How Somatic Experiencing Can Help You with ED
There are many possible causes of erectile dysfunction (ED). A medical condition such as heart disease or high blood pressure often causes ED. Traumatic experiences can also cause sexual dysfunction. However, even when things aren’t traumatic, stress and anxiety can lead to ED as well.
If you struggle with ED, it may be important to work with a body based therapy to deal with stress and anxiety. Dealing with the anxiety itself can help with some of the physical manifestations of it.
Somatic Experiencing is one way to work through stress, anxiety, and trauma. The psychology behind it confirms that the connection between the mind and body is deep. Something that created a lasting negative impact on your mind can bring up negative physical symptoms.
Here’s how Somatic Experiencing can help you to overcome ED.
What Is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is an alternative type of therapy. It’s a body-oriented approach that focuses on how your mind and body are connected.
Somatic Experiencing allows a client to track the sensations going through their body. It can include breathing exercises, physical exercise, healing touch, or simple body awareness.
SE employs your body’s memory to encourage recovery. In some cases, you won’t even need to talk about the traumatic experience that occurred. Your body will naturally work through the things it may have felt during the experience.
It is used, in a sense, to “reset” the nervous system. That helps to restore a healthy, natural flow between the mind and body. It helps you to remain in the present moment rather than getting overwhelmed by it. As a result, your body can start to respond normally.
How Can SE Help?
Stress can have many lasting effects, including manifesting itself as the symptoms of ED. This is especially true if you experienced a trauma that was sexual in nature. When you’re faced with a sexual situation in the present, your body can respond by preparing for a fight, for running, or for freezing. This can cause sexual dysfunction in different capacities.
Your body goes into “survival” mode when the effects of the trauma come up. It’s a defense mechanism. Depending on how long you’ve lived with the trauma without getting help, it can even feel natural to you to go into this “fight or flight” mode.
SE helps by gradually allowing you to release the stress and emotions you have bound up in your body. You’ll develop an increased tolerance for those emotions, so you can react to them in a more positive way, physically.
It doesn’t happen immediately but over time. This is done so it doesn’t overwhelm the person going through the therapy.
Eventually, your mind and body can start working together again in a natural, flowing state. The trauma will no longer have such a heavy impact on how your body reacts.
Can SE Work for Me?
If you’re struggling with ED, it’s important to figure out why. If it stems from a health issue, talking to your doctor about possible solutions is often the best way to go.
But in situations where talk therapy or medical interventions have not helped, you may benefit from Somatic Experiencing. The therapy will focus on your body’s natural responses, being aware of those reactions as you work through what happened and how you can overcome it. It also focuses on accepting the situation as it is, which oddly enough can promote change.
SE isn’t new, but it isn’t always as well-known as other types of sex therapy.
If you’d like to learn more about how Somatic Experiencing works and what you can expect from the process, please feel free to contact us with any questions.
