The Body Knows: A Somatic Approach to Personal Growth Therapy
Have you ever had a gut feeling about something or noticed your shoulders creeping up to your ears after a stressful day? Then you’ve gotten a taste of how much your body is involved in your emotions. Personal growth, healing, and even trauma recovery happen in the body as well as the mind. This premise is the foundation of a somatic approach to therapy for personal growth.
Your Body Remembers (Even If You Don’t)
For a long time, therapy has been known as the talking cure. You sit on a couch, spill your guts, and hopefully, through some kind of verbal alchemy, come out with more insight and less emotional baggage. This approach overlooks an important part of yourself. Your body is a vault of experiences, many of which you might not consciously remember. As Bessel van der Kolk puts it in The Body Keeps the Score, “trauma is stored in the body, not just the mind.” No matter how much you intellectually understand your struggles, they sometimes still show up in ways you can’t control. This can take different shapes, but might look like panic attacks, chronic tension, digestive issues, or feeling stuck.
Somatic therapy for personal growth takes the body into account by working directly with the nervous system. Focusing on physical sensations, we can approach thoughts and emotions from another angle. Instead of your personal growth therapist asking, "What happened?" we ask "Where do you feel that in your body?" and "How does your body want to move through this?" This holistic approach is key to personal growth therapy. It helps clients unlock deeper layers of self-awareness and transformation.
A Different Kind of Conversation
Dr. Gabor Maté, in his work on trauma and addiction, highlights how the body responds to stress and past wounds. He's particularly interested in memories where we think we’ve "moved on." He explains that unresolved trauma isn’t just an old memory. It's also an ongoing physiological process. If talking alone could heal trauma, most of us would be in great shape. However, our bodies need to discharge stored stress in order to truly heal. Personal growth therapy benefits immensely from this understanding. With a somatic approach to personal growth therapy clients move beyond surface-level processing. This way they can experience profound, embodied change.
This is where somatic practices shine. Personal growth therapists trained in somatic approaches help clients reconnect with their bodies. For example, rather than just talking about fear, a somatically-oriented personal growth therapist might guide you to notice where you feel fear physically. You might notice a tightness in your chest or a knot in your stomach. The therapist guides you, within in a safe space, to focus on that sensation and explore what happens next. This focus deepens the impact of personal growth therapy and allows a transformative experience.
Movement as Medicine
One of the leading figures in using movement for emotional healing is Joan Chodorow. She's a dance therapist who emphasizes that movement is a powerful way to process emotions for personal growth. Think about the connection between your body and your feelings for a moment. When you’re scared, your body wants to curl up. When you’re angry, you might feel like punching something. When you’re happy, you might want to jump up and down. Chodorow invites us to let our bodies complete the movements we may have stifled in moments of fear, grief, or shock.
Movement is crucial because trauma is often about unfinished business. If your body prepared to fight or flee but never got the chance, that energy gets locked inside. Somatic approaches to personal growth therapy invite you to release that energy safely. The goal is to stop carrying it around like an emotional backpack full of bricks. This release is vital in personal growth therapy. It clears the way for emotional and psychological development.
Polyvagal Theory: The Nervous System’s Guide to Healing
Have you ever noticed yourself switch from feeling totally fine to completely overwhelmed in a split second? This is the experience of your autonomic nervous system in action. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory explains that our autonomic nervous system is constantly scanning for cues of safety or danger. When we feel safe, we can connect, play, and explore. When we feel threatened, we go into fight, flight, or freeze mode. And when things are really overwhelming, we might even shut down completely.
The beauty of a somatic approach to personal growth therapy is learning to move between these states with more awareness. By learning to regulate our nervous systems we can cease living in survival mode. The goal of personal growth therapy is to create a life of greater ease and connection. This process is at the core of personal growth therapy. When we have the tools to manage stress and build resilience, we can transform our lives.
How to Start Listening to Your Body
You don’t need a personal growth therapist’s couch to begin tuning into your body’s wisdom. Below are a few simple somatic exercises you can try at home. If you find these helpful, a personal growth therapist using a somatic approach could be a good fit for you.
1. Body Scanning
Take a moment to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and bring your attention from your toes and then slowly move your attention through your body all the way up to your head. At each part of your body, notice any tension, tingling, or numbness. The object is to observe rather than trying to change anything.
2. Grounding Through the Senses
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, try the 5-4-3-2-1 method. Identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Focusing on the five senses brings us back to the present moment.
3. Shaking it Off
Animals in the wild literally shake off stress after a close call. Try standing up, loosening your limbs, and gently shaking your body for a minute or two. It might feel silly, but it’s an incredible way to discharge tension.
4. Breath Awareness
Place one hand on your belly and one on your chest. Take slow, deep breaths, making sure your belly rises and falls more than your chest. This signals to your nervous system that you’re safe.
5. Self-Holding
If you’re feeling anxious or disconnected, try wrapping your arms around yourself. Place your left hand under your right arm and your right hand on your left shoulder. This simple gesture can be incredibly soothing.
Coming Home to Your Body
Personal growth therapy invites you to come home to yourself. Your body is constantly communicating with you. Learning to listen to it can transform the way you experience the world.
As van der Kolk, Maté, Chodorow, and Porges remind us in their work, healing isn’t just about changing our thoughts. When we reconnect with the body in personal growth therapy we move through what was once stuck. Then we can reclaim a sense of safety and aliveness. So the next time you feel off, instead of just asking, "What’s wrong with me?" try asking, "What is my body trying to tell me?" You might be surprised at what you discover on your personal growth journey.
Start your Personal Growth Therapy Journey in Pasadena, CA
Discover the transformative power of a somatic approach to personal growth therapy. Embrace a path to self-awareness and growth through a mind and body connection. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if Personal Growth Therapy is right for you.
Begin meeting with a skilled personal growth therapist.
Start exploring the information your body is telling you.
Other Services Offered at Rezak Therapy in Pasadena, CA
At Rezak Therapy, we’re here to help you grow into your individual calling. Our personal growth therapy approaches include talk therapy, somatic therapy, and depth therapy. In addition to personal growth therapy to help come home to yourself, we also offer services for those struggling with post-traumatic stress, couples looking to improve communication in their relationships, and therapy process groups. Our services are available both in-person in Pasadena and online for clients in Los Angeles and throughout California. For more on personal growth therapy and our other services check out our blog.
