The stress and trauma men can experience throughout life can leave internal scars on the body and mind. Over time, if not healed, this can disrupt relationships in men’s lives, create mood swings, insomnia challenges, and lead to isolation.  This blog post will discuss how men can overcome stress and trauma with SIBAM from somatic experiencing therapy. SIBAM stands for Sensation, Image, Behavior, Affect, and Meaning. These will be explored later in the post.
Peter Levine created Somatic Experiencing (SE) therapy, which helps people naturally heal from trauma, stress, and overwhelm. SE therapy tunes into the body’s innate ability to track internal shifts within the body to allow them to be ‘fully’ completed. SE therapy notes that when we experience trauma, the body’s response can become stuck or stay in an ‘incomplete state’. This then can create trauma and other mental health symptoms. More can be read on Peter Levine and his work by following this link here.
SIBAM and SE
SIBAM is a piece of the larger SE therapy model. Somatic therapists use SIBAM based interventions to help the body uncover and track various internal sensations and emotions throughout the body that go otherwise unnoticed. The SIBAM model stands for:
- Sensation – this may take many forms, from energy moving within the body, chills the spine, or muscle groups twitching.
- Image – sometimes using a mental image of a past event can jumpstart the body’s innate ability to heal. On the other hand, an image can also act as an anchor to help regulate the nervous system.
- Behavior – during somatic experiencing therapy some people may experience impulses to move their body or push in a certain direction.
- Affect – is another word for emotion(s). They usually arise and change as different portions of an event are integrated.
- Meaning – at times, people’s perspectives and thoughts about past events can change into a healthier perspective.
A SE therapist near you will use the SIBAM model to help process difficult life experiences that have many different layers. What I mean by this is that in some portions of a memory, there will be body tension (sensation), then emotions (affect), then an image, and then maybe an impulse to move (behavior). Finally, by moving through these different internal experiences you may come to a new meaning about past traumatic events.
Healing the Body with SIBAM
Past traumatic and stressful events can contain multiple layers of sensory data (i.e. sensations, meaning, affect, etc.). This can make it difficult to independently integrate past challenging experiences. SIBAM allows you, within the therapy room, to gently bounce back and forth between these different data points. This allows the memory or memories to become integrated and lose their supercharge reactions. Hence, SIBAM supports the larger SE therapy modality.
Somatic Experiencing (SE) Therapist Near Pleasant Prairie, WI
Most of us have experienced some form of stress and/or trauma in our lives. If these still bother you, SE therapy may benefit you. If you’d like to schedule a free 15-minute consultation call, you can reach us at 720.295.6703 or by submitting an online form here. I look forward to hearing from you.
We offer in-person therapy services for those living near Southern Milwaukee, WI and online therapy sessions for those throughout both Wisconsin and Colorado.
