Somatic Therapy Approaches can help. Are you or someone you love a Highly Sensitive Person? If so, you may share this in common with nearly 20 percent of Americans.
How often have you endured a host of labels like shy, socially awkward, and introverted?
Do you wrestle with shame, low self-esteem, anxiety or hyperarousal?
Is it difficult to set and maintain boundaries with others?
Are you constantly told to “relax, calm down, or “let things go”?
HSPs have sensory and emotional superpowers that are often misunderstood. Actually, you just experience life and relationships in vivid detail. You can appear shy at times, however, many HSPs swing between distinct and dramatic periods of social connection and the need for solitude to recover.
Do the following experiences seem familiar or routine?
Particularly sensitive to sensory stimulation
Bothersome fabrics and clothing are distractions
Limited tolerance for large groups and crowds
Deeply affected by physical violence
Heightened empathy, compassion, connection to others’ feelings
A tendency to isolate or withdraw from social settings
Deeply internal and imaginative
HSP pioneer and expert, Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person notes that your ability to develop coping skills is entirely possible. Research by Aron and other experts in the field reveals that key somatic therapy approaches tend to be very helpful. The following methods help bring relief when necessary and improve the quality of life in general for many HSPs.
Somatic Therapy Approaches for the Highly Sensitive Person
Guided Meditation
Essentially, this form of meditation helps decrease bodily tension. In addition, it encourages recovery from over-stimulation. In therapy sessions, you usually listen to guidance from your therapist or a voice recording. The soft voice provides instructions for relaxation. The technique can take various forms but deep breathing and visualization are key aspects included.
Mindfulness Meditation
Your therapist can help you learn to breathe and “listen” to sensations that occur in your body. This approach is particularly keen on helping you become body-aware and tuned into how specific reactions are manifested in bodily sensation. This then encourages you to tune in to your emotions and how they inform you.
As your awareness improves your capacity for living in the moment improves. Meditation helps you slow down and moderate what you’re taking in. Your therapist can guide you, helping you to observe and understand the connections between certain sensitivities and reactions. Mindfulness meditation helps boost emotional intelligence and self-acceptance, allowing more self-control and less time feeling triggered by the world around you.
Hakomi Therapy
Used often by therapists for HSP clients, Hakomi is a body-centered therapy grounded in mindfulness principles. Hakomi therapy helps you become aware of which bodily experiences correlate to the issues, concerns, or feelings that affect or overwhelm you. As you pay attention to your body you gain better insight and develop the capacity to cope differently with your sensitivities.
For instance, you may notice that your jaw clenches when you feel cornered by noisy coworkers. Hakomi helps you link the work experience to the bodily sensation. Essentially, with the guidance of your trained therapist, Hakomi therapy uses the abundance of knowledge stored in the body for recovery. Principles of mindfulness access healing and forge new paths for managing your sensitivities.
Massage
Many highly sensitive people rely on massage as a means of healing touch. Massage performed considerately and appropriately is an excellent way to return to a calm and grounded state. Also, participants feel safer as pent-up feelings release.
Research indicates, too, that many HSPs have certain health issues and physical ailments in common. The nervous system is often overwhelmed. This leads to anxiety, pelvic problems, digestive challenges, and more. A gentle, low-pressure massage can be soothing and a great relief.
EMDR Therapy
This therapy is growing in popularity as an effective answer to the traumas and upset that can deeply affect high sensitive people. Too often, you may hear, "Shake it off" or "Get over" your feelings. This can do more damage than you realize to your mental and emotional health.
EMDR is frequently a significant help. You can better process past pain and fear of interacting with the world. By working with a trained therapist, the EMDR approach allows you to briefly recall key events. Moreover, via eye movements or tapping, you can process memories and difficult experiences without repeatedly re-experiencing them.
Your EMDR therapist will help keep you grounded and safe during the EMDR processes. Additionally, your emotions will be less overwhelming and serve to simply inform you.
Take the next step
Finally, do you want to develop self-awareness, establish satisfying relationships and feel known, validated, and valued? Most of all, understand that there is nothing “wrong” with being an HSP. Your special connection to your environment simply requires understanding and direction. Both of which materialize through somatic therapy approaches. If you are ready to feel less overwhelmed and more empowered, please reach out. I’m here to help you explore how your body and mind can work together well for inner calm and the outward compassion that makes you unique.
If you would like support and are looking for a psychotherapist, please contact us for a free consultation to learn about how we can be of service.
Read more about somatic therapy and consider a consultation soon. Serving Boulder, Longmont, Denver.
