We can’t talk our way out of our trauma; talking about our distress and narrating the traumatic events that occurred is often insufficient for trauma survivors to fully and permanently recover. 

Immigration can cause trauma. The reality is that most immigrants are leaving their home country due to traumatic experiences such as war, poverty, or natural disasters, and the violence endured during the journey to come to a new country is also often traumatizing.

Sometimes when trying to change patterns, cyclical thoughts and behaviors can bring you a lot of shame and frustration. Understanding that there is a significant physiological component to creating lasting change helps you to see you are not flawed or damaged.

The cultural norm (traditional talk therapy) often argues that there is a disconnection between your mind and body, and places a higher value on your thoughts as more trustworthy than what your body communicates. Recently though, there has been a change in the paradigm where the soma, (meaning body in Greek) and the mind are studied alongside one another. This approach of holistic care is an integrative approach for treating the human being as a whole. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, belief systems, temperament, and attitude all have an impact on your physical well-being.