Therapist notes: body-mind connection
Our self-narratives are expressions of our somatic experiences
We all have stories about our lives. This includes the Big Stories about how we got to be the way we are, and the little ones, like traffic during school drop-off. We experience something and we tell ourselves and others about our experience. This is how we make sense of our world.
Our experiences occur in time, and they take up time. They are real, concrete events that our body lives through. Our bodies have experiences and then our minds explain the experiences. Our minds tell us stories to make those experiences coherent. Sometimes, those narratives are realistic and supportive, but not always. Especially when we are feeling unwell, our narratives become distorted, unrealistic and splintered.
We help clients explore their stories by talking about them, and they can change them with new body experiences. Novel somatic experiences generate a spontaneous reorganization of our internal narratives.
Our internal narratives are not entirely conscious. They are the drumbeat underlying our daily lives. Because they are omnipresent, we assume they are the truth. These internal representations arise in the body because of body experience. Cognitive therapy tries to get to the core beliefs that underpin the…