Trauma can often leave clients with debilitating feelings of fear.
And according to Peter Levine, PhD, it can be difficult to help clients break free of chronic fear without addressing its psychophysiology.
So in the video below, Peter shares how he works with clients suffering from chronic fear and guides us through one simple exercise that can help clients regulate themselves.
Have a look.
Fear is where you’re actually feeling threatened, but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the kind of chronic fear that so many people are in and what kind of tools we can use to not be gripped by this fear and to not be worn out from this fear. And the trick here is to be able to separate the physical sensations of fear. So it could be the heart beating, tightness in the chest, twisting or turning in the gut.Those are the physical sensations and when we’re able to be guided, which is a lot of what somatic experiencing is about, when we allow ourselves to be guided by those sensations or to be able to feel through the sensations. So for example, if a person reports their heart is pounding and it’s racing. So a question I might ask to a client is as you notice your heart pounding and racing, just as you notice it now, as you notice it, does it seem to increase, does it seem to stay the same, does it seem to decrease or does it somehow change to something else?
So just by asking this question, we’re letting the person kind of stretch out their experience of the sensation of fear in the heartbeat. We’re able to enter into the sensation without being overwhelmed by the sensation.
So helping ourselves contain those sensations, those sensations will shift, absolutely, positively, as long as you can uncouple the thoughts or the images from the bodily sensations, allow the bodily sensations to change, and then the fear is gone.
I mean, of course, if there’s something to be frightened about, of course we will respond to that. But basically we’re not feeling fear as a constant companion. So that’s really one of the keys and there are different ways to go about it, especially when we’ve been in the shutdown state for such a period of time, because we then have to find some tools or some kinds of exercises, I call them “awarenessizes” where I just have people feel the fear sensation in their bodies, stand up, and I’ll often do that with them, even if it’s on Skype.
And I’ll do very simple things like skipping. Why even talk about it? Let me give you a demonstration, okay? So I’m feeling just tired, I’m exhausted, I can’t think clearly, I have a hard time even reading and I keep trying to read, and it’s just really more and more frustration. So I say, okay, just for now, see if we can just put that to the side. All of those thoughts and images would come into your mind and let’s just do this together.
And this you may very well have done as children. And if not, I invite the child in you, in any case, invite the child in you to be with the child in me, as I will demonstrate a little teeny exercise we can do. So you’re not going to be able to see the whole of me. All right. Well, you can sort of see me.
Wow. My fingers are tingling. I feel tingling in my feet. I feel warmth in my belly just by doing this one very simple, trivial, put in quotation marks, exercise. So again, we need to mobilize a certain amount of energy. And then through the body sensations, allow the energy, the sensations to go up, and then to come down.
For more expert insights from Peter, check out this course – he’ll get into strategies that can help you work with the part of trauma that clients can’t verbalize.
Now we’d like to hear from you. How have you helped clients who suffer from chronic fear? Let us know in the comments below.
while in the room with clients this technique never fails to help alleviate clients physical sensations of fear.
However, over many years of working in this way and improving mindfulness technique with clients we have achieved very little progress in recovering from M.E, fibro myalgia or chronic fatigue which also seem to be connected to Trauma lodged in the immune system, any suggestions ?
I think Peter Levine is a lovely soul, and a deeply insightful person. Not everyone has the presence, including presence-of- mind, to do this tender yet powerful and creative work. I’m 82 and recently retired from decades of humanistic mind-body healing practices following my MSW from Smith College School for Social Work in 1981.
Not to mention arranging my work, community affiliations, license, liability insurance and CEU needs to conform to the requirements of insurance companies! It’s not easy to do private practice under these changing challenges, but I’ve done many “happy dances” over the years after sessions that were incredibly rewarding and remain vivid. I would like to tip my hat and say bravo to all those who continue to learn how to create presence in the most healing ways for our now and future generations. Many past clients have said with regret, I never thanked my 4th grade teacher, my camp counselor, my friend’s parent, for believing in me. So, to all who work to heal need to know they are being integrated into many wounded hearts with many blessings.
Such an amazing tool. This is a second tool Peter Levine is sharing and those are working wonderfully and pretty well to soothe and calm my inner child when in distress. I can’t wait for more gifts – practical and helpful – to bring in to work. Thank you.
Peter has the most amazing way of getting me to want to engage with something that at first seems just too silly.
“As long as you can un-couple the thoughts or the images from the bodily sensations” … my response to this is that the simple sensations of dysregulation such as rapid heart beat, are simple to un-couple, but these “awarenessizes” are not effective with severe PTSD re-experiencing. Clients may be feeling the sensations of rape, seeing the imagery…
it would be more appropriate to preface this particular technique as assisting with somatic dysregulation for Generalized Anxiety or fears NOT originating from PTSD (especially with child sexual abuse, rape etc)
Agree 100%, thank you for reminding people that not all fears are benign or unjustified. Our society has not prioritized protecting our citizens from harm. Our children are being shot while taking a jog or sitting in school, raped at home and stolen from the streets to be trafficked.
Very good prof Levine. May you give me your personal email? I”am Agostinho Cavalieri from Brazil…
Im Psychologist and I will use this exercice
Best regards
Thank you, so helpful. Especially to consciously separate thoughts from feelings. When the body moves and the sensations are felt, the thoughts change too; they are released from their race.
Thank you for the excellent physical demonstration. I knew the content but watching and doing it with you activated my traumatised self and my observer. Now my stomach is growling like a wild animal after two hours of creative writing, which is how I allow my trauma to rise safely! Much appreciated.
Thank you Nicabm / Peter Levine!
PS I wanted to tag Nicabm on LinkedIn … couldn’t do that. I hope I can any day soon!! Your work is great!
Hi Ella, Thanks for reaching out! You should be able to tag us on LinkedIn at NICABM. I suggest that you try again as everything seems to be working on our side of things. If you are still experiencing issues, feel free to contact us at respond@nicabm.com or send us a message on LinkedIn!
That’s a neat idea. I want to share that I’ve had quite a battle w/ fear but I was prayed for by a very strong Christian & the fear & the stuckness/holding back feelings that came from fear disappeared. So I am very thankful & grateful to God for blessing me in this way to set me free!