Difference between bodywork and somatic work

Back when I was doing a lot of bodywork in addition to me Somatic Experiencing (SE) practice, there was often a fair amount of confusion from the people I talked to.  I'd have people calling in, asking for Somatic Experiencing, but speaking about it as if it were massage.  So I'd have to answer this question:

What is the difference between therapeutic bodywork and Somatic Experiencing?

The easy answer is:  Therapeutic bodywork (aka 'massage therapy') generally consists of physical touch, usually via some form of soft tissue manipulation, and often on a massage table.

Somatic Experiencing, on the other hand, is traditionally done interpersonally, through dialogue, between a practitioner and client who are sitting with each other (or over video sessions).

While there are some advanced SE techniques that may offer the option of light touch on the body, I think that a big part of the confusion is that the word "Somatic" does refer to the body.  It means "relating to the body, especially as distinct from the mind".  

Somatic Experiencing is a therapeutic approach that focuses on your experience of your body, including your internal sensations, your external 5 senses, and even your sense of memory and imagination.  But it's not a massage, and doesn't require touch.  

Ultimately, I think what people really want to know is:

Which one is better for me?  In what ways does therapeutic bodywork help and in what ways does SE help?

This is one of those questions with a million answers.  I'm going to give the answer that feels true for me today.

Hands-on bodywork can help people reduce pain, calm their bodies, increase their ability to move fluidly and with greater flexibility.  It can also help people improve their proprioception (knowing where their body is in space, even with their eyes closed), which can improve balance and agility, as well as their ability to make small adjustments in their movement and posture in order to improve their health and comfort.  It can also help them feel a great degree of well-being, sometimes for days or weeks after a session.

Somatic Experiencing, especially a series of sessions over time, is more oriented on improving your nervous system's ability to handle stress.  It can help people get less upset by things that used to upset them, it can help them feel more energy and resourcefulness in situations that used to be exhausting or overwhelming, and it can help them derive deeper enjoyment from the 'good' things in life.  Basically, if you have a problem  that's aggravated by stress:  your temper, your sleep cycles, your ability to focus, Somatic Experiencing work can be aimed at bringing your body's natural stress regulation abilities into focus so that challenge can be reduced.  

Sometimes a Somatic Experiencing's client might be in so much pain from muscle tension that it's challenging for them to focus on the exercises that could help them relax in the long run.  Perhaps bodywork would be helpful in that case.

Sometimes a bodywork client's muscle tension might come back only days after a massage because their life is so high stress.  In that case, a series of SE sessions might help them stay in a comfortable state of mind and body for longer and longer than before.

If you've ever had questions about the difference between bodywork and SE, and you still have more after reading this, please comment below, or shoot me an e-mail!  [email protected]

Cheers!
​Aaron