How to heal trauma through Body Psychotherapy
Trauma lives in the body. In various places: It shows up as stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and depression. It manifests itself in attachment and relationship issues, overactivity, and perfectionism. It causes self-doubt, low self-esteem, and physical problems.
Body Psychotherapy is an effective method to support the healing of these traumas. In this post, I will outline for you if you have developmental traumas, how Body Psychotherapy can help improve your life, health, and relationships, and how to work with a Body Psychotherapist.
Table of contents
1. How can Body Psychotherapy help you heal from trapped trauma in the body?
2. What are the signs of repressed childhood trauma (in adults)?
3. What happens in Body Psychotherapy?
1. How can Body Psychotherapy help you heal from trapped trauma in the body?
Did you ever try to consciously remember the time when you were still an infant? Or what about experiences that took place at the age of 2 or 3? Sounds pretty difficult, doesn't it? If not impossible.
I never consciously remembered those times either. Only when I received a Watsu session (Water Shiatsu) did that happen. I was peacefully laying in the arms of my therapist while being in a state of deep relaxation as she gently swayed me through the warm water. And out of nowhere, I suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure in my chest. I felt like a baby inside the womb and was seeing everything in a reddish light while hearing loud voices. And I started to panic.
Due to the situation providing an environment similar to that of pregnancy, my body "remembered" my birth trauma. It made me aware of it to enable me to release this trauma.
Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy – especially its work focusing on the time before, during, and shortly after birth – helps you to heal this trauma.
The feeling I had of not feeling anywhere at home, as well as my profound fear, stemmed from this time of my life. A fear I had never admitted to myself, let alone voiced openly.
It was only through Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy and dream healing focusing on my birth that I was able to release my fear, feel safe again – in myself as well as in the world –, and develop an unshakable basic trust.
Trauma lives in the body and the only way to heal it is through the body.
You may ask yourself now why you are unable to remember these developmental traumas.
The reason lies simply in the development of our brains:
Our autobiographical (episodic) memory has only fully developed by the age of four or five. As a result, everything that we have experienced during the preceding years is stored in our bodies, preventing us from consciously perceiving or grasping it.
Thus, mere conversational therapy – which focuses on the mind, namely the conscious memory (the episodic memory) – does not have access to those early "felt" memories.
Our body is the key. And that is precisely where Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy comes into play.
2. What are the signs of repressed childhood trauma (in adults)?
I can't stress this enough: Your body is the key.
Through pain, discomfort, or other symptoms, it shows you that you may have a repressed or hidden trauma.
Perhaps you always get sick before or after a major event in your life. Or you avoid going out in public in the first place. You struggle to follow through with something, believing that it won't do any good anyway. You have chronic neck tension or experience difficulties falling asleep or sleeping through the night.
You are plagued by thoughts like:
I don't know enough. I am not good enough. I don't deserve to live a successful, happy, and fulfilled life. I don't belong anywhere. I must not have needs. If I trust others, I will be disappointed. If I show myself as I am, I will be rejected. If I want to be loved and liked, I have to perform.
To constantly overwork yourself or even end up in a burnout are clear signs that indicate a childhood trauma.
No matter the cause, your body is speaking to you – sometimes by whispering softly and sometimes by being very loud.
The symptoms of a repressed childhood trauma
These are the physical signs you should look out for:
Sleep disturbances
Muscular tension (neck and back pain)
Bowel complaints (diarrhea, constipation, inflammations, intolerances)
Skin diseases (neurodermatitis/psoriasis/itching)
Respiratory problems/asthma
Susceptibility to infections
Frequent tonsillitis
Chronic runny or stuffy nose
Thyroid hyperfunction or hypothyreosis
Gastritis
Muscle and joint complaints
Rheumatism
Headaches and migraines
Menstrual cramps
Urinary urgency during anxiety and nervousness
Cystitis
Inflammation of the fallopian tubes or ovaries
Profuse sweating (hyperhidrosis)
Rapid heartbeat
Your behavior, however, may point to developmental trauma as well:
Self-doubt
Low self-esteem
Feeling as though you are not welcome
Fear of showing yourself
The belief that you are not good enough
Shame
Perfectionism
Putting everything off until the last second (procrastination)
Self-sabotage
Attachment and relationship issues
Hyperactivity; needing to be busy all the time or not being able to keep still
Avoidance of conflict; not being able to say no or stand up for yourself
Having difficulty reaching out for help or having fun
Being unable to relax
Having the feeling of not being understood or heard
Fatigue, constant stress, anxiety, and depression are also typical manifestations of a traumatized body. These chronic patterns derive from childhood trauma.
Through Body Psychotherapy you can connect with your physical memory to unearth and heal those hidden and blocked parts of your childhood, which in turn enables you to release your stagnant life energy.
3. What happens in Body Psychotherapy?
In my role as a body psychotherapist, I am trained to see and feel just where your trauma lies within your body and nervous system. And by using the various methods of Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy, we can gently release and heal these traumas together.
During our one-on-one sessions, our focus is always on what is currently important and helpful for you on the surface. Our work together will be very flexible and personalized, and no session will be alike. Our priority will always be on what helps you best to access ALL of your memories.
At the core of biodynamics and my work is the principle of going deeper into exactly those areas where the most life energy exists. Which results in activating and expanding those areas where one feels the most joy, the most pleasure, and the most fulfillment.
This is what biodynamics focuses on. After all, traumatic events often cause the beautiful and happy moments to be suppressed. Together we are searching for those!
And you can take my word for it, when I tell you that there are plenty to be found.
What happens in body psychotherapy precisely? And which methods help you heal from trauma?
Below is a brief overview of the different options available:
Therapeutic massages and Deep Draining
Physical work and purposeful touch including plenty of space for in-depth psychological conversations and emotional processing
Practices for self-regulation
Image journeys, fairy tale work, dream and fantasy journeys
Exercises to feel the body
Breathing techniques
Therapeutic conversations focusing on integration
Inner child work
Working with resources
Biodynamic constellations
Therapeutic work with pacts and belief systems
Vegetotherapy
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
4. What is developmental trauma?
Developmental trauma originates during the developmental stages of early childhood; namely, before birth and until the age of about 6-7 years. Hence, at a time when the individual has not yet developed their own coping mechanisms when faced with stressful and straining situations – and thus, being unable to deal with such.
Developmental trauma does not necessarily stem from grave events. A strict upbringing, separation of the parents, a move, overwhelmed parents regarding the care of the child or an unprocessed trauma of the mother or the father can already have an impact on the child.
Trauma occurs if the child perceives the events as threatening, has no way to escape, and develops the belief of not being right, good, or wanted.
5. What is shock trauma?
The term shock trauma refers to a unique, isolated, and catastrophic event, such as a severe accident, the loss of a loved one, a home invasion, or a sexual assault.
Given the overwhelming intensity, the sheer unexpectedness, as well as the imminent threat of the situation, the ability of the person involved to protect themselves and to process the situation is completely overwhelmed.
Subsequently, it depends on the individual as well as on personal factors whether a person develops post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which may express itself through flashbacks, nervousness, muscle tension, sleep disturbances, and so on.
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All the best
Elke
Text: © Elke Hannig
Photos: pexels-garon-piceli-852793, pexels-matt-hardy-4529146, pexels-ds-stories-6005008, unsplash-melissa-askew-8n00CqwnqO8, Soulportraits Katharina Kraus