• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

Make an Appointment

Viva Center, Washington DC

A Happy Mind for a Better Life

Header Right

Make an Appointment

  • Mental Health/COVID-19
    • Free Mental Health Resources
    • In This Together/Juntos En Esto
    • Depression/Mood
    • Anxiety
    • Relationships
    • Trauma
  • Therapies
    • EMDR
    • Brainspotting
    • Body-Based Therapies
    • Talk Therapies
    • Mindfulness & Expressive Arts Therapies
    • Therapy Costs
  • Professional Offerings
    • Join Our Team
    • Trauma-Informed Clinical Practice: Certificate Program
    • Join the Holistic Professionals Group
    • Toastmasters
    • Events
  • About
    • Our Therapists
    • Our Leadership
  • Blog
  • Mental Health/COVID-19
    • Free Mental Health Resources
    • In This Together/Juntos En Esto
    • Depression/Mood
    • Anxiety
    • Relationships
    • Trauma
  • Therapies
    • EMDR
    • Brainspotting
    • Body-Based Therapies
    • Talk Therapies
    • Mindfulness & Expressive Arts Therapies
    • Therapy Costs
  • Professional Offerings
    • Join Our Team
    • Trauma-Informed Clinical Practice: Certificate Program
    • Join the Holistic Professionals Group
    • Toastmasters
    • Events
  • About
    • Our Therapists
    • Our Leadership
  • Blog

Header Right

Make an Appointment

Your Gut Is Telling You Something. Can You Feel It?

Sometimes when I ask a client what they’re feeling, they’ll respond with a thought. 

“I can’t believe what a jerk my boss is,” or “My partner seems to think the dishes get done by themselves.” 

It’s easy to understand why. Most of us do not grow up learning an extensive, emotional vocabulary. Further, we are often unaware or out of touch with the sensations our bodies produce when we feel things. Our bodies hold a rich cache of information about our emotional life. This then influences the statements that our minds generate about what we feel at any given time.

We have common phrases to describe this physiological process, such as “butterflies in my stomach”, “gut reaction”, and “warm all over”. Yet, we sometimes aren’t able to sense where and how emotions show up in our bodies.

Part of the work of a somatic therapist is helping people learn to connect with the “felt sense” of what they’re experiencing, or their gut. This involves paying attention to the cues elicited by the body.

Why is this important?

thinking? is your gut telling you something?

Connecting to your Gut

“When we regard ourselves only through the lens of our thoughts, we have a limited view of who we are,” says Katie Zale, a social work therapist at the Viva Center. 

“In addition,” she explains, “our thoughts can tell us to dismiss, avoid or stuff down what we’re feeling. This ultimately compounds our distress.” 

“To heal the mind, we need to experience the emotions that go with our stories, and those are located in the body, says Hilary Jacobs Hendel. This New York-based psychotherapist is the creator of the Change Triangle, a mental health tool for helping people reconnect with core emotions. 

Hendel believes “we do not have to choose between our thoughts and our emotions … we can become aware of both and understand how thoughts and emotions work together to help us feel better, or worse.”

Tools for Connection

One of the ways Zale works with clients to strengthen the connection with the gut is through the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT encourages us to embrace our thoughts and feelings, no matter how uncomfortable. From there, we can become more psychologically flexible and able to choose how we respond to our feelings.

how are you really? is your gut telling you something?

For example, we might feel extremely nervous before giving a big presentation at work. Our stomach feels tight, our chest feels constricted, and our thoughts tell us that because we feel this way, we’re going to do a poor job. If these sensations become stronger, we might call in sick because we’re convinced we won’t be able to perform. 

Yet, if we can allow the sensations to be present, and rewrite the story we have about them, we may come to realize that we can feel them and continue to function. Over time, we might even learn to expect them, and know that they aren’t to be feared or avoided. 

Zale offers this article to learn exercises for tuning into your body and beginning to learn its language. 

“When we can feel strong sensations and have a neutral or even welcoming response to them, “says Zale,” so much more is possible.” 



Interested in learning more about somatic therapy and how it might benefit you? Contact us at info@vivapartnership.com to learn more. In addition, you can find a wealth of free resources for support via the Resilient Brain Project.


Contributing clinicians:


Katie Zale, LICSW

Katie Zale, LICSW is a clinician at The Viva Center. With a person-centered, client-led approach, she works with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, life transitions and eating disorders. She especially enjoys working with young adults to examine and grow beyond perfectionism and rigidity.

Regina Tosca, therapist, grief, loss
Regina Tosca, LICSW

Regina Tosca, LICSW is a therapist at the Viva Center in Washington, DC. She works with people experiencing grief and loss, including from their work in animal welfare. Other blogs by Regina include “Art Therapy as Trauma Treatment: The Power of Nonverbal Expression” and “Cognitive Tips for Chronic Pain Management“

Additional Blog Posts

Changing the Narrative Can Change Your Life: How EMDR Rewires Deeply Held Beliefs

Compulsory Monogamy: A Discussion on Professional Applications of Non-Monogamy

So You Want to Start Nonverbal Therapy?

Beyond Self-Care: The Pivotal Practices You Need To Address Burnout

Supervision Group: Trauma, Sex, and Relationships

Supervision Group: Trauma, Sex, and Relationships

Supervision Group: Trauma, Sex, and Relationships

Make an Appointment

Category: HappeningsTag: awareness, Mental health, mindfulness, somatic therapies, wellness

Previous Post: « You Look Great! The Intersection Between Eating Disorders and Diet Culture
Next Post: The Importance of Transgenerational Therapy »

Footer

Location

1633 Q St., NW Ste 200
Washington, DC 20009

12644 Chapel Rd Ste. 207
Clifton, VA 20124

Upcoming Events

Feb 16
9:00 am - 10:00 am Recurring

Toastmasters

Feb 17
9:00 am - 10:30 am

Intuitive Painting: Following Your Heart Into Mystery

Mar 2
9:00 am - 10:00 am Recurring

Toastmasters

View Calendar

Free Mental Health Resources

Resilient Brain Project

Live Empowered

Sign up for our monthly newsletter, updates and resources to support your healing journey today.

Subscribe Today

 

For appointments, click here.

For questions, email us at info@vivapartnership.com

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2023 The Viva Center • All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy