How to Expand Nervous System Capacity through IFS Therapy and Somatic Interventions
The limitations of healing through the mind
I’ve never been a fan of purely cognitive approaches, but it’s not because I’m not a “thinker.” On the contrary, as an AuDHDer (autistic + ADHD), I have parts who LOVE to “chew on” new ideas, make sense of the world, plan and organize, and go on all the deep dives my brain feels pulled toward.
Thinking parts have so much value to offer, and they should be embraced for how beautifully they allow us to function in all the ways. In fact, for many of us who are neurodivergent, especially autistic folks, “intellectualizing” can serve as an important protective process to help us feel safe because being confused can lead to threats to our emotional and physical wellbeing. I call this my “make it make sense” part, and it serves an important role that I believe is worth honoring.
And at the same time, there is a limit to the depth of healing we can experience when our thinking parts get all of the attention, especially because they are not separate from our embodied experience, no matter how much modern society would treat it as such.
What keeps us from being embodied
Living in late stage capitalism teaches us that our bodies are machines we’re meant to “hack” for greater efficiency and productivity, rather than the organic vessels that allow us to fully experience life to whatever capacity we’re able.
For many, we have explicit experiences of being unsafe in our bodies. These parts might have been necessarily pushed down because the fear and terror they experienced can feel like too much.
This is why in trauma work, titration is key, and moving away from the overwhelm can be an intentional act of care until we’ve built more capacity to be with the intensity of it all.
The importance of nervous system capacity
When we have learned to distrust our bodily sensations because of trauma, or struggle to interpret them without the proper support, such as the challenges with interoception that many autistic and ADHD folks experience, we will understandably misinterpret the very conclusions our thinking parts come to as fully accurate rather than shaped by our body’s experiences.
This is especially true for those of us who were either born wired with more sensitive nervous systems or had our nervous systems shaped by repeated activations because of trauma and ongoing misattunement in life.
Better understanding our foundational nervous system capacity gives us an opportunity to access what’s needed to expand it if possible, or accept and honor it if not.
Our nervous systems don’t take well to being “reasoned with;” rather, gentle awareness, intentional and intuitive movement, and other somatic therapy interventions create the connections we need.
[When you’re ready to experiment with what this might look and feel like in your body, I invite you to follow along with the video at the bottom of this post for an 8-minute somatic embodiment practice, which can also be found in my Video Resource Library]
How an embodied approach to IFS Therapy can help us heal
IFS Therapy or Internal Family Systems is based on the foundational belief that we are all born with a core Self, holding all of the qualities we need to grow and thrive, and unique parts who take on burdens in their efforts to keep us safe but can unlock our potential when healed.
Self energy moves through our unique brains and bodies and is informed by the capacities within. For neurodivergent brains, Self energy can access both the gifts that can come from our unique parts when they’re unburdened, while still being limited by the challenges our brains and bodies face.
Presence isn’t merely an idea but rather a practice of “being with” our parts with intention. We can start by getting curious about what creates expansiveness and honors our authenticity to begin opening ourselves to a felt sense of Self energy embodied.
It’s not always about calm either; sometimes it’s an honoring of the opposite, and being true to our rage in ways that empower rather than harm. Our hard edges deserve softness too.
Despite our busy minds, we can honor our own pacing and meet ourselves where we’re at by simply paying attention. This attunement leads to more clarity to meet the shifting needs of our embodied parts, moment to moment.
Going deeper with somatic and interoceptive awareness
As mentioned before, going inside doesn’t always feel safe and can require continual resourcing along the way, whether through self-regulation or co-regulation with a trusted other, be it human, animal, or nature itself.
But with the proper support in place, it is possible to begin connecting with one’s sensory and nervous system experience in such a way that creates freedom from the automatic processes that have been running in the background.
Once that safety is established, we can begin to recognize the sensations associated with our protective and vulnerable parts, the impulses they hold that signal us toward unmet needs, and the movement they crave that offers us a pathway to complete those interrupted cycles.
Rather than rushing to the end, as our impatient parts would drive us to do, we have an opportunity to start gently, with neutrality as a home base from which we can start to titrate in experiences of discomfort and tension, and ultimately begin to access pleasure and a state of embodied joy that our parts have been longing for.
Sabrina Bolin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founder of Belong Within Therapy. As a multiracial (Vietnamese White), neurodivergent (AuDHD), queer (pansexual) cisgender woman, she helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent, and other marginalized and misunderstood humans relate to themselves and to the people in their lives with more compassion and greater understanding through a relational and embodied approach to IFS. Reach out today to learn more about how Sabrina can support you.