For Psychologists

Provides structured access to the primary emotions (grief, fear, shame) that underlie the secondary positive affect. The focus on emotional processing gives the client a framework for engaging with feelings they have avoided.

The body often holds what the positive mind has excluded. Somatic work can access grief, fear, and anger that are stored beneath the surface vitality, allowing processing that bypasses the client's well-developed cognitive defenses.

The emphasis on present-moment contact and authentic expression challenges the client to be where they are rather than where they would prefer to be. Experiments that involve staying with negative affect provide the corrective experience of surviving something other than joy.