Somatic Psychotherapy and Coaching
How is somatic psychotherapy and somatic coaching different from mainstream psychotherapy and coaching?
The term “somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma” meaning the
living body. This form of therapy is concerned less with an individual's conceptual knowledge of themselves and the world; and focuses more on how an individual can embody their knowledge, to bring into relationship their intellectual ideas with their physical experience in order to achieve what they want from life.
You may have ideas of how you would like to behave in a relationship that’s important to you, but when faced with the person in question, you find yourself triggered by old memories and experiences, behaving dramatically differently to your desires. So, a somatic approach works to help you bring your ideals into
living action by focusing on the inter-relationship between your mind and body.
Ms Clare Myatt
More on Somatic Psychotherapy and Coaching
Research has shown that our bodies are shaped by our experiences, both internal and external, in quite dramatic ways. (For example, imagine the shape of the confident versus the shy person).
A somatic approach will focus on facilitating clients to shift their historical shape, because it is this historical shape that determines how they interact with others and how others interact with them. Imagine the difference between the person with low self-esteem asking for a promotion versus the self-assured person asking for the same thing. Imagine the impact each individual has on their boss and the likely outcome.
Somatic psychotherapy is most appropriate for clients with some significant historical concerns getting in the way of their current functioning and future goals.
Somatic coaching is most appropriate for clients with less history to manage and who already have an idea of what might be getting in the way of what they want to achieve. An initial assessment will help determine which approach is likely to be the most advantageous.
