"Do You Experience Panic Attacks?
Does Anxiety Make Daily Functioning Difficult?
Somatic Therapy Can Help!
When anxiety takes over, the first thing to do is calm the body and breath, so that the brain can access it"s higher functions, which go "off-line" so we can defend ourselves with automatic processes when the body interprets danger. Until we calm the body, thinking and talking stem from fear, not logic, so they are unhelpful techniques. Learning simple techniques to calm your nervous system to recognize safety in the here and now is a powerful tool to gaining control of your internal state.
The roots of anxiety often stem from times we have been emotionally or physically hurt or threatened in the past. Often this happened in childhood, when these hurts were actually life threatening (children have very little power to change what"s happening to them, which can be terrifying). Because of past threats, the body and brain may still interpret emotional or situational signals as life threatening.
To sooth anxiety, we create new neural networks during the somatic psychotherapy session that respond to past triggers by orienting to the here and now, and attuning to stimuli that signify safety. The brain is "plastic" and quickly integrates new information, and soon you will be able to respond in new ways to stimuli that once may have induced anxiety attacks."
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