Session: Using Somatic Awareness Techniques in Eating Disorders Treatment (2009 Symposium: Reclaiming the Body: Attachment, Somatics, and Image (March 4-8, 2009))

Friday, March 6, 2009: 3:45 PM-5:15 PM

Casablanca (Westin Long Beach)

Clients’ ability to achieve and manage awareness of their thoughts, emotions, and body sensations is critical to their engagement in their eating disorder treatment, symptom reduction, and ultimately their sustained recovery. This interactive and experiential workshop will demonstrate how clinicians can successfully interweave somatic awareness techniques into their current treatment methods to facilitate their clients’ ability to listen and respond to their physical self. Participants will learn through direct experience how these techniques can rapidly reduce clients’ anxiety, diminish negative self-talk, and improve motivation to engage in treatment.

Introduction to workshop: premises, goals, format, feedback

Outline of premises of using somatic awareness techniques in eating disorder treatment

• Defining somatic awareness

• Providing a rationale for its use

• Emphasizing the importance of integrating with current treatment protocol

Discussion of basic concepts of Somatic Experiencing® – a form of therapy focused on supporting healthy nervous system self-regulation and resolving the symptoms of trauma in the body

• Support clients’ empowerment, mastery of managing arousal

• Work within clients’ range of resiliency

• Track clients’ perceived body sensations (i.e. their somatic experience)

• Focus on tracking physical sensation, less on cognitive and emotional processes

• Emphasize here and now experience of sensations and body memories

• Provide containment of arousal through titration and pendulation

• Support and encourage coherence

Experiential exercise – tracking one’s own perceived body sensations

• Invite participants to tune awareness toward what is attractive in the current environment

• Facilitate guidance of what is happening inside their body at the same time

• Encourage exploration of the characteristics, sensations, qualities (size, shape, color, texture, weight, movement, changes) of their bodily experience

• Promote integration with other areas of their body

• Invite discussion and feedback from exercise

Learning how to use somatic awareness techniques

• Pacing of sessions

• Using one’s own body resonance

• Using sensory language

• Pacing with the client’s nervous system

Brief demonstration of somatic awareness techniques

• Volunteer attendee to work with one presenter

• Focus on highlighting concepts discussed

• Second presenter to provide commentary

Interactive small group participation practice

• Tracking “client” sensations

• Managing titration of arousal

• Facilitating movement from awareness of arousal through resolution into greater coherence

Discussion of benefits of using somatic awareness techniques in eating disorders treatment

• Increases awareness and tolerance of hunger and fullness signals

• Deepens clients ability to manage feelings and utilize mindfulness skills

• Provides clients with additional resources to address upsetting events/triggers which reduces reliance on eating disorder

• Improves inclination towards social engagement and relationship development

Questions and Comments

Workshop Evaluations

As noted by Daniel Siegel, “Neural integration, a coherent mind, and empathic relationships form three sides of a triangle of mental health that can be seen as the focus of healing in the process of psychotherapy.” Clients’ ability to integrate cognitive, emotional and sensory information processing is critical to their engagement in their eating disorder treatment, symptom reduction, and ultimately their sustained recovery. In order for clients to be able to take care of themselves, they must be in touch with the needs and wants of their physical self. This ability to self-regulate may be compromised due to genetically predisposing factors and becomes undermined by trauma. The presenters assert that many clients with eating disorders have a high co-morbidity of trauma within the context of their interpersonal relationships. Whether because of developmental trauma from misattuned attachment or physical and/or sexual boundary violations, clients experience their bodies as the center of painful embodied memories, from which they understandably seek ways to disconnect.

Current treatment protocols have successfully addressed balancing affect regulation with cognitive function, but somatic approaches have not been widely utilized in treatment. For both clients and practitioners, employing body-based therapies has been fraught with the danger of dysregulating or overwhelming an already delicately balanced emotional and cognitive system. Sustainable eating disorder recovery necessitates promotion of the natural capacity for self-regulation which can be restored through integrating somatic awareness.

The presenters will demonstrate the treatment philosophy and somatic awareness techniques that can be successfully interwoven within the client’s current treatment protocol. Specifically, participants will be introduced to: tracking sensation, providing containment of arousal through titration and pendulation, and supporting and encouraging coherence. Experiential exercises will offer participants direct experience with using these techniques and receiving feedback on their impact. Presenters will discuss how clients’ ability to employ these techniques improves nervous system regulation, cognitive functioning and interpersonal relationships. Benefits of integrating somatic awareness interventions will be discussed and demonstrated with small group interactive participation.

Primary Presenter:

Susan L. Richter, MFT, CEDS

Susan L. Richter, MFT has been providing individual, family and group therapy for over twenty years. She is a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist and published chapters on eating disorders and group therapy in a treatment manual for sexual trauma. Susan is certified in both EMDR and Somatic Experiencing®. She supervises a training program for intern therapists in eating disorders treatment and group therapy, which includes sponsoring a free ANAD support group. As a local President of IAEDP, Susan leads the efforts of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties to provide excellence in education and training for treatment providers.

Co-Presenter:

Susan M. Baker, MFT, SEP, GestaltTherapist

Susan M. Baker is a licensed MFT, and holds certifications in both Somatic Experiencing® and gestalt therapy. She maintains a psychotherapy practice for adolescents and adults and co-leads several therapy groups. Susan works with people who are dealing with the difficulties of resolving trauma, whose symptoms often appear as depression and anxiety, eating disorders, chronic pain and illness. As an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University, Susan teaches graduate classes in Clinical Practicum and Interpersonal Skills & Group Therapy. As a clinical supervisor, she provides training in the areas of group process, gestalt therapy and trauma treatment.

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