SOMATIC THERAPY
Somatic therapy is a holistic approach to health that addresses the relationship between the mind and body with the back-drop of physiological and psychological history. Trauma, be it psychological of physical, large or seemingly small, effects the delicate stability of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its response to stress.
Parvin continues to study different modalities that assist the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) in order to create a comprehensive approach for releasing the unhealthy, stuck holding patterns that disrupt the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System).
To understand how Somatic Therapy can help release the stuck patterns of the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System), we must first understand how ANS works. The ANS controls the involuntary functions of the body, operating in levels below the conscious mind. The ANS has two systems, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is the system for short term survival which is commonly known as fight or flight mechanism. It excites the body at the perception of danger and with it’s stress response increases the heart and the breath rates, the blood pressure, the blood sugar and respiration, and volunteers muscles into action. All at the same time, it slows down other systems that are not needed for immediate survival such as digestion, elimination and pain sensors. The work of SNS is immediate, widespread and can be quite long lasting.
In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is the system for long-term survival as well rest and regeneration. PNS regulates breathing, salivation, urination and defecation among other functions. The PNS redirects the blood flow to the core of the body. The PNS is slower to take place than the SNS. Most organs receive impulses from both of these systems, however,which is vital for our well-being.
The Stress Response activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in three stages. The flight or fight stage which mobilizes the body for immediate action, the resistance stage and the exhaustion stage or stress duration.
In the initial alarm stage of the Stress Response, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands transmit nervous impulses from the brain to entire sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The nerve impulses activate the muscles and organs needed for immediate action and halts others that are not need for immediate survival such as elimination and sexual organs as mentioned above.
If danger is not escaped in the alarm stage, a second stage of the Stress Response, also initiated by hypothalamus, activates the adrenals and thyroid. Then-after parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) tries to return many of the body functions to its pre-stress levels while focusing on the possible next stressor. The body stays busy producing increased energy and helping repair damaged cells in this stage.
If the two stages of stress response have not been able to get the body through a stressful situation, the body moves into an exhausted stage or the stress duration stage during which time it continues to produce a great amount of stress hormones, Adrenaline, Cortisol and Norepinephrine among others which can be destructive to the body and the brain.
Parvin’s aim is to help help clients manage their stress response with the help of different modalities and firmly maintain the balance with Neurofeedback training.
Parvin utilizes several modalities to enhance the ability of clients to harmonize the Central Nervous System.
Parvin uses yoga for it’s ability to calm the CNS, aromatherapy and sound therapy to reach a deeper levels of consciousness and healing, art therapy to help explore psychological undertones, poetry therapy to voice thoughts and feeling difficult to articulate, psychotherapeutic movement and dance to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical awareness and integration, and Polarity Therapy to balance the flow of energy in the body and the cranium.
For informative reads on different human early attachments theories and psychological defenses that tax the body please go to the resources section.
