Somatic Experiencing Therapy for Neurodivergent People: Why It Helps

Does this scenario sound familiar? You made plans to hang out with a friend, but when the day comes to meet up, your friend cancels. Even though they’re super apologetic and kind about having to cancel—and on a cognitive level you know they love and value you as a friend—you still feel a strong sting of rejection and have a hard time getting rid of that feeling. Whenever you think about it, your heart races and you have a hard time calming down or being productive. If you struggle with being able to release strong emotions on a physical level, Somatic Experiencing Therapy (SET) might be a helpful approach for you. In this post, we’ll walk you through what Somatic Experiencing Therapy is, its benefits, and how to find a somatic experiencing therapist near you.

First, What is Somatic Experiencing Therapy? 

“Somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma” meaning body. Somatic Experiencing Therapy is a method in a broader approach known as mind-body therapies. It is the application of somatic psychology, a field that explores the lived experience of being embodied as the basis for how we live in and relate to the world. The principle theory behind Somatic Experiencing Therapy is that stress and trauma become trapped in the body and can manifest as emotional dysregulation, or with physical side-effects that cause prolonged discomfort, such as an elevated heart rate. 

Returning to the example above, in response to a friend’s last-minute cancellation, the person might feel anxiety and experience an elevated heart rate every time they think about the situation, and find it difficult to bring their heart rate back to baseline. This difficulty regulating emotions and bodily sensations might be a result of trauma, or a symptom of a neurodivergent condition. Someone might seek therapy when they realize that despite being able to think through a stressful situation, and yet still experience significant distress over how they feel physically in their bodies about it. Cognitive techniques in traditional talk therapy like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are useful for helping us think differently about a situation, but sometimes our bodies don’t create different feelings just because we’ve been able to think something differently. Somatic experiencing is designed to address this by helping increase an individual’s awareness of their body as a way of reconnecting with their internal experiences (interoceptive, proprioceptive, and kinesthetic sensations) and emotions.

Let’s take a moment to define those three internal awareness terms: 

• Interoception is the awareness of bodily sensations such as heart rate, breathing, hunger, temperature, pain, the urge to use the bathroom, etc. 

• Proprioception is the awareness or perception of the movement and position of the body.

• Kinesthesia is the sensation of movement or strain in muscles, tendons, and joints.

SET increases an individual’s awareness of these internal sensations in response to emotions, and teaches them how to experience them safely.

What Happens in Somatic Experiencing Therapy? 

In a traditional talk therapy session, a therapist will start with the brain—in other words, they work with patients to use cognitive skills to approach memory and trauma. But in Somatic Experiencing Therapy, therapists flip the script and start with the body to work towards the brain, addressing bodily sensations as a path to accessing thoughts, emotions, memories, and trauma. To facilitate this, a therapist might use the SIBAM framework, which stands for Sensation, Imagery, Behavior, Affect, and Meaning. 

Using our earlier example of the friend who canceled social plans, you might start the session by discussing the experience with your therapist, and then use the SIBAM framework to process those feelings: 

• Sensation — how does this memory or experience make you feel in your body? 

• Imagery — what are the sensory impressions from that experience: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch? 

• Behavior — the therapist will observe your behavioral responses: what is your body language and posture like, as you recall this experience? 

• Affect — how did you display your emotions in the moment (language, tone, speed, and volume) and how are you expressing them now? 

• Meaning — after processing all of this with your therapist, what is your perception of the situation now and what does it mean to you? 

SET can include many other techniques from breathwork and dance, to bodily awareness, resourcing, titration, and pendulation. At Empowered Connections Counseling, our therapists will work with you to find the right combination of techniques to suit your needs and goals. 

What Are the Benefits of Somatic Experiencing Therapy? 

SET can be beneficial for anyone with a history of: 

• Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Grief

• Anxiety

• Substance abuse disorders

• Chronic pain

• Neurodivergent conditions such as autism (more on this below)

Each of these experiences can contribute to emotional dysregulation, or trigger one of the four fear responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Emotional trauma and the memory of that trauma can instigate fear responses, well beyond the point where the individual is exposed to the trauma, and cause both cognitive and physical symptoms that make it hard to function normally, from confusion and difficulty concentrating, to irregular heart rate and difficulty breathing. 

The outside-in approach of SET that starts with the body to access thoughts and memories of trauma helps teach the body that you are safe, even when you approach a stressful or traumatic memory. 

Another benefit of Somatic Experiencing Therapy is that it builds an individual’s awareness of the connection between their emotions and their awareness of internal bodily experiences so that they can learn to relieve tension and stress in healthy ways, especially when they are feeling triggered.

Somatic Experiencing Therapy for Neurodivergent People: Why It Helps

A common experience among neurodivergent people with different diagnoses is a heightened experience of body sensations due to sensory processing differences. These sensory processing differences can be related to our five outward senses, such as sensitivity to noise, bright overhead lighting, or large crowds, but these sensory differences can also occur with interoception—what we feel inside our bodies, such as the physiological sensations of emotions, digestion, or pain. 

No one enjoys feeling emotionally uncomfortable (anxious, sad, angry), but that discomfort can be perceived as extra scary or threatening if you process sensations differently. So while a neurotypical person may be able to experience a heart rate increase related to anxiety and go about their daily lives with minimal disruption, a neurodivergent person may experience that heart rate increase and not be able to focus on anything else. 

Somatic experiencing therapy can be a useful therapeutic tool for helping neurodivergent individuals learn to experience these uncomfortable body sensations safely and release tension or stress in healthy ways. 

Somatic Experiencing Therapy in Chicago

When we learn how to safely connect our bodily sensations with our emotions and memory, we can better release the stress and tension that keeps us experiencing contentment and joy. Somatic Experiencing Therapy can be a powerful therapeutic experience to help you enjoy your life and relationships. If you're curious about whether SET is right for you, or you're ready to give it a try, reach out. At ECC, we're committed to helping our clients find the right therapy approach and therapist to help you thrive. 

About ECC: 

Empowered Connections Counseling is a practice of licensed therapists providing quality, multidisciplinary counseling for adults, children & teens, relationships, and families in Chicago and across Illinois. Whether by in-person session or via telehealth, we work with clients to find the therapist and treatment methods that best suit their needs. Connect meaningfully with your life by booking an appointment today.

What is Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy?

You've probably heard or seen the term "neurodivergent" come up in conversation online and offline in recent years, and you may even identify with the term yourself. In a society that often stigmatizes any behaviors that deviate from what is considered neurotypical, being neurodivergent can be an exhausting experience, and the healthcare system, including psychotherapy, hasn't always been supportive of neurodivergent people. Yet new approaches to therapy are emerging for neurodivergent people, what's known as "neurodivergent-affirming therapy." In this post, we'll explore what neurodivergent-affirming therapy can look like, why it's important, and how to know if it's the right fit for your needs. 

What Is Neurodivergence? 

The term neurodiversity was coined by Australian disability rights activist Judy Singer. According to the Cleveland Clinic, neurodivergence or neurodiversity are nonmedical terms that describe the variations in human neurology that impact how the human brain works. People who are neurodivergent experience different strengths and challenges than those who do not have those neurological differences. Although some people who are neurodivergent may have medical conditions, learning disabilities, and other conditions, others may not have a medical condition or an identifiable diagnosis. Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, clinical depression, and learning disorders, are just a few examples of types of diagnosable neurodivergence. 

By contrast, neurotypical is a nonmedical term used to describe people whose strengths and challenges are not affected by a difference that changes how their brain works, according to Cleveland Clinic. 

Ultimately, these nonmedical terms aim to empower people with neurological differences to identify and embrace those differences, rather than trying to suppress or hide them. 

What Are The Risks of Psychotherapy That is Not Neurodivergent-Affirming?

Historically, the healthcare system has not been helpful to or supportive of neurodivergent people, and neurodiversity was not respected as a natural part of the human population. From institutionalization, to surgical procedures like lobotomies, to shock therapy and over-medication, treatment of neurodivergence was centered around suppressing symptoms and forcing conformity to socially acceptable or “neurotypical” behavior. Traditional psychotherapy or “talk therapy” as it is better known, also encouraged conformity to neurotypical behavior.

These treatments were the culmination of what’s known as “neurotypical bias,” or using neurotypical behavior as the standard for mental health, which causes harm to neurodivergent people by exacerbating the mental exhaustion and stress of masking their symptoms, as well as by over-pathologizing behaviors that aren’t harmful. Therapists with neurotypical bias tried to correct a client’s behaviors such as stimming, without understanding how the behavior was interconnected with the client’s neurodivergence, or that the behavior might have been an attempt to self-regulate or cope with uncomfortable sensory experiences. Neurotypical bias is still very prevalent within the mental healthcare system today, but thanks to the work of Judy Singer and many medical and mental health professionals, a shift to neurodivergent-affirming therapy is underway. 

What is Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy? 

Rather than trying to suppress behaviors and symptoms that deviate from what is considered neurotypical, neurodivergent-affirming therapy is a therapeutic approach to treatment and overarching philosophy that neurodivergence is not something that needs to be fixed or corrected, but rather something that can be seen as a strength, even with its challenges. 

There is no one modality that is considered harmful or helpful when engaging in neurodivergent affirming therapy. What is most important is how a modality and related treatment interventions are applied. Neurodivergent folks often experience frustration with providers that don’t take the time to understand why a certain intervention or approach isn’t working and this can lead to clients choosing to disengage from therapy that could potentially be helpful. 

With a neurodivergent-affirming approach, the therapist collaborates with the client to figure out a modality that feels right for them, and use it to build on their individual strengths. Common goals often include building a better understanding of the client's specific experience of neurodiversity/condition, cultivating acceptance and self-compassion, and developing individualized coping skills to manage distress related to functioning in a neurotypical society. 

Every person expends energy trying to fit in with our peers and social norms, and often neurodiverse individuals can have increased difficulty navigating this, from trying to mask or hide their symptoms, to trying to decipher social cues, to experiencing sensory overwhelm, and so many other reasons. In neurodivergent-affirming therapy, the therapist works with the individual to identify how this manifests in their daily life, and how it impacts their relationships, their work and school, and more. 

Similar to trauma-informed therapy that recognizes the unique impact of trauma on an individual’s mental health, or LGBTQ-affirming therapy that recognizes the unique impact that a person’s sexual or gender identity has on an individual’s mental health, neurodivergent-affirming therapy is a form of cultural competence. Neurodivergent-affirming therapists are working to be aware of potential biases, understand the nuances of neurodiversity, and trust the client’s own experiences. 

The Benefits of Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy

The fundamental benefit of neurodivergent-affirming therapy is that it works with the person’s brain, rather than against it. The therapist works with the client to discern when different behaviors are healthy self-regulations, versus maladaptive. 

Another benefit is the self-trust and acceptance that it builds in clients as they learn to embrace and build on their strengths. Each person’s experience of neurodiversity will be unique, and it can be very healing to explore those aspects in a therapy setting where that is affirmed and celebrated. 

Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapists in Chicago

Moving through the world as a neurodivergent person can feel like an emotional rollercoaster, at times exciting as you realize how uniquely your brain functions, and other times exhausting as you face engrained social biases and misunderstanding. Having a safe space to explore these experiences with a therapist who trusts your perspective can help you build self-acceptance, confidence, and contentment. 

At ECC, we have several therapists who offer neurodivergent-affirming therapy, applying multidisciplinary methods from Acceptance and Commitment therapy, to expressive art techniques, to somatic experiencing, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and other methods to create a unique experience suited to each individual’s needs and goals. 

If you’re looking for neurodivergent-affirming therapy in Chicago, Empowered Connections Counseling offers treatments for individuals of all ages. Reach out today to book an intake session.

About ECC: 

Empowered Connections Counseling is a practice of licensed therapists providing quality, multidisciplinary counseling for adults, children & teens, relationships, and families in Chicago and across Illinois. Whether by in-person session or via telehealth, we work with clients to find the therapist and treatment methods that best suit their needs. Connect meaningfully with your life by booking an appointment today.