What is Body Oriented Psychotherapy?
Body-centered psychotherapy is entirely about caring for Yourself, listening to Yourself, knowing Yourself completely, asking Yourself the right questions, and always having an honest answer within your body. Remember, that You are present in this World though your physical body, which is Your vessel that must be Respected !
Somatic psychotherapy (soma — σῶμα, σώματος, τό — the living body/apparently from σῶς “entire”) — also called body psychotherapy — focuses on the complex and profoundly powerful connections between body and mind and how those connections affect how we process and recover from trauma and other emotional distress. Somatic psychotherapy arises from the premise that, along with thinking about the world and how to respond to it, humans engage with others and the world through sensations, movement, and expression.
In response to various situations and stimuli, the body’s Core Response Network, or CRN, is activated. This network, which is made up of the autonomic nervous system, the limbic system, and other regulatory functions is responsible for organizing and generating an immediate response to challenges presented by a person’s environment,
such as the well-known “fight, flight, or freeze” response to stressors and perceived dangers. In that kind of situation, the CRN signals the body to release a flood of stimulant chemicals, such as adrenaline and cortisol, creating a surge of energy that throws the system temporarily out of balance.
The fight or flight response is a biochemical reaction in both humans and non-human animals that enables them to rapidly produce sufficient energy to flee or fight in a threatening situation.
Physiology of the Fight or Flight Response
The fight or flight response is a biological reaction originally discovered by American physiologist Walter Cannon in early 1900s. The response does not have to be taught, and so long as a person’s body is functioning relatively normally, he or she can have the fight or flight response. When presented with an immediate stressor, the body releases adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. The heart rate elevates and blood is directed away from the organs and toward the arms and legs to enable fighting or fleeing. Less energy is expended on functions such as thought and immunity because all of the body’s capabilities are mobilized to respond to stress.
Fight or Flight in Contemporary Society
The fight or flight response plays a vital role in survival. When you watch a gazelle being chased by a lion on television, you are witnessing an animal experiencing this biochemical reaction. Without the response, the gazelle would not have the energy to flee and would certainly parish. Similarly, this response can protect humans from assailants, as well as help them escape natural disasters, and ensure that the body is mobilized when other threats are present.
Similarly, this response can protect humans from assailants, as well as help them escape natural disasters, and ensure that the body is mobilized when other threats are present.
However, the flight or fight response can cause psychological and physiological problems in contemporary society. Modern humans are exposed to high stress levels that are often not remedied either by fighting or fleeing. The stresses of job insecurity, a bad economy, political instability, marital conflict, and numerous other issues can repeatedly activate the fight or flight response. When this response is chronically activated, people can suffer from decreased immunity and other health problems. The response can also contribute to mental health problems such as depression, chronic anxiety, and post traumatic stress (PTSD). People experiencing PTSD, for example, are stuck in a permanent fight or flight state that can inhibit their ability to deal with normal stress and daily life. Mental health professionals frequently work to help people reprogram their reactions to stress, and in some cases psychoactive drugs can help the body to not automatically go into crisis mode when presented with a stressor.