Somatic psychology or, more precisely, somatic clinical psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on somatic experience, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to the body. It seeks to explore and heal mental and physical injury and trauma through body awareness and movement. Wilhelm Reich was first to try to develop a clear psychodynamic approach that included the body. Several types of body-oriented psychotherapies trace their origins back to Reich, though there have been many subsequent developments and other influences on body psychotherapy, and somatic psychology is of particular interest in trauma work. Trauma describes a long-lasting distressing experience that can be subconsciously stored and bear upon bodily health. Somatic psychology seeks to describe, explain and understand the nature of embodied consciousness and bridge the philosophical mind-body problem.
Origins The word soma comes from σῶμα, the Ancient Greek word for body; psyche (ψυχή) evolved from a word for breath to mean life or spirit; and -logy (-λογία) means “study of”. Studying the relationship between the body and the psyche, meaning mind, soul or spirit, is an ancient practice. In the West, systematic study and debate about the body-mind relationship intensified with the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution within the field of philosophy. These debates have been continuously reframed by philosophers throughout modern times, from René Descartes with his mind–body dualism to Patricia Churchland who applies neuroscientific insights to philosophy. Psychology as a scientific discipline emerged gradually from the field of philosophy during the European Enlightenment. The term somatopsychic was introduced by the German psychiatrist Maximilian Jacobi (1775–1858). Sigmund Freud, a highly influential figure in the evolution of psychology, saw the body as central in his theories and techniques. In 1923 he wrote that "the ego is ultimately derived from bodily sensations, chiefly from those springing from the surface of the body. It may thus be regarded as a mental projection of the surface of the body." Somatic psychology was first studied by Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian physician who initially was Freud’s student. His approach was influenced by Sándor Ferenczi, a Hungarian neurologist who also studied with Freud and gave insight to Reich to write his book Character Analysis. Reich was also interested in the origin of psychosomatic illness where George Groddeck, a friend of Ferenczi, influenced him a lot. He was the pioneer of somatic psychology from a medical point of view. Reich used vegetotherapy to name somatic psychology as it was touching upon the nervous system. Reich's approach goes beyond traditional therapies, it emphasizes the significance of the body on therapeutic processes, by exploring the connections between the body, brain and mind to avoid certain tensions. His discovery continues to influence contemporary therapy processes and is still relevant in today’s practice.
Trauma storing in the body Since somatic clinical psychotherapy tries to heal mental and physical injury and trauma through body awareness, it is important to know what happens in the body when trauma is experienced to be able to help the patients. Whenever someone experiences trauma, it can manifest in the body and lead to mental and physical health issues. The way trauma can lead to those health issues is closely connected to the effect it has on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, since experiencing trauma leads to the HPA getting sensitized. The HPA describes the interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands and is responsible for controlling body functions such as breathing, heartbeat and blood pressure as well as the endocrine stress response. In every person that feels distressed, the amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus which activates the sympathetic nervous system and the hormone epinephrine gets released which triggers the fight-or-flight response. As long as the brain perceives the situation as dangerous, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) which leads to the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which then leads to the release of cortisol. In a healthy person the HPA axis ensures that if the threat passes, the cortisol release is stopped which dilutes the stress response. If a person experienced trauma, due to the HPA axis being sensitized the HPA axis stays activated and the stress response can become chronic. The constant release of the stress hormones can lead to physiological problems, like heart damage, diabetes and digestive issues through the excessive release of epinephrine and cortisol. Psychological effects such as anxiety, depression and disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be triggered as well by the constant stress response of the body. To help patients with those mental and physical health issues there are different somatic therapy techniques.
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