Great advancements have been made in research regarding how to treat trauma. In particular, a renewed focus has assessed how working on the body can offer benefits not gained by more traditional talk, reflection, or insight-based therapies. Moreover, the research suggests that patients in traditional talk therapies can greatly benefit from also introducing bodywork as an additional therapeutic modality.
For instance, somatic experiencing—commonly referred to as SE—is one such bodywork that is making headlines. This summer, The New York Times had a cover story in their magazine entitled, “Want to Fix Your Mind? Let Your Body Talk,” which offered an exhaustive overview of the philosophy behind SE, as well as anecdotal accounts from individuals who are undergoing such a practice.
Much of the theory behind SE is consistent with the work promoted by The Body Keeps the Score, a bestselling book on trauma that has spent over 140 weeks on The New York Times’s bestseller list. Its author has been in hot water—rightly so—for allegations of his harmful treatment of female co-workers, but the work presented in the book endures despite such revelations. The crux of the research suggests that the pathway to healing trauma goes beyond talk therapy—that individuals need to reconnect with their bodily and emotional systems in ways that enable them to integrate their sense of self.
Perhaps a more reputable source with less problematic behaviors is that of Nadine Burke Harris, who has been a pioneer in tracing the relationship between early childhood trauma and later negative health outcomes in adulthood. For a fascinating overview of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their impact on later health outcomes, listen to her TED Talk.
Despite our cultural prominence of “logic” and the brain over all else—the brain (mind) and body are intricately connected, as is our emotional system. Trauma manifests both in the body and in the mind. One cannot be healed without the other, as anyone who has tried to work through their problems based exclusively by going over them in their head has likely experienced.
Another excellent scholarship on bodywork as a pathway to healing is Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body—regular readers of my blog likely have seen other posts where I promote the ways in which mindfulness-based practices like yoga and meditation can play a significant role in enabling wellness and effective stress management. In the book, Emerson & Hopper (2011) write:
The cutting edge of trauma treatment today involves alternative and integrative intervention strategies that move beyond traditional verbal therapies… Many newer interventions focus on the development of resources and use a "bottom-up" approach that integrates the body into treatment. For instance, sensorimotor psychotherapy is a type of therapy that uses the body as an entryway to exploring a client’s resources and unprocessed traumatic memories. Newly emerging creating therapies—including application of art, dance, music, and theatre-based approaches to intervention—focus on the integration of the mind and body for healing. Similarly, the practice of yoga offers a platform for body-based intervention with trauma survivors. (p. 17-18)
Another prominent pioneer in trauma research, Judith Herman, has noted that “the guiding principle of recovery is restoring a sense of power and control to the survivor” (as quoted by Emerson & Hopper, 2011, p. 23). Body-based therapies, such as yoga, can facilitate a pathway of healing by allowing patients to explore and reconnect with their bodies safely.
The impact of trauma is both explicit and unconscious and has reverberations not only for the individual who has survived trauma but also on many people who interact with or cross paths with them. Everyone deserves the opportunity to live a whole and joyful life. Integrating body-based therapies into traditional insight-based talk therapies—or even trying them without traditional talk therapy—can go a long way as a pathway toward healing.
About the Author: Azadeh Aalai, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with Tenure of Psychology at Queensborough Community College in New York (CUNY). She also serves as an adjunct for the M.A. program in Psychology at New York University. She is the co-host for "The Dark Side of Yoga" podcast and serves as a regular mindfulness consultant for small businesses. Her research interests presently focus on Holocaust education and the psychology of bystander behavior during the Holocaust. Past research has focused on the intersection of media, mass violence, warfare, and genocide. She is the author of Understanding Aggression: Psychological Origins & Approaches to Aggressive Behavior. The original publication of this article can be found here.
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