Somatic transference is defined as the unconscious transfer of emotions, memories, and physical sensations from one person to another. It can be seen as a form of communication between two people where one person's inner experience is mirrored or reflected in the other person's body or behavior.
Transference is often (though not always) the culprit when you feel triggered, emotionally hurt, or misunderstood in a therapy session. One tell-tale sign of transference is when your feelings or reactions seem bigger than they should be. You don't just feel frustrated, you feel enraged.
Somatic psychotherapy is an umbrella term for therapies that center on the mind-body connection. The term “somatic” means “relating to the body.” Using special techniques, a somatic therapist helps you release any pent-up trauma that has become “trapped” in your body.
Transference is when someone redirects their feelings about one person onto someone else. During a therapy session, it usually refers to a person transferring their feelings about someone else onto their therapist.
All well trained therapists are aware of transference and countertransference and should be comfortable bringing the dynamics up, when they sense that there is some form of transference happening.
Somatic cells make up the connective tissue, skin, blood, bones and internal organs. Examples are muscle cells, blood cells, skin cells and nerve cells.
Somatization is the name used when emotional distress is expressed by physical symptoms. Everyone experiences somatization at times. Examples include your heart beating fast or butterflies in your stomach when you feel nervous or muscles becoming tense and sore when you feel angry or under stress.
If the transferred feelings can be discussed openly and honestly, then new ideas can be pinpointed between the client and therapist. The client will come to realise that their feelings are representations of their inner feelings and are not occurring as a result of their relationship with the therapist.
Sexualized transference is any transference in which the patient's fantasies about the analyst contain elements that are primarily reverential, romantic, intimate, sensual, or sexual.
At the same time, despite this "unreality," despite his emphasis on the inauthenticity, as it were, of the transference, Freud acknowledged that "We have no right to dispute that the state of being in love which makes its appearance in the course of analytic treatment has the character of a 'genuine' love." In fact ...
It's as if a destructive force appears to intrude repeatedly into the relationship between therapist and client as the violence of the perpetrator is re-enacted by the client onto the therapist.
During transference, a person is relating to a template rather than genuinely connecting to another person. To end a transference pattern, one can try to actively separate the person from the template by looking for differences.
Transference is a common occurrence among humans, and it may often occur in therapy, but it does not necessarily imply a mental health condition. Transference can also occur in various situations outside of therapy and may form the basis for certain relationship patterns in everyday life.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala.
Tense and relax different parts of your body.
For example, press your feet to the ground as hard as you can for a few seconds. Release the pressure and notice how your feet feel now. You can also squeeze the arms of your chair as tightly as you can and then slowly relax and let go.
Somatic therapy relies on the knowledge that we carry trauma in our physical selves and there is a connection between our bodies, minds and behaviours. Within that category, Somatic experiencing and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are common techniques.
Back to Fictional Reader's question about why it may be difficult to look a therapist in the eyes. Some possible root causes range from guilt, shame, anxiety, low self-esteem, shyness, past abuse, depression or autistic spectrum disorders to varying cultural norms and cognitive overload.
Some of the things psychologists look for are your posture, hands, eye contact, facial expressions, and the position of your arms and legs. Your posture says a lot about your comfort level.
Transference occurs when a person redirects their feelings from previous relationships onto their current relationship. Projection is a defence mechanism used to externalise accepted or unacceptable feelings or thoughts onto someone else or an object.