Gifted-Specific Somatic Therapy
Why somatic therapy
Gifted people tend to heavily rely on intellect and ignore emotions and physical sensations. We developed coping mechanisms as kids like perfectionism, intellectualization, and emotional detachment to deal with the life’s stresses, and became damn good at it! But, these tactics can be unhealthy in adulthood if we don't address them properly.
Enter somatic therapy, a body-based method that reconnects the mind and body, helping to process trauma stored in the body and regulate the nervous system's response. By doing this, we can release trapped energy and feel better physically and emotionally.
I'm here to help you break free from those pesky trauma loops in a safe way by getting to the root cause. My approach draws from cutting-edge somatic therapy education and techniques based on the latest trauma and neuroscience research from experts like Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Bessel van der Kolk, Gabor Maté, and Scott Kiloby.
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering.
Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Is this you? Then you may benefit from working with me!
🔴 Do you struggle to listen to your body and feelings as you mainly live in your head?
🔴 Do you have thoughts, beliefs & behaviors such as:
I don’t need anyone, I can sort it all out by myself
I’m self-critical and self-blaming (“it must be my fault”)
I’m dwelling on past mistakes, punish myself for mistakes
I’m short fused, have uncontrolled rage
I’m a people pleaser - can’t say no
I make choices out of fear, guilt, obligation - not because I really want to
I have poor sleep
In my work I use Pia Mellody's framework to differentiate between healthy and unresolved emotions. Unresolved (carried) emotions can lead to dysfunctional behaviors and patterns deeply engrained into your adult personality. Do some of these stand out more than others?
It's important to take into consideration the severity of the issue, how it interacts with our day-to-day life, and whether it's affecting our relationships or ability to meet our responsibilities.
Plug Your Brain Back In! Reconnect With Your Body Through Personalized Healing Sessions
Are you living life like a walking and talking head on a stick? Obsessed with intellectual pursuits and ignoring the needs of your body? It’s time to stop letting your gifted mind take over completely! Remember, the mind and body are intrinsically connected.
🔴 Step 1: Develop Safety Through Inner Resources
We will start with experiencing grounding, a feeling of safety, and connection with your body. This step alone may be all we focus on in a first session! Through my guidance, you will (re)discover your breath, body movements, and physical sensations to build a stronger mind-body connection.
🔴 Step 2: Embrace Your Emotions
We will then focus on learning to feel and experience tough emotions without judgment or resistance. It may feel uncomfortable at first (it did to me, gosh the embarrassment I felt to express myself, all this shame that built up inside of me over the years…), but with practice, I know that it’s possible to expand your comfort zone and increase your emotional presence.
🔴 Step 3: Break the Trauma Loop
The last step of the cycle is a focus on releasing physical tension and emotional energy to move beyond your limiting patterns (the thoughts, beliefs, behaviors). This will help you regulate your nervous system to overcome emotional and psychological challenges and live a more fulfilling life. This is when real change can happen! It’s so cool. Not easy, but cool!
Costs
Sessions last 90 minutes and cost CHF 190.00. A minimum of 6-8 sessions is recommended.
How Gifted-Specific Somatic Therapy differs from Standard Somatic Therapy
Standard somatic therapy might not cut it for you as it may not provide the complexity, talking, and discussion opportunities that you crave as a gifted individual. That's why I've crafted a special somatic therapy just for you:
Expression: My approach has plenty of opportunities for talking and explaining, because I know you need to use your intellectual and verbal communication skills to process your emotions and experiences.
"The “why”: Us gifted folks can have a thirst for understanding the underlying reasons behind our emotional and physical tensions. That's why I'll provide you with all the theoretical explanations and personal pointers you need, and we can even mix it up with some coaching sessions if you’d like.
No quick-fix: You're quick and goal-oriented, and somatic therapy might feel like it's not challenging enough for you. But trust me, there's no quick-fix to unlocking the magic pill that's inside of you - we'll have to take our time and really dig deep into the root of your tensions. Once you can accept this, healing usually goes much faster for gifted than non-gifted individuals.
Befriend your emotions: Finally, let's not forget that gifted folks are experts at intellectualizing and jumping back into the comfort of not feeling. But fear not, I've got the experience to recognize this pattern and help you overcome it. Together, we'll explore and conquer those emotional roadblocks!
Many gifted adults tend to rely heavily on their intellectual abilities and tend to focus on their thoughts and ideas, while (unknowingly) neglecting their emotions and physical sensations. This can make us real sick! There are several reasons for this phenomenon. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but covers key reasons:
Family and societal expectations and stereotypes around giftedness may perpetuate the idea that gifted individuals should be solely focused on their intellect and that emotions and physical sensations are a sign of weakness. This can lead gifted individuals to feel pressure to prioritize their intellectual abilities over their emotional and physical experiences.
Gifted individuals often have a strong intellectual capacity, which can lead them to value logic and reason over emotions and feelings. This can cause them to normalize feeling like cr*p, overlook their emotional experiences and dismiss the importance of their physical sensations.
Gifted individuals may have a heightened sensitivity to external stimuli, which can lead them to become overwhelmed by their emotions and physical sensations. As a result, they may attempt to suppress or ignore these experiences in an effort to maintain control and avoid feeling vulnerable.
Gifted individuals may have had experiences in their past where their emotional or physical needs were neglected, leading them to dissociate from their emotions and physical sensations as a coping mechanism and putting the body in a state of unresolved trauma.
Why Gifted Individuals go through life without feeling
What is trauma
Trauma is not what happened to a person (the event itself), but it's the impact that the event had on the person's nervous system, emotions, and sense of self. This explains why two people can experience the same event, but one person may be traumatized by it while the other is not. Trauma is what is stored in the body as a result of the event and it can disrupt the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, causing people to feel stuck in a state of fight, flight, fawn or freeze.
Trauma responses can become deeply ingrained in the body, leading to physical symptoms, emotional dysregulation, and a sense of disconnection from oneself and others.
How to heal?
While cognitive understanding of trauma events is the very important first step, true healing requires the willingness to sit with and feel the associated emotions until they can be processed and released. Imagine you break your knee. Cognitively understanding it, won’t by itself heal it. You need to feel it to heal it - there’s no quick fix! My article on Trauma & Recovery goes in more detail about this.
How does trauma show up and what does it feel like
It’s possible that you've grown accustomed to feeling a certain way and therefore think that “this it what being me is, and that’s how it’ll forever be”. If at the same time you also wonder how others can live so freely without worries and restrictions, you may have in fact normalized trauma symptoms. Know that that you can feel better and live a more vibrant, awesome life!
Hypervigilance feels like always being on high alert, constantly scanning the environment for danger. It's like you can't really relax or let your guard down in some, most, or all parts of life.
When you can't regulate your emotions, it can feel like you're on a rollercoaster ride that you just can't get off. Your feelings are all over the place, you feel like you’re surviving in a sea of anxiety, panic, or anger.
Dissociation is like you're in a daze, or maybe even trippin' like you're in a dream or a fog. It's like you're disconnected from yourself and the world around you, and things don't really feel real.
Avoidance is when you steer clear of people, places, or situations that remind you of the bad stuff that happened. The amount of places you avoid may increase. It's like you don't want to go back there because it's just too much to handle.
Numbing is like you're shut off from your emotions. It's like you can't feel anything, you feel empty, and you're just kind of going through the motions without really being present.
Intrusive thoughts or memories are like unwanted guests crashing at your party. They keep popping up in your head, and it's like you can't get rid of them.
Flashbacks are like time travel. It's like you're back in that traumatic moment, and you can feel everything like it's happening all over again. Heavy stuff.
Hyperarousal is like you're always on edge. Every little thing other people don’t seem to be bothered about feels like a threat to you, and your body is all tensed up like you're ready for a fight.
Social withdrawal or isolation is like you're hiding out. You don't want to be around people because it's just too much to handle, and you feel like you don't fit in. You may have convinced yourself that you’re more of an introverted person who prefers to be alone anyway.
Physical symptoms are like your body's way of telling you something's not right. You might get headaches, stomach issues, or chronic pain that doesn't seem to have a clear cause. It's really your body holding onto the trauma.
Download your free copy of Gifted Quest
🔴 Intro to my practice and offering
🔴 Difference between gifted-specific and standard coaching / somatic therapy
🔴 70+ simple tools for nervous system regulation
The toolkit is intended to help you become more aware of what’s happening inside of you and to start exploring mild to moderate (1-4 on a scale of 1-10) challenges, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts. To work through moderate to strong ones (5-10 on a scale of 1-10), particularly those related to trauma, it's recommended to seek the guidance of a trained professional.