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The field of somatic psychology, also referred to as body psychotherapy, is a rich multi-method tradition of psychotherapies that incorporate the body as an additional aim of therapeutic intervention and a thematic focus of fostering a direct experience of a bodily based self within the clinical relationship. Sensorimotor and somatic trauma psychotherapies achieve this focus by addressing nonverbal, implicit elements including somatic phenomena, and accessing the subcortical (noncognitive) levels of experiential processing that are thought to support the patient’s ability to resolve painful implicit memories that may in turn lead to alleviating their symptoms of autonomic dysregulation. These “embodied” approaches are informed by the findings of leading traumatological research that explains the relationship between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and social behaviour. These polyvagal theory (PVT)-informed methods work to leverage the sensory and motor components of the ANS through the mechanism of the brainstem’s regulation of physiological state. This session will describe the history and development of sensorimotor and somatic psychotherapies; describe the neuroscientific principles that explain why these modalities are effective; explore the unique visceral (interoception) and musculoskeletal (proprioception and kinesthesis) focused principles of Somatic Experiencing (SE) developed by Dr. Peter Levine; and examine the effectiveness of SE relative to cognitive psychotherapeutic modalities.
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Advances in Traumatic Stress Treatment (5.7 MB) | 17 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Text Document | Transcript - Advances in Traumatic Stress Treatment (41.9 KB) | 20 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Chris Walling, PsyD, MBA, C-IAYT, SEP, is a licensed clinical psychologist, researcher and an active leader in the biobehavioral sciences. His work in academic medicine has included the administration of multidisciplinary leadership teams in hematology-oncology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and geriatric psychiatry at some of the top academic medical centers in the United States. His clinical focus in the behavioral sciences has examined the intersections of neuro-psychotherapy, affect regulation, and psychophysiology. Dr. Walling is an Adjunct Professor of Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Pat-President of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy, and an Associate Deputy-Editor of the International Body Psychotherapy Journal. He is a Clinical Supervisor at the Wright Institute of Los Angeles, a Clinical Associate at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, and is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium located at Indiana University where he and his colleagues are working to advance scientific insights from trauma psychology. Dr. Walling maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, California.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Christopher Walling has employment relationships with the California Institute of Integral Studies, the Wright Institute Los Angeles (WILA), Embodied Philosophy, the Prema Yoga Institute, and and Soma Psychological Services. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc., and he has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Christopher Walling is a member of the International Association for Relationship Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, the International Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychological Association, the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy, and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
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