Trauma

The essence of trauma is disconnection.
How did we get separated and how do we reconnect? Gabor Maté

When an experience has been too fast, too unexpected and too overwhelming for you, it can get stuck in your body. You get stuck in a fight, flight or freeze response. This can manifest as chronic stress, alertness, being easily irritated, etc. Trauma can also occur if there was a lack of support and safety in our childhood. This can deeply affect how you experience life today.

Trauma treatment with body-oriented therapy will help you process these experiences in a gentle way, freeing you from identification with past experiences and allowing you to increasingly connect with your own core.

Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing works with overwhelming life experiences. We focus on the body, the felt sense and the stress patterns underlying the intense emotions. The aim is to support the nervous system in self-regulation, by safely and gradually discharging the survival energy that has taken hold in your body. This will help you move from fragmentation to integration, thereby restoring your sense of well-being.

NARM

If there was insufficient support and safety in your childhood, this can have a lot of impact on how you are in life now. In your early childhood, you developed certain behavioural patterns. These strategies, which were necessary to survive at the time, are often used unconsciously as an adult. What was helpful then can actually get in your way now when connecting with yourself and others. By gaining clarity about this, space opens up for a freer way of relating to yourself and others.

Touch

Touch is our first form of contact and connection from birth. It helps us feel safe and less alone. When traumatic experiences are held in the body, receiving touch during a session can help you further explore the theme you’ve brought into the session.

How does a session work

A Rebalancing session, interwoven with the methods NARM and Somatic Experiencing, begins with a conversation in which you can share what you would like to gain from the session. Your intention provides the guiding thread in our work together. During this conversation, we explore the theme that is most present for you at this moment. Touch may be part of the session—always in agreement and with respect for your boundaries. We conclude with a brief reflection, so you can consciously integrate the changes and take them into your daily life.

When to choose trauma treatment

If you notice that you have physical symptoms related to trauma: such as muscle tension, breathing problems, sleeping problems, difficulty relaxing and so on.
If you often experience feelings of dissociation: such as not feeling fully present, it can help you to become more aware of your own body and feelings.
If you are experiencing stress, anxiety or trauma: we focus on reducing the stress, anxiety and trauma stored in the body and increasing your sense of wellbeing.
You are stuck in old patterns: Thoughts, emotions or behaviours that are no longer helping you to move forward.

Practical

Some clients experience relief from their symptoms after only a few sessions, especially if the problems are less profound. Then, scheduling 5 to 10 sessions may be sufficient. For clients working on deeper patterns, such as trauma, chronic stress or complex emotional issues, it may be necessary to work together over a longer period of time.

Read more
website: Somatic Experiencing
website: videos about Somatic Experiencing
website: NARM
website: Polyvagal Theory