How Somatic Trauma Therapy Can Support Eating Disorder Recovery
Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions that extend far beyond surface-level struggles with food and body image. Beneath the visible symptoms lies an intricate web of emotional pain, possible traumatic experiences, and deeply ingrained coping mechanisms. Traditional treatment approaches often focus solely on behavioral and cognitive interventions, but emerging research suggests that somatic trauma therapy offers a profound and holistic pathway to healing that addresses the body's stored trauma at its core.
Understanding the Deep Connection Between Trauma and Eating Disorders
Trauma and eating disorders are intimately interconnected. Many individuals who struggle with disordered eating have experienced significant emotional, physical, or sexual trauma that becomes encoded in their body's nervous system. These traumatic experiences can create powerful survival mechanisms that manifest as disordered eating behaviors – whether it's restricting, binging, over-exercising, rigid food rules, purging, or a combination of behaviors.
Renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's groundbreaking work, "The Body Keeps the Score," illuminates how traumatic experiences are not just psychological memories but physical imprints stored within our muscular and neurological systems. For individuals with eating disorders, these bodily memories can trigger intense emotional responses and the urge to cope by using eating disorder behaviors.
What is Somatic Trauma Therapy?
Somatic trauma therapy is a body-centered approach that recognizes trauma as a physiological experience, not just a psychological one. Unlike traditional talk therapies that primarily engage the cognitive mind, somatic therapy focuses on:
Releasing trapped emotional and physical tension
Reconnecting with bodily sensations
Developing a sense of safety within one's own body
Rebuilding trust in physical experiences
Processing traumatic memories through bodily awareness
How Does Somatic Trauma Therapy Work For Eating Disorders?
Body-based (aka somatic) interventions can be found in therapies like Somatic Experiencing, the Hakomi Method, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Each of these therapeutic modalities helps people build skills to notice, regulate, and heal old patterns that get stored in the body’s nervous system. They all have a similar aim: build sensory awareness, increase nervous system regulation, and increase a felt sense of safety.
Many individuals with eating disorders develop dissociative strategies as a survival mechanism. They disconnect from bodily sensations to protect themselves from overwhelming emotions. Somatic trauma therapy gently guides clients to re-inhabit their bodies, creating a sense of safety and agency.
Unlike approaches that focus solely on symptom management, somatic therapy delves into the underlying traumatic experiences that contribute to disordered eating. By processing these experiences at a bodily level, individuals can develop more authentic and compassionate relationships with themselves.
Through somatic techniques, clients learn powerful self-regulation skills. They discover how to:
Recognize and respond to emotional triggers
Create internal safety
Develop healthy coping mechanisms
Build resilience beyond food-related behaviors
Emerging research in neuroscience and trauma studies continues to validate the effectiveness of somatic approaches. Studies have shown that body-centered therapies can:
Reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress
Improve emotional regulation
Enhance overall quality of life
Support long-term recovery from eating disorders
A Gentle Approach To Somatic Trauma Therapy: Somatic Experiencing
As I’ve learned more about trauma therapy, I’ve been drawn to Somatic Experiencing (SE) because it is a gentle, educational, empowering approach to getting trauma “unstuck” from the nervous system. I like this approach so much that I trained for three years to become a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). I’m going to share more about how SE works in the body and how it can be a useful part of someone’s eating disorder treatment.
SE helps individuals recognize and reset their nervous system's trauma responses. For those with eating disorders, this means:
Learning to identify fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses that trigger disordered eating
Gaining a new language to talk about how their body reacts to triggers instead of getting stuck in shame/guilt spirals for how they cope
Developing tools to calm the autonomic nervous system such as deep breathing, bilateral stimulation, and tracking sensation from more tense to more relaxed areas
Reducing the physiological stress that often drives compulsive eating behaviors
As mentioned before, many individuals with eating disorders have experienced significant disconnection from their bodies. SE therapy supports:
Gradual, gentle re-engagement with bodily sensations so that they aren’t overwhelming anymore
Creating a sense of safety within one's own physical experience such as being able to notice the waistline on their jeans without spiraling about how little they should eat at dinner or planning to purge
Healing the fundamental betrayal many feel towards their bodies so that they can trust their body is a place of neutrality or safety instead of danger
In addition, SE specifically targets how traumatic experiences are stored in the body by:
Allowing incomplete survival responses to be fully processed
Releasing trapped emotional and physical tension
Helping clients complete interrupted fight or flight responses that may have been suppressed during traumatic experiences
Practical Techniques in SE for Eating Disorders
Unlike traditional talk therapies, Somatic Experiencing focuses on body-based healing and doesn't require detailed verbal recounting of traumatic events, which is really nice for people who struggle to talk about bad things that happened to them. SE works directly with the nervous system's innate healing capacity and empowers individuals to complete interrupted survival responses with the following techniques:
Pendulation: A technique that helps individuals move between states of relative calm and activation, teaching the nervous system to self-regulate
Titration: Gradually approaching traumatic memories in small, manageable doses
Resourcing: Developing internal and external resources for feeling safe and supported
Tracking Sensations: Learning to notice and describe bodily sensations without judgment
These techniques have specific benefits for people in eating disorder recovery such as:
1. Emotional Regulation
Reduces the need to use food as a coping mechanism
Develops healthier emotional processing skills
Decreases impulsive eating behaviors
Increased vocabulary to notice and explain what they’re feeling
Increased ability to recognize and advocate for what they need to feel better
2. Trauma Processing
Addresses underlying traumatic experiences
Helps break cycles of self-punishment through eating disorders
Supports healing from past emotional or physical violations
Helps people make meaning out of their experiences so they can live more fully in the present
Supports being in healthy relationships with themselves and others and knowing which relationships are safe
3. Body Autonomy
Rebuilds trust in bodily sensations such as hunger, fullness, contact with others, or the texture of clothing
Promotes self-compassion
Supports a more integrated relationship with the physical self
While SE is powerful, it's most effective when used as part of a comprehensive treatment approach and is conducted by a trained SE professional. It needs to be integrated with nutritional support and medical monitoring (if this is part of someone’s recovery needs). SE is a great stand-alone or addition to therapy since it works by itself and in conjunction with other therapy modalities.
How Do I Find Out More about Somatic Trauma Therapy?
Somatic Experiencing offers a compassionate, body-centered path to healing. It recognizes that eating disorders are not about willpower or personal failure, but complex survival mechanisms that can be transformed through gentle, supportive approaches.
For individuals struggling with eating disorders, SE provides a hopeful approach that honors the body's wisdom and innate capacity for healing. It's not about fixing or changing, but about returning to a state of natural balance and self-compassion.
If you’re interested in finding out more about somatic trauma therapy, and specifically, Somatic Experiencing, check out the Somatic Experiencing International website. You’ll find information about how SE works and a practitioner directory to find a SEP near you.
For folks in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, I’m licensed to provide somatic trauma therapy online. I also see people in person at my Raleigh, NC office. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about Somatic Experiencing therapy and work with you to help heal from your eating disorder.
Start Somatic Trauma Therapy in Raleigh, NC
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, remember: your body is not the enemy. It is a resilient, wise system capable of healing, and somatic trauma therapy can be a powerful ally in that healing journey. You don’t have to suffer. Start your therapy journey with Counselor Kate by following these steps:
Contact me and we’ll set up a discovery call.
Start reconnecting with your body and overcoming trauma.
Other Services with Counselor Kate
Somatic trauma therapy is not the only service that I offer support with. Other services offered include eating disorder treatment and intuitive eating services. Feel free to visit my FAQ, About page, or other resources to learn more about how I can help.