Somatic Psychotherapy

Somatic Psychotherapy 

with Deborah Burrows

Overview

Everyone wants to feel seen, to be heard and to be loved. Yet all of us have been subject to intense emotional episodes when we have not been treated with love, wisdom and kindness.

Intense emotional episodes can linger for many years, leading to psychological distress and physical dysfunction and pain. This is especially so for the traumatic events of birthing and childhood. When these experiences involve shame or confusion, fear or frustration, the emotions become set in our body’s memory and we develop patterns of chronic tension or armouring which can negatively affect our lives throughout our adult years.

The aim of Psychotherapy is to liberate the body and mind from
these unconscious tension patterns and to bring insight,
understanding and greater contentment into our lives.

What is Somatic Psychotherapy

Somatic Psychotherapy is psychotherapy with a body focus. This can either be expressed via sensations or through movement.

Radix is a particular style of somatic psychotherapy in which the practitioner is skilled in facilitating the awareness of the client towards the areas of the body that are shut down. Parts of the body can have limited connection or be overly armoured. These areas are seen as either too charged or undercharged. The emphasis is on connecting to these areas consciously, helping the release of held emotions and feelings, unravelling the stories held within the body and mind.

The unconscious material of our minds that are inhabiting our bodily systems are often creating blockages to deep feeling and may be reducing our capacity to fully engage in life.

When you free up the bodily armour then we free up patterns of conditioning and help our body to be in the present moment not a prisoner of the past. Sessions in somatic psychotherapy with body focused skills can promote aliveness to live a richer inner life and engage with others in a more fulfilling way.

Deborah’s Background

Drawing on over 30 years of experience with Remedial Therapy  and other body-centred modalities, Deborah utilises a broad range of skills including Acupressure, Massage Therapy, Buddhist Meditation practice, Sound Therapy, Polarity Therapy, Reflexology, Shiatsu and Yoga. All of these inform her psychotherapy practice.

What You Can Expect in a Session

Firstly, it is important for each person to feel comfortable and safe. A psychotherapy session will start with open communication, to develop a connection in a held space of support and compassionate care.

Deborah will often include movement developed from Radix psychotherapy, yoga and massage techniques. There can be periods of gently holding the body to help with integration and regulation.  Communication with the body together with cognitive awareness techniques are used to help access stages of development of the client’s life span.

Somatic Psychotherapy is process-oriented and the sessions take their own course, guided by Deborah’s instincts and the on-going process of the person’s growing level of awareness. Over time, the connections to the body are developed and feelings and patterns are revealed, bringing more awareness and clarity. This helps develop the ability to create new ways of being in the world.