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Bodily Based (Somatic) Bottom-Up Psychotherapy for MST

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Understanding and Treating Military Sexual Trauma

Part of the book series: Focus on Sexuality Research ((FOSR))

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Abstract

The following chapter will outline many of the common “promising practices” or somatic (bottom-up) therapies for MST-related PTSD. Research for these therapies will be reviewed, as well as limitations to each modality. Under-researched populations will also be discussed.

What most people do not realize is that trauma is not the story of something awful that happened in the past, but the residue of imprints left behind in people’s sensory and hormonal systems. Traumatized people often are terrified of the sensations in their own bodies.

(Van der Kolk, 2006)

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Zaleski, K. (2018). Bodily Based (Somatic) Bottom-Up Psychotherapy for MST. In: Understanding and Treating Military Sexual Trauma. Focus on Sexuality Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73724-9_8

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