Somatic Processing, Cognitive Processing, or both?

I attended several trainings by Dr Patt Ogden, listened to one of her audiobooks,  as well as webinars featuring Dr. Peter Levine, also reading his book Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. The work of these two illustrious names in contemporary psychology, representing Somatic Experiencing, and Sensorymotor Psychotherapy taught me invaluable information to start applying somatic processing to the Inner Work I was already doing.

I became a book ambassador for The Holistic Psychologist as well as Dr. Linnea Passaler’s book Heal Your Nervous System: The 5-step plan to Reverse Nervous System Dysregulation. These were approaches I was practicing as a self-learner. In my formal training at work, I was learning and practicing processing from a more cognitive approach, quite aptly referred to as cognitive processing.                                                                             

The PTSD-focused sessions I would facilitate for therapy clients were initially an opportunity to get really confident with cognitive processing. Gradually though, I learned to inform the work I was doing with clients with some of my learning and practice of the somatic approaches I had become so familiar with. Anytime I set an intention to practice a certain intervention or technique with a therapy client, I remembered something I had heard in a supervision group while I was earning supervision hours towards my license. “Never use an intervention on a client that you are not familiar with from a personal perspective”. I certainly didn’t take my work with clients lightly. And most definitely there was no scarcity of my personal triggers to apply these approaches and interventions to. In fact my personal life and health was a fertile ground for practicing healing approaches and becoming really good at them.                                  

This is how I came to understand the concept of pendulum healing – as you heal I heal, and vice versa. Also, Carl Jung’s Archetype of The Wounded Healer resonated deeply. I was able to help my therapy clients in their healing journey because their hurting resonated deeply with my experiences.