How does somatic therapy differ from psychotherapy?

Briefly, psychotherapy is an evidence-based approach to therapy, often called ’talk therapy’. There are many different kinds of psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), dialectical behaviour therapy, psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalysis and supportive therapy.

Psychiatrists and psychologists both rely on these techniques when supporting patients in diverse clinical contexts. The main difference between the various forms of psychotherapy and somatic therapy is that psychotherapy is a top down approach, whereas somatic therapy is a bottom up approach. This means that psychotherapy works predominantly with the mind; verbally expressing and processing to better understand and evolve past, present and future psychological dynamics.

Somatic therapy works predominately with the body; creating safe conditions for a person to go towards difficult sensations, emotions, or memories. Through effective, evidence-based techniques, professional guidance and co-regulation, the necessary conditions for the body are created. Through this, suppressed emotions can be released, traumatic events can be processed, and fragmented or abandoned ‘parts’ of the psyche can be integrated. This bottom up approach has a neurophysiological basis in the structure of the vagus nerve. 80% of signals are sensory ones that travel from the inner organs ‘up’ to the brain, supporting parasympathetic activation (the system that is responsible for calming the body), while 20% of the signals travel from the brain ‘down’ to the rest of the body.

If you’d like to learn more about our approach to somatic therapy, click here.

Esther