This study amis to phenomenologically investigate and analyze the meaning and the experience process of the participants of Somatic Experiencing(SE). In-depth interviews were conducted for ten participants to collect the data. The data was analyzed by...
This study amis to phenomenologically investigate and analyze the meaning and the experience process of the participants of Somatic Experiencing(SE). In-depth interviews were conducted for ten participants to collect the data. The data was analyzed by Giorgi’s phenomenological method to find out the main contents and the meaning structure of the participants.
The oral statements of the participants were transferred into systematic meaning units and then generally structured through Giorgi’s phenomelogical method. Most of the participants work in therapeutic fields and have had more than a hundred-hour and three-year experiences in SE, and thus, who were able to richly describe the process of SE. The data was collected from January 2016 to June 2016. In addition to in-depth interviews, telephone and email were also used for the data collection. All the interviews were recorded under the agreement of the participants and their expressions were transcribed and analyzed. The analysis was done according to the four scientific processes of phenomenological method. As a result, the total of 763 meaning units were analyzed, which were transferred into psychological terms. The psychological terms were categorized by similar meanings, which resulted in 97 meaning unit summaries. The 97 meaning unit summaries were once again categorized by 20 superordinate concepts and, finally, 7 superordinate categories were derived.
The main contents of the 7 final categories are as follows:
‘The continuous inner work caused the interest in SE work,’ ‘By paying attention to the somatic language, one became more aware of the connection between body and mind,’ ‘Confronting the confusion and the limits to accept the new approach, such as SE,’ ‘Discovery of inner and outer resources,’ ‘Increase of the ability to control in various situations by trusting somatic sensations,’ ‘Change in perception for trauma and opening up the new direction for healing,’ ‘The change in viewpoints causes the actual changes in one’s actions in the daily life.’
This research is an attempt to understand the process of SE in terms of the three phases in the trauma healing process:
that is, Safety, Remeberance and Mourning, and Reconnection.
Through the Safety phase of SE with the emphasis on one’s resources, one was able to select a psychological and physical safe zone. In the safe zone, participants could safely process the traumatic memories and thus their ability for emotional regulation was enhanced. Also, the resources of each participant was reinforced and the positive feeling for their daily life was increased. The participants reported that the problem solving ability was also increased as their Somatic Experience increased.
The essence of the phenomenological experience of the SE participants, as studied by this research, is that one becomes able to be aware of the state of one’s mind and emotions through the contact with one’s own bodily sensations, which can be seen as integrative of body and mind. This kind of healing approach based on somatic experiences plays the role as the bridge connecting body and mind, and thus, can function as an important mechanism for healing traumas. On the other hand, the activities and the purposes of SE which emphasize integrative awareness for body, emotions, and perception have similitude to mindfulness.
Yet, the healing mechanism of SE lies on the willfulness of a participant to cultivate mindfulness to observe bodily experiences more sensitively. Hence, it can be said that SE, which encourages a participant to be reconnected to one’s own body, the body once avoided by him or her due to the traumatic memory imprinted on it, is the self-healing method that enables the participant to recover from the trauma and to control oneself appropriately.
There have been many researches on somatic approaches for healing trauma from the viewpoints of movement therapy.
However, the research on somatic approach for healing trauma seen from the psycho-therapeutic perspective has been slow.
There seems to be no qualitative research in Korea, focusing on the recovery process of soma based counseling. Hence this research may be meaningful to verify the healing process and mechanism of traumas by analyzing, from the psycho-therapeutic point of view, the SE experiences of the participants as well as their experiences of conducting the SE program to their clients.