Being Present: The Double Bind

by Jenny WinkelOctober 25, 2025 Uncategorized0 comments

The Body Can Only Dwell in the Present

A somatic approach is foundational to trauma healing because your body is the gateway to the present moment. NARM founder Laurence Heller has observed, “The body lives only in the present moment. In the mind, we can remember the past or think about the future, but we can be in the present moment only by being fully connected to the body.” This tracks because your physical senses are your direct point of contact with what is happening in real time. You don’t think your present-moment experience — you engage it through a moment-to-moment, full-bodied, sensory encounter.

The Present Moment is Where the Self Lives

Contact with the present moment inherently regulates your nervous system because it orients you to what is. This increases a sense of inner stability. Being in the here-and-now also improves body awareness which enhances your ability to respond to your needs rather than react from habit or disconnection. Being present gives you clearer access to your boundaries, emotions and desires which is the basic foundation from which your authentic self-expression emerges. For these reasons, the present moment is the only place where true relationship with Self is possible.

Trauma Changes Everything

However, all of that changes when trauma enters the picture. If you’ve experienced the impact of trauma, you understand this. The feeling of being stuck in the past while also being afraid of the future is the constant barrier to experiencing the here-and-now. From a physiological perspective, this makes sense: unmetabolized stress chemistry makes it feel like the past isn’t over which makes the future feel daunting. As a result, you feel hypervigilant and stuck.

The Double Bind

As if to make matters worse, defensive mechanisms in the psyche work hard to keep you disconnected through protective strategies like numbing, dissociation and denial. They remember that at one time, the present moment is where the trauma occurred and that “going back” will overwhelm you all over again. But the present is exactly where you need to be if you’re ever going to reconnect with yourself, the people you love and feel feel fully alive again. And so the double bind: the here-and-now is where you most want to and do not want to be.

A Somatic Approach Can Help

At Salt City Somatics, I understand the essential need for safety and also the simultaneous urge toward healing and growth. Both are equally important. In a somatic session, coming into the present moment takes both into account. A client’s reservations about being overwhelmed are respected by steady pacing, resting as needed, adjusting the intensity of the experience, honoring consent and co-regulating together. In addition, dual awareness is key: we recognize the arising sensations are from the past but we keep our awareness anchored firmly in the present. This allows for integration versus retraumatization.
Not surprisingly, once your nervous system’s needs for safety are met, the healing and growth can’t not happen. It’s like the process of germination for a seed: it will wait for years—hundreds, even thousands—for the right conditions to come along. When water, proper temperature, oxygen and light are present in the right combinations, the seed cannot stop itself from sprouting. Likewise with trauma healing for humans. Once the right conditions for safety are met, the instinct toward healing and growth cannot be held back.

What Does Being in the Present Feel Like?

In somatic trauma-healing, clients often describe being present as a sense of stillness, noticing slower and deeper breaths, having a heightened satisfaction with the sensory engagement of “now” (e.g., more substance and weight to it, seeing colors as more vivid), an experience of spaciousness or expansion, a deepened ability to stay focused and increased sensitivity to subtle sensations. There is the absence of mental clutter, racing mind, self-criticism, agitation and restlessness. “I feel calm and safe”, “I’m connected to myself, like I’m okay just as I am”, and “My circumstances haven’t changed but I’m just not as overwhelmed by them” are common observations by clients who have shifted into the present moment.

If this speaks to you, I would love to connect for a consultation if you want to learn more. If you’re ready to begin, I look forward to our first session together.

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“What’s the Difference Between Talk Therapy and Somatic Therapy?”

by Jenny WinkelOctober 26, 2024 Uncategorized0 comments

This is a question I’m frequently asked, and a good one at that. If you have a personal trauma history, chances are good you’ve tried “talk therapy”—a common term for psychotherapy. Somewhere along the way you learned about somatics and how improves regulation in the nervous system. You feel like the trauma has become stuck in your body so the idea of a “body-based” approach resonates. But how is it different from the traditional therapy sessions you’ve tried before? Read on to find out.

What Is Psychotherapy?

There are many branches within the field of psychology and within those, hundreds of different kinds of therapies. It’s impossible within the scope of this blog entry to delineate the specific differences among them. Instead, I’ll give you a broad overview in general terms to highlight the way it distinguishes itself from somatics.

     

      1. Psychotherapy is a licensed profession

      1. It operates on the traditional medical model of health and illness

      1. It interprets manifestations of trauma as symptoms

      1. Trauma symptoms are a sign of mental illness

      1. Illness is a problem needs to be fixed (remedied/cured)

      1. Remedies and cures are called treatments

      1. To receive treatment, you must first get a diagnosis

      1. A diagnosis is procured through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

      1. By and large, treatment involves a “mind over matter” approach. The more your mind understand your problems, the better your body will feel. Sometimes this is called a “top down” approach.

      1. The authority and hope for cure lies in the mental health care professional’s competence, expertise and training.

      1. The aim of psychotherapy is to improve mental health. The related areas of study are therefore the brain and mind.

      1. Psychotherapy tends to operate more objectively.

      1. Health insurance usually covers psychotherapy.

    What Is Somatic Therapy?

    Again, there are a myriad of somatic approaches so I will address the practice in generalities here as well. Also, keep in mind that in the state of Utah, there is no such thing as somatic “therapy” unless that term is being used as shorthand for somatic psychotherapy. Refer to my blog entry “What Is Somatic Therapy?” for more detailed information.

       

        1. Somatics is not a licensed profession

        1. It is considered the domain of complementary and alternative health care

        1. It does not interpret manifestations of trauma as symptoms. Instead, it views the nervous system as regulated or dysregulated.

        1. Because of that, it is not diagnostic. Rather than wanting to know “What’s wrong with you?”, a somatic perspective asks, “What happened to you?” The cause of dysregulation is recognized primarily as “nurture” versus “nature”.

        1. By and large, sessions are based on a “bottom up” approach: once the nervous system throughout the body is regulated, the mind will be more at ease.

        1. The emphasis in sessions is on your present-moment, embodied experience rather than your mental processes. In other words, “What are feeling about?” versus “What you are thinking about?”.

        1. The authority and ability reside in you as the client. You may need outside support on your path to regulation. But the innate, psychobiological intelligence already exists in the blueprint of your nervous system. Somatic approaches strengthen your access to that.

        1. Somatic approaches tend to focus on the mind and body. Somatics is viewed as more holistic than psychotherapy for that reason.

        1. Combined, the mind and body generate the experience of spirituality, emotionality, soulfulness, mentality, psychology, physical health and social engagement (relationships). Therefore, somatics covers these areas of your personal experience, as well.

        1. Somatics operates more subjectively. It utilizes protocol and standardized interventions (is at all) than psychotherapy. Your personal, present-moment experience is what’s of most value in a session.

        1. Health insurance may or may not cover somatic health depending on the licensure of your provider.

      Summary

      Psychotherapy is an objective, standardized form of treatment within the traditional medical model. It sees physical and mental manifestations of trauma as an illness needing a remedy or cure. Treatments are administered by a licensed mental health care professional using a “top down” approach. Health insurance usually covers psychotherapy.

      Somatics is a subjective, holistic approach within the field of complementary and alternative health care. It does not require licensure for the professional. Its primary aim is to improve regulation in the nervous system and does not use a diagnostic model to achieve that. Somatics covers spirituality, emotionality, psychology, physical health, soulfulness as well as social engagement (relationships). Health insurance may or may not cover services depending on the licensure of the provider.

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      Salt City Bodyworks Will Soon Be “Salt City Somatics”

      by Jenny WinkelAugust 29, 2024 Uncategorized0 comments

       

      Why the Name Change?

      Why the name change? When I started my private practice in 2010, I was a recently licensed massage therapist. I only offered bodywork and massage therapy but I wasn’t educated or trained in somatics yet. I used the word “bodywork” in my title because it is a general term that encompasses traditional massage but other forms of body-centered therapies as well (e.g., craniosacral therapy, lymphatic drainage, Thai Yoga massage, etc.). That word reflected the range of services I offered at the time.

      Enter Somatics

      Then my focus started to change. I started a graduate program in somatic depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2012. From 2015-2021 I trained to become a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and NARM Master Practitioner. During that time I gradually incorporated somatic sessions into my private practice. I still offered massage therapy and bodywork but less and less as time passed. Over the years, my attention and interest became increasingly focused on somatic work to the point that I eventually stopped offering massage and bodywork all together. The only services I currently offer are Somatic Sessions in person or via Zoom and Somatic Bodywork. Anymore, all the continuing education and training I engage in is only somatic. It was a natural transition, therefore, to go from using the word “Bodywork” in my business name to “Somatics”. That is the sole focus of the work I offer.

      Does Anything Change Besides the Name?

      No. I have only been offering somatic services for more than a year now. If you’ve been with me during that time, you won’t notice anything is different. However, if you have any questions or feel unsure about what the name change means, don’t hesitate to reach out.

      Is A Somatic Approach Right for You?

      If you’ve been considering a somatic approach to your health, now may be the time to find out if it’s right for you. Let’s connect! I offer 25 minute consultations via Zoom and would love to meet with you.

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