Introduction to (Mind-Body) Trauma Therapy
When we go through stressful or traumatic events, our brains don’t always have the resources to process them fully in the moment.
Our brains run on blood, glucose, and oxygen but that’s not the only resource they need. So often it’s support we’re missing out on; it’s that we felt alone or without the full help we needed when the dire moment struck.
When that moment of stress is bigger than the resources available to us in the exact moment the bad thing happens, these tough memories can be recorded in a way that makes us feel like the event is still happening, even when it's not.
Not Just in Your Head
We don’t just emotionally carry the burden, unable to “move on” from the moment. We often feel it physically too. For example, you might feel triggered by a certain noise or a smell, and it brings you right back to that traumatic memory.
The part of your brain that processes these events is timeless, and it has no idea that you are not back in time in the moment it happened right now. Your stomach may drop or your jaw may clench. Or you may have a sense of dread or shame wash over you. That’s heavy stuff, but there’s hope!
A Kinder Way of Remembering during Therapy
Mindy-body based trauma therapies like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Brainspotting (based on EMDR with an extra component for gentle, focused processing), and Internal Family Systems (Parts Work) all offer extra support to process these traumatic memories in a gentler way.
These specialized trauma therapies that help you heal your relationship with your pain and emotions can help you be in the presence of the old triggers without your stomach tying in knots or your face turning red.
Because you’ve reprocessed the experience with not just your thoughts and intellect, but with your body, your nervous system believes that you’re truly in the present now, and doesn’t think you’re back in time when the bad thing happened anymore. And it doesn’t feel the weight of shame or whatever emotion is linked up (or associated with) with that moment, either.
You don’t just get the benefit while you’re at therapy. When you fully process what happened, and your nervous system truly believes that the terrible moment is over, it diminishes your triggers’ power to evoke ongoing trauma responses. It’s like the venom has been removed from the wound and it doesn’t feel like fire every time someone bumps into it.
Bilateral stimulation, a fancy name for a simple, supportive EMDR/Brainspotting therapy tool
Part of what allows this reprocessing to happen is called “bilateral stimulation.” Bilateral stimulation is a tool used in EMDR and Brainspotting to help the safety mechanisms of the brain relax enough to think about the traumatic moment without your body’s fire alarm going off. More on that below.
That fire alarm knocks your logical brain offline so the fight/flight instincts can take over and get you the heck out of Dodge. The alarm is ever so helpful when we need a burst of energy to run from a bear, but when we’re in a safe place trying to heal, it keeps us in a loop of re-living the bad moment, and that just doesn’t sound healing or even kind.
So enter bilateral stimulation to help our brains relax and remember that we’re in a cozy therapy room with a trusted ally in this moment right here. Bilateral stimulation just means moving side to side. Like swaying in a hammock or walking in the woods.
You know how sometimes the best conversations come when you’re on a walk with someone you care about? There can be a lot of things that help that happen, like being in nature and being side by side rather than face to face, and moving your body, and who knows what else. It’s just great.
But another thing that happens is the back and forth movements you’re making. Left, right, left, right. A soothing rhythm that engages both sides of your brain and helps bring a sense of balance.
What Bilateral Stimulation Looks Like in EMDR Therapy Sessions
We can mimic that left, right, left, right bilateral stimulation in therapy sessions with a few different tools:
Eye movements: the classic that EMDR was built on. The therapist moves their hand steadily back and forth, inviting you to follow their fingers with your eyes while your head stays still.
Tactile movement - we have what we call “EMDR tappers” (pictured below) that you hold in the palms of your hands. The tappers buzz left side, right side, left, right. It feels similar to your phone’s “vibrate” notification and can be adjusted in strength so that you can barely feel the pulsing or so that you feel the intensity all the way up your arms - every setting in between.
Sound movement - you can wear headphones and listen to relaxing music that pans slowly from the left channel to the right channel, left ear, right ear.
Body movement - you can create bilateral stimulation without any extra tools:
Butterfly hug - you can cross your arms over your chest, allowing your hands to gently tap your shoulders alternating sides
Tap your legs - you can gently tap your legs, even under a table or subtly in a waiting room chair if you’re stressed
Tap your palms - you can alternate tapping your palms with the middle finger of the opposite hand, back and forth, and you might want to experiment with holding your wrist at different angles for your comfort.
Go for a walk - you may need to work it out with your therapist ahead of time (so they have appropriate shoes and outerwear that day), but walk and talk therapy is always an option! It has tons of benefits, the bilateral stimulation aspect being just one.
EMDR Tappers to Hold for Soothing Bilateral Stimulation
Other Support During Trauma Therapy Sessions
Bilateral stimulation isn’t the only support for trauma therapy. For Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS Parts Work), we focus more on somatic work and mindfulness, as well as helping you find self-compassion to achieve this same deep reprocessing.
Somatic means body. Our body shows us our emotions through different sensations, or somatically. When we have an upset stomach when we are anxious, or when we have neck pain after a stressful event, that is our body trying to tell us something was stressing us out.
We can also help you explore your innate need for connection. Attachment-focused therapy honors that need for connection, for relational bonding. Often our earliest experiences of discovering whether closeness felt safe and reliable, was freely given (without strings) when we reached for help, and was attuned to our needs affect us well into adulthood and affect the way we interact with partners, friends, bosses, and well, anyone.
A Leg up in the Trauma Therapy Process
Mind-body techniques like IFS, EMDR, and Brainspotting are like extra support for you while you’re talking about hard things. And! It’s support that helps you heal your relationship with yourself - mind, body, emotions, spirit. The support is there for you to receive while you face whatever you need to face in order to finally feel free. With the support of one of your biggest fans (your therapist) there with you, too, of course.
What to Expect in a Trauma Therapy Session
Your trauma therapist’s first goal is to focus on whatever helps you feel most welcome and comfortable in the room. This will include:
Getting to know what your goals are, what “better” will feel like for you
Ensuring there are comfort items in the room (weighted blanket, fidgets, pillows and blankets to make a couch nest, and anything that helps you feel cozy and supported)
Understanding your past experiences with therapy that either went well or didn’t go so well
Understanding what feels safest for you to do or address in session
Teaching grounding and centering skills for when emotions or memories are overwhelming
Overall: creating a space that is most comfortable for you
Depending on the trauma processing techniques your therapist uses, your therapist will collaborate on a plan with you for the trauma therapy sessions, attuning to your needs each step of the way. Just because you made a plan for next week doesn’t mean you have to show up in the same head space ready to go with that next week. We can help you stay true to what it is you’d like to process while being sensitive to your needs in each and every moment.
The Goal in Trauma Therapy
The goal in reprocessing traumas (and traumatic themes in complex PTSD / C-PTSD) is to decrease the intensity of the memory by unhooking it from the awful sensations, emotions, and shame-ey beliefs you may have internalized when it happened. So the memory can just be the memory of what happened, without all the extra burden. So you can think of it without ruining the rest of your day.
So you no longer feel at its mercy. After reprocessing, the memory may feel less prickly, may feel less in your face, or you may even feel like it’s not that big a deal anymore. It’s not that you forget what happened, and you may even feel a little sadness or self-compassion that it happened, but it no longer defines you. It’s a memory, but just a memory. No longer a motor idling in the background of your nervous system burning you out and leaving you on edge.
What to Expect after Trauma Therapy Sessions
After each session, your body and brain may still be gently reprocessing without your conscious effort. It’s kind of like a computer downloading updates in the background while you’re still using it.
You might notice:
Feeling pretty tired after the session
Having new insights
Having new (or weird) dreams
Reacting differently with others
Having less aches and pains
Your therapist will remind you to simply notice these things and be gentle with yourself. You may even practice some of the grounding skills you learned in therapy if any emotions, memories, or insights feel uncomfortable. If any sensation or any thought feels unsafe, definitely let your therapist know.
What to Expect after Completing Trauma Therapy
Depending on the complexity of the event or traumatic pattern, trauma therapy may take just a few of sessions, or it may take a few months or longer to sift through each layer among multiple layers - only your brain and body know, and your trauma therapist will be following your pace.
However long it takes, after fully completing trauma therapy, you may experience a whole range of responses and outcomes. Many folks experience their trauma symptoms as feeling less intense, and moving through their life and relationships with more ease, feeling less held back in life, and maybe feeling more present.
For example, some folks have noticed fewer:
Intrusive memories
Nightmares
Flashbacks
General emotional distress related to the traumatic events they’ve processed during therapy
Some people naturally integrate their new insights and perspectives on their past experiences into their lives, and feel more ease in their mental well-being and quality of life.
It's important to note that the effects of trauma therapy vary from person to person, and some folks may require additional sessions or ongoing support to fully address their trauma symptoms. This is especially true with complex trauma, particularly if they’re in a situation where the trauma isn’t over or their environment is physically or emotionally unsafe.
So many folks, including our own team members in our own work, find that trauma therapy helps them get back a sense of self and empowerment they may never even have known, or may have been grieving the loss of.
If you’d like support from us with your trauma therapy journey, please let us know and we’d be honored to work with you.
