Understanding your own behavior and why you behave or feel this way does not necessarily result in different behaviour. That does not alter the fact that it is an important part of therapy.  In combination with body-oriented work, it forms an important key to self-understanding and healing. Conversations and self-reflection are therefore part of the sessions. 

Somatic trauma therapy goes beyond talking and intellectual understanding. Trauma is a bodily experience that affects and changes our systems, such as the nervous system. This can lead to flashbacks, repetitive behavior, and a colored perception of reality, leaving us, in a sense, “stuck” in the trauma.

Body-oriented therapy focuses on the physical experience, releasing tension in the body, and regulating the nervous system so that the body can become a safe place again. By actively involving the body in the healing process, old patterns can be broken, and space can be created to feel present, connected to yourself, and experience deeper healing.

When combined with Internal Family Systems (IFS), this approach is particularly powerful: while IFS helps you meet and understand the different parts of yourself, body-oriented work allows these insights to be physically felt and integrated.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic approach based on the idea that our psyche is made up of different “parts,” each with its own feelings, beliefs, and experiences. Within IFS, we distinguish between younger parts, which are often wounded or vulnerable and hold onto old pain, and protective parts, which try to keep us safe by developing patterns of control, avoidance, or perfectionism.

In therapy, you learn to meet these parts with curiosity and compassion, making their intentions understandable and helping to meet unfulfilled needs. At the center is the Self-energy: a core of inner calm, clarity, curiosity, and compassion that is naturally present in everyone. From this Self-energy, parts can be heard, supported, and integrated.