The Integration of Somatic-Based Strategies into Couples Therapy

AbstractCouples therapy is challenging in many ways because there are two people who are in distress, each wanting more from their partner, to be understood, and to be responded to emotionally. A common denominator in a variety of approaches to treating couples is verbal communication. This relies on what is available cognitively to the couple. However, sources of tension and disconnection are often outside of their awareness, limiting the effectiveness of the treatment. Somatic-based approaches have strategies that both enable clients to access emotional experience that is held in their implicit memory and is outside of awareness; and regulate nervous system response, which is necessary to fully avail oneself of the growth process of therapy. These somatic-based approaches have been designed for individual therapy. I have adapted some of these somatic interventions to the couple dyad and have found this to be a crucial addition to couple ’s therapy. Key components are providing and maintaining structure in session, tracking the body for signs of nervous system activation, employing strategies for nervous system regulation and implementing directed interventions. This somatic-based approach enables couples to communicate more effec tively, respond to each other emotionally, solve problems between them and sets the conditions for memory reconsolidation to take place.

Source: Clinical Social Work Journal - November 22, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research