Somatic Facilitation Therapy (SFT) is a specialized form of physical, emotional and mental relaxation therapy designed expressly for the purpose of relieving pain. It offers a natural, holistic alternative for certain chronic conditions that can only be medically treated with pain-relieving drugs. “Somatic” comes from "soma,” the Greek word for body.
SFT is administered by a specially trained New Freedom Health therapist. Our services are outpatient only, provided in the comfort of your home. We currently offer service in select North Dallas and suburban areas.
The injuries you suffer during your lifetime — physical and emotional — can have a long-lasting impact on your central nervous system.
Stressful experiences cause neurological trauma. These include:
Automobile and other accidents
Physical injuries, illnesses, and surgeries
Deaths of loved ones
Marriage and relationship problems
Family crises
Psychological, physical, and sexual abuse
Occupational stress
Financial difficulties
Long after your apparent recovery from a physical injury or an emotional crisis, the "imprint" of the trauma remains on your central nervous system. This imprint can lie dormant for years, even decades. Then, later in life, it emerges, revealing its presence by causing intense physical pain. Your doctors can’t provide a diagnosis — much to your frustration, nothing shows up on medical tests. And because your doctors are unable to find a physiological cause of your pain, they dismiss it as "phantom" or "psychosomatic." They may prescribe antidepressants—or pain drugs—to make you feel better. But the pills provide only limited relief and you may be concerned about being dependent on them.
At New Freedom Health, we know that the pain you’ve been feeling is all too real. It’s called Post-Traumatic Pain Syndrome, or PTPS.
One common type of PTPS pain is sciatica. The pain begins in the lower back and travels down the buttocks to the legs. A second common type is fibromyalgia. Severe pain may be felt in the chest or abdomen, or in severe cases, throughout the entire body. A third common type of PTPS pain is neuropathy which causes tingling, numbness or pain in the legs and feet, or arms and hands.
PTPS pain can rob you of peace of mind and joy of living. It can cause depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping, and nightmares.
PTPS can also cause chronic digestive problems that gastroenterologists are unable to treat. It can cause hypersensitivity to smells and light. In the most severe cases, PTPS can cause hormonal imbalances, sexual dysfunction, immune system disorders and may be a contributing factor in the onset of dementia.
Somatic Facilitation Therapy was developed to help patients with a broad range of PTPS symptoms.
We classify standard massage therapy, physical therapy, and chiropractic as "assertive" methods because they are based on manipulation of your body. In some cases, the manipulation is forceful enough to inflict pain - the very last thing you need! In these therapies, the human body is viewed as a collection of separate parts, like the parts of a car. As such, these therapies are most effective for treating purely biomechanical conditions in which bones and muscles aren’t working properly. Components of your health that can’t be seen on X-rays—such as your emotions—aren’t considered.
SFT, by contrast, is "receptive." Our therapist’s only agenda is to be responsive to your needs. Our perspective is holistic. We see the body and mind as an integrated system in which the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. Most importantly, SFT is always gentle, soothing, and calming.
Somatic Facilitation Therapy can help you with the true cause of your pain— trauma to your central nervous system—and release you from it.
Before your first SFT session, your New Freedom Health therapist will ask you to complete a brief health history questionnaire. If you have certain serious conditions—heart disease, for example—we may ask you to obtain a note from your doctor.
Your therapist will also invite you to share your thoughts and feelings in conversation. Without intruding on your privacy, we would like to get to know you. In our experience, knowing you better might help us help you more.
For most types of post traumatic pain, full body therapy is indicated. The paragraphs that follow describe such an SFT session. The method may sound so simple that its effectiveness seems improbable. Within that simplicity, however, is a complex and highly nuanced process—that simply works.
You prepare as you would for standard massage. You undress in private and lie down, covering yourself with a sheet. You may be comforted to know that in SFT, your therapist works entirely under the sheet for hand on skin contact. You remain completely covered at all times. Your therapist never sees your body.
The first goal of an SFT session is your complete relaxation. Your therapist will help you get comfortable and can offer calming music or nature sounds to help create an ambiance of total peace.
The SFT session is one hour. It has three phases: First, your therapist will gently place his/her hands on various places of your body to understand your anatomy. Then, he/she will apply soothing touch to the areas of your body that are painful. Finally, your therapist will restore your feeling of well-being with a unique sequence of slow, gliding hand movements applied broadly over your body. Your SFT therapist’s hands are trained to be extremely sensitive to changes in your body caused by Post-Traumatic Pain. This is the key to SFT’s unique effectiveness.
A typical course of Somatic Facilitation Therapy consists of one or two 1-hour sessions per week over four to eight weeks depending on your needs. At the end of your course of therapy, your therapist will help you evaluate your progress. You may continue your SFT as long as you feel it’s helping you.
SFT patients typically report that their pain has been substantially reduced or eliminated entirely. Most often, they are able to take far fewer pain and anti-depressant pills, or stop them completely.
In addition to sciatica, fibromyalgia and neuropathy, Somatic Facilitation Therapy may be able to help you with back, arm, shoulder, leg, or buttock pain, or tense and tight muscles.
Our services do not require a doctor's prescription.
Please note that we do not take Medicare or insurance.
Somatic Facilitation Therapy is not medical treatment. New Freedom Health therapists cannot diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any illness or condition, and they do not provide medical advice. New Freedom Health therapists are not physical therapists, chiropractors, or psychological counselors. New Freedom Health services are intended for recreational purposes only, and not as a substitute for treatment by medical professionals. You should never make decisions about your health based on anything published by New Freedom Health, or told to you by a member of our staff. See your doctor if you have concerns about your physical or mental health, and before making any changes to your medications, level of physical activity, diet or dietary supplements. 102023
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