Somatic Processing of Emotions: How it Works

The somatic processing of emotions is better known as mindfulness-based somatic emotional processing (MBSEP). This type of therapy is focused on creating access to your emotions and being mindful of how you process them in real time. 

To successfully engage in MBSEP, you need a willingness and be intentional. You will need to really focus on being aware of your experiences. This means being aware of how you experience things on a physical, mental, behavioral, and emotional level. As you bring awareness to how you’re experiencing things, no comments or judgments should be passed. 

One of the key aspects of MBSEP is that you remain quite focused and attentive so you can receive the full emotional experience that is occurring at that moment. It’s important to make yourself aware of where your attention is focused and stay committed to focusing your attention there. 

Another key component of engaging in the somatic processing of emotions is granting permission. You must be willing to give the body and mind permission to allow the emotional experience to unfold in whatever way they feel comfortable. During the emotional release, you must stay present and allow for connection to take place. 

Creating space to feel emotions is also a big part of the somatic processing of emotions. It can be an overwhelming process and in order to receive the experience appropriately, you’ll need to create space for the emotions.

How Somatic Processing Works

Somatic processing works by integrating body awareness into psychotherapeutic processes. To start this process, the recipient of the therapy is made aware of their inner physical sensations. Somatic therapists view these sensations as the carriers of traumatic memories. By allowing the body to fully feel and experience movements and touch, you’re able to work toward increasing your tolerance of both physical and emotional sensations. Increasing your tolerance to these sensations opens the door for the discharge process (1). 

Unlike exposure therapy, somatic processing doesn’t require you to retell traumatic stories or relive the experiences. Instead, you simply need to engage with your traumatic memories. This means allowing sensations that are caused by thinking about bad things that have happened to be felt and to run their course (1). 

This process tends to elicit arousal and may make you feel uncomfortable, but through somatic processing, you can learn to monitor the arousal and downregulate it before it spirals out of control. To do this, you’ll use body awareness techniques such as breathwork or body scanning to self-regulate. Instead of becoming overwhelmed with the negative sensations, you’ll be able to focus on positive sensations and memories to help you regulate arousal (1). 

Ultimately, by using somatic processing techniques, you may experience less intense distress and symptoms related to traumatic experiences when triggered. 

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What Are the 4 Stages of Emotion Processing?

A variety of models are used to explain the stages of emotional processing. When thinking about the neuroscience of emotional processing, the 4 stages are:

1. Emotion sensation
2. Emotion perception
3. Emotion comprehension
4. Emotional performance utilization

Emotion sensation involves the body’s physiological response to emotions. This involves the generation of emotions through the visceral-somatic launchpad. During this stage, you can experience triggers in yourself that you’re not consciously aware of. You may also be triggered by external stimuli. All of these triggers tend to be subtle, but they occur on a physical level. 

The energy caused by the trigger then travels to your brain and sensory receptors and can cause your nervous system to become activated, which can lead to both conscious and unconscious awareness of what the body may see as a threat. The next phase is emotion perception, which is similar to emotion sensation, except during this phase, you’re consciously aware of what is happening(2).

Emotion conception occurs when sensations and perceptions are processed by the brain in specific regions and result in other areas of the brain becoming aware and focusing attention on those sensations and perceptions. This develops into a meaningful cognitive experience (2).

The final phase is emotion performance utilization. In this phase, the 3 previous phases come together and help your mind and body make a decision regarding how these emotions will be expressed (2). At this point, you have felt the emotions, made decisions about how you feel about them, come to understand how and why you may feel that way, and are now ready to react to these emotions. 

What Are the Skills of Emotional Processing?

There are a variety of skills that make processing emotions easier and help you properly and effectively do so. In order to process your emotions effectively, you need emotional awareness, effective communication, the ability to regulate, emotional flexibility, and the ability to be mindful. By developing these skills or improving the ones you already have, you’ll be able to better process your emotions, which can lead to improvement in your overall well-being. 

Being mindful of how you feel in the moment is incredibly helpful when you’re trying to regulate and process emotions. The more awareness you have of your emotions and the more attuned you are to them, the more likely you are to be successful in processing them. It’s also helpful to properly communicate your emotions when the need arises, so having the ability to articulate the feelings you’re experiencing can be quite helpful. 

Sometimes the body reacts to emotions in a way you don’t expect. That can mean a domino effect occurs and leads to additional and potentially unrelated emotions. It’s important to allow those emotions in and deal with them as necessary so you can process and move on. Doing this may feel overwhelming, but ultimately, emotional flexibility can make you stronger on an emotional level and more capable of dealing with future emotional issues (3). 

Read more: Somatic Healing Techniques: A Holistic Approach to Physical and Emotional Recovery

What is a Somatic Response to Emotions?

A somatic response to emotions occurs when physical sensations or other bodily reactions take place during an emotional experience. These bodily responses tend to be something you can’t control and they happen without you actually doing anything. Sometimes, these reactions occur immediately while other times, there may be a delayed reaction. 

An example of a somatic response to emotions is feeling a shortness of breath or having trembling hands after witnessing a car accident after having previously been in a car accident that took an emotional toll on you. The type of somatic response you have can vary depending on the related emotion. 

If you feel scared, you may notice your heart is beating rapidly. You may also start sweating profusely or have an uneasy feeling in your gut. Feeling angry may also result, but it could also include teeth clenching or the feeling of pressure in your chest. When you experience a somatic response to sadness, your eyes may become tearful or you may feel as if you have a lump in your throat or general physical weakness. Feelings of disgust can even make you feel physically ill.

Not all somatic responses are bad. You can also have positive physical responses to emotions such as love or joy. These physical responses include things such as feeling calm, butterflies in your stomach, or involuntary smiling. 

How to Fully Process Emotions

Processing emotions doesn’t come easy for most people. Luckily, there are a variety of somatic processing techniques that can be utilized to help with emotional processing. In addition to utilizing coping and regulation techniques, it can be beneficial to engage in somatic exercises and other somatic healing approaches. 

In order to fully process emotions, you must start by being able to identify the emotion and connect it with any sensations you may be experiencing as a result of it. When you identify these things, you’ll be able to start making sense of your emotions. This is known as linking the body to the world to create meaning (4). 

You must also be able to act on the emotions you’re experiencing. By being able to identify the mental tools you can use to self-regulate, you’re acting on your emotions, which encourages the processing of emotions. 

One of the purposes of emotions is to help communicate why you’re experiencing certain sensations in your body. By allowing the emotions to come out, you’re allowing your body to effectively communicate its intent (4). 

Finally, it’s helpful to practice mindfulness during times when you experience strong emotions. Taking a moment to practice body awareness and feel the connection between mind and body may help you understand more about what your body is trying to tell you and how you can cope with the messages it’s sending. 

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FAQs

• Is somatic therapy real?

What people believe about different types of therapy varies from one culture to the next. There is evidence that utilizing somatic practices can help people heal on a physical and emotional level. Opening your mind and being receptive to new styles of therapy is a great start.

• What are the negative effects of somatic therapy?

There aren’t necessarily any negative effects of somatic therapy, but there are aspects of it that participants may find challenging. When somatic therapy encourages connection with emotions and thoughts about traumatic experiences, this can sometimes result in unwanted emotional experiences. However, the intent of somatic therapy is to elicit these emotions so you can utilize mindfulness and other somatic techniques to work through them and decrease the intensity of reactions moving forward.

• Can you do somatic healing yourself?

You can do somatic healing by yourself. It can be incredibly helpful to work with a professional, but engaging in somatic exercises on your own can help you start the healing process. Participating in activities such as yoga and dancing can help you improve your mind-body awareness, which can positively impact your overall well-being. You can also utilize somatic techniques such as breathwork and meditation that utilize body scanning to work through challenging experiences.

The Bottom Line

Dealing with emotions can be overwhelming if you do not have the proper skills to do so. By utilizing somatic techniques to work through your emotions you are likely to be able to better understand them and have less negative effects down the road than you would if your emotions were left unprocessed. Learning the techniques can take some time but with dedication to understanding the process it can be a very freeing experience.