The use of Somatic Experiencing Touch work with Tsunami Survivors in India

Raja Selvam Ph.D., a senior faculty member of the Somatic Experiencing professional training programs and founder of Trauma Vidya, organized a team of Somatic Experience practitioners to work with survivors after the 2004 Tsunami in South India.    They provided a short-term psycho-physiological approach treatment to over 200 adults and 50 children from 13 villages in South India’s state of Tamil Nadu.  The follow up research reported significant relief from symptoms, four weeks after the treatment.64  I would like to showcase this study to bring light to their success in the application of Somatic Experiencing hands on supportive touch work in their trauma interventions.

“Touch can be a very effective because human bodies are designed by nature to interactively regulate each other, especially in times of distress, as every mother intuitively knows.”65  In their Somatic Experiencing sessions with survivors of the tsunami, practitioners would apply the use of touch as an additional tool in their sessions, which would greatly support the stabilization of dysregulated physiology, and assist in the person’s self-regulation.  It can serve as a counter balance to the “epicenter” of the disruptive feelings inside a person to receive supportive contact.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of touch I’d like to share the following case study conducted by one of the team members, Jeanne du Rivage in their trauma intervention in post tsunami south India:

The boy whose heart was beating fast

As team member Jeanne du Rivage was wrapping up for the day, a young boy approached her, took her hand in his hand and placed it on his heart and uttered the word “tsunami.”  His heart was beating very rapidly and he communicated his need for help with his eyes and gestures.  He reported that his heart had been beating fast like that since the tsunami.  Much moved by this interaction with the boy, Jeanne sought permission to stay longer to work with him.  With the help of a translator, Jeanne helped him to normalize his heart rate by touching his chest and teaching him how to sense his body and help the discharge of high arousal in his nervous system through his arms and legs.  The boy was very responsive and seemed to intuitively understand the process.  At the end of the treatment, his heart rate was normal and he was more relaxed and happy.”66

 

As exhibited above in the case study, a traumatic response can manifest as a physical symptom.  In his case this child’s rapid heart beat.  He was able to find resolution from his symptom through receiving supportive Somatic Experiencing touch work, in combination with discharging his high state of arousal.

Another example of the effectiveness of supportive touch can be seen with a survivor of hurricane Katrina, as shared by one of the practitioners who was helping in the tsunami trauma interventions in India.  Due to this survivors recent experiences in the hurricane, he developed extreme anxiety and wasn’t able to fall asleep for days.  With the supportive contact of a hand behind his neck within minutes he was able to fall asleep.66   This suggests that supportive touch instantly helped his nervous system to shift away from sympathetic arousal, to the relaxing “rest and digest” mode of the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system.

In the article “To Touch Or Not to Touch: Exploring the Myth of Prohibition On Touch In Psychotherapy And Counseling” Ofer Zur states: “Recent research done by the touch institute has demonstrated that touch triggers a cascade of chemical response-a decrease in urinary stress hormones (cortisol, catecholamine’s, norepinephrines, epinephrine), increases serotonin and dopamine levels.67 Not only does touch feel helpful, but as Zur suggests, there are actual chemicals and hormonal shifts that are occur during the use of touch that support the healing process.



64 Selvam Ph.D., Raja. “Treating Tsunami Survivors for Trauma The effectiveness of a short-term psycho-physiological trauma treatment approach among South Asian tsunami survivors.” Journal of Holistic Healthcare 2.4 (2005). Print. Pg. 1.

65 Selvam Ph.D., Raja. “Treating Tsunami Survivors for Trauma The effectiveness of a short-term psycho-physiological trauma treatment approach among South Asian tsunami survivors.” Journal of Holistic Healthcare 2.4 (2005). Print. Pg. 2.

66 Selvam Ph.D., Raja. “Treating Tsunami Survivors for Trauma The effectiveness of a short-term psycho-physiological trauma treatment approach among South Asian tsunami survivors.” Journal of Holistic Healthcare 2.4 (2005). Print. Pg. 3.

67 Zur, Ofer, and Nola Nordmarken. To Touch Or Not To Touch: Exploring the Myth of Prohibition On Touch In Psychotherapy And Counseling. Zur Institute, 2004. Www.drozur.com/touchinstitute.html. 2004. Web. Pg.4.