NARM vs. Somatic Experiencing
What do NARM and SE have in common?
Both are trauma therapies that focus on the body. SE is considered a bottom-up process (somatic only) while NARM uses both bottom-up and top-down (cognitive or meaning making) orientations and interventions. NARM expands on and is deeply informed by the fundamentals of SE. The NARM founder Laurence Heller and the other teachers were all SE trainers first. So, the two models are aligned and may be used in combination when there are both shock and developmental trauma present.
Who is Somatic Experiencing® for?
Somatic Experiencing® is a body based method of renegotiating shock trauma. Shock trauma (also known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD) is what happens for some people after an experience that is (or perceived as) life-threatening or inescapable. This can be a singular event or multiple experiences that call up the same response. In the moment of a traumatic event, innate survival responses are invoked, more or less automatically. When these physiological movement/impulse patterns are not completed (there are many reasons why this may happen), there are lingering physical and psychological symptoms that can ensue. Sometimes we may not even remember or realize the impact of the originating trauma.
Who is NARM therapy for?
The short and snarky answer is, anyone with or without parents. But seriously, the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is a somatically oriented therapy designed to heal the lasting impacts of complex trauma. Complex trauma (C-PTSD) is a broad category that includes childhood or developmental trauma, historical/cultural trauma (including living during wartime, poverty, discrimination, and extreme environmental factors), and ongoing bullying or abuse, among others. The factors that make trauma complex are:
A repeated or ongoing context that impacts our identity, our sense of self.
It often has a relational aspect, meaning that other people are responsible for the harm that is done.
The issues we work with tend to be around what we think of as personality. Some of the reasons people seek out NARM are the things that distinguish PTSD from C-PTSD, including problems with self-concept (self-esteem/image), emotional regulation, and capacity for relationships/connection. Sometimes, people can’t point to the events or dynamics that gave rise to these difficulties as we might think of them as “normal”.
What do SE sessions look like?
SE sessions can look very different depending on the nature of the trauma. There may or may not be a direct description of the traumatic event, even as we work directly with the body’s response to the event. It can involve various exercises and somatic interventions (these may or may not involve touch) that help to discharge the incomplete survival responses. The discharge of these energies can also look very different depending on how they are being held/organized in the body. Whether the person is in chronic high arousal or freeze or some combination can influence how the discharge occurs.
What do NARM sessions look like?
NARM sessions look more like what we associate with classic talk therapy. Everything that “happens” does so in the context of the conversation and the relational field. While we reference and reflect on what’s happening in the body, we don’t override or work to change what we find there. We always start with some version of the question, “what do you most want for yourself” then explore what gets in the way of having this experience.
Clients report feeling both lighter and more solid, a strange (and sometimes disorienting) feeling of things “rewiring” or “reorganizing” internally, a newfound sense of compassion for oneself, an unwillingness to be so hard on themselves, new trust in themselves, and easier/deeper connections with others, among many other experiences.
How does NARM therapy work?
The NARM process supports disidentifying from the adaptations we made as young ones. Then we can be present, utilize our embodied adult capacities, and hold all of life’s complexities. We do this by working in the present moment to develop and reinforce nervous system regulation, connection, organization, self-agency.
If you’d like to learn more about either one of these models and how they might benefit you or your clients, reach out, let’s have a chat.
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