What is Psychosexual Somatic Therapy?
Psychosexual Somatics® Therapy (PST) is a unique sex and relational therapy that incorporates theories from psychotherapy, neuroscience, trauma therapy, energy psychology and clinical sexology. This therapy works with the understanding that sexual issues are caused by dysregulation of the nervous system which affects behaviour and how we show up in relationships and within our intimate lives.
Usually, sex and intimacy will have an underlying emotional root cause, and present as a combination of cognitive (mind/emotions) and somatic (body) symptoms. Because material from the past can be supressed into the subconscious it gets stored in the body affecting our behaviours and relationships. The most effective way to resolve these problems is to re-regulate our nervous system and address the mind, body, and emotions. This creates lasting behavioural change and integration of this material can be life changing.
Uniquely, PST work is shorter – term and can create changes over months, rather than years. Despite this, the work can be deep and uprooting therefore the suitability of candidates for this process needs to be assessed on an individual basis.
Elements of PST
Mindfulness Practices
Neuroregulation
Breath Techniques
Embodiment Practices
Coaching and Therapy
Coaching and Therapy
PST uses a combination of coaching (forward looking, accessing your potential, taking steps towards your goals, and implementing change) and therapy (looking towards the past, identifying patterns and understandings of how we came to be as we are). Awareness is the first step to empowerment. By understanding how and why we avoid intimacy we can begin to make different choices that support greater connection, intimacy, and pleasure. PST offers a clear roadmap to understanding intimacy issues and helps you move through any blocks to a greater capacity for connection.
Neuro-regulation
Sexual and intimacy issues often involve a disconnect with the body. Whether it be going into our heads during sex, disconnecting from the sensations that we experience or overriding our boundaries, PST believes that almost all intimacy issues require a re-regulation of the nervous system.
Regulating the nervous system allows for increased capacity for presence, connection, arousal, and sensation. The application of the Polyvagal Theory will help create new neural pathways and help to integrate the body and mind. This work is applicable to all areas of life and stress management.
Somatic Mindfulness
Having awareness into our physical sensations that emerge when we feel emotions is the first step towards unblocking trauma stored in our bodies. PST applies somatic (embodied) mindfulness to help increase your awareness of past traumas, avoidant behaviours and limiting beliefs and how they manifest in the body. When we are connected to our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations we can remain present in intimacy and do not enter dissociated states or familiar avoidant patterning’s. This form of mindfulness also contributes to creating a positive neurological state aiding in physical and mental health.
Breath Work Techniques
Most people struggling with sex and intimacy are partly dissociated from their body. Breathing is one of the keys to reconnecting with your body, to feel yourself more deeply and to develop embodied presence. In PST we use different breathwork techniques to support the client to drop into their body aiding in sensation, safety and presence when engaging intimately.
Embodiment Techniques
PST focuses strongly on awareness of the felt experience in the moment. By coming into the body and allowing its wisdom to express and be seen, we become more connected to ourselves and therefore also to others. Using embodiment techniques supports us to know the truth of our experience and move out of a freeze of feelings of stuckness. This in turn integrates mind and body, reduces unwanted reactivity, and creates autonomy over our actions and emotions.
How PST Differs From:
Regular Sex-Therapy
Conventional sex therapy arises from the medical model, which focuses on physicality and function or dysfunction. The theory underpinning regular sex therapy is that if desire and physical function is working, then sex shouldn’t be a problem.
Due to the complex nature of sex however, we know this isn’t always the case. In PST we individualise treatment and talk to the client about how they experience sex. We explore what’s working and what isn’t and we look at the deeper underlying issues from your past. We focus not only on resolving “dysfunction” but also on helping you move towards your sexual potential. PST believes that our capacity for pleasure is only limited by our own negative beliefs, not by physiological constraints.
Another significant difference is that sex therapy only addresses psychological and emotional aspects of sexual issues by talking about them. PST is evolutionary in that we hold an integrated body-mind approach: Emotional and sexual issues always show up in the body as patterns of tension, pain or other physical symptoms, and it is only by addressing both that we can get to the root of the problem. As well as talking about beliefs and emotions, PST techniques may include embodiment of emotional states, or gentle, physical touch to support the client to feel what is happening in their body.
Informational Reference:
MikeLousada2023PSTiselvolving(https://www.psychosexualsomatics.com/)
Sexological Body Work
IPST sits between conventional sex therapy and Sexological bodywork in that it uniquely addresses the mind-body connection and builds an important bridge between the two.
In PST we believe that the body can be addressed in a gentle way that does not require intimate or internal touch techniques, which some clients can experience as invasive. In PST sessions clients remain fully clothed, and rather than ‘doing to the client’, a PST practitioner holds space for the client to feel themselves. PST's practitioner's training always includes understanding not only of the nervous system but also of how to manage and contain trauma, something which is likely to arise when working with sexuality. PST also works with bringing awareness to the dynamic between client and practitioner as part of the process, informing the client’s relational patterns.
Informational Reference
MikeLousada2023PSTiselvolving(https://www.psychosexualsomatics.com/)
