Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy

(originated from Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing Psychotherapy)

The body doesn’t forget.

Somatic (“relating to the body”) attachment psychotherapy is a body-oriented therapeutic tool used to treat trauma-related disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It opens the door to neurophysiological and subsequent psychological change rooted in the attunement of how the body reacts to the environment. Over time, as the autonomic nervous system (ANS) reorganizes information and emotions, attachment patterns emerge and emotions stabilize through relational repair while it re-interprets previous-held perceptions of the world and one’s identity.

Some of our earliest experiences of love and attachment with caregivers and others can be less than ideal and accompanied by relational trauma.  In infants and children, these experiences form a template neurophysiologically in the right brain and can imprint the psyche with longstanding patterns of impaired functioning which can hinder long-lasting fulfilling and meaningful relationships. 

The somatic attachment therapist uses back and forth dialogue with the client about the expression within one’s bodily system (ANS), utilizing it as the central instrument through which the client’s story becomes increasingly congruent with the rest of the body.