Somat Awareness Theory

New perspectives on personality styles and survival

Somat Awareness proposes a theory of personality, human health, and behavior, that is not at all new. By simply reformulating older constructs, it offers a bridge between conflicting concepts, theories, and schools of thought, in terms that can be readily understood by scholars (and laymen!) of diverse orientations.

Somat theory offers mutually acceptable solutions to issues in emotion, motivation, behavior, mental health, psychotherapies, disease and healing, and the placebo phenomena, that are compatible with existing theories and practices. This is a brief overview only; the interested reader is invited to review our Publications for a variety of papers on the theory that have been presented at major conferences.

Somat theory utilizes two constructs, "Somat" and "Survival Brain" to better understand and reconcile other theories and phenomena. "Somat" at the same time suggests a better understanding of "emotions."

"Somat," a new construct, developed to operationalize the vague, contradictory, confusing and unscientific term "feelings," is defined as "the smallest unit of potentially perceptible change in the physical sensations within the body." A somat has the potential to initiate emotional and behavioral response. Somats may reflect processes originating within the body, or mediated by mental processes.

"Survival Brain System" (SBS), also a new construct, describes a functional aspect only of the central nervous system, totally independent of physical location or constituents. Its function is to promote survival; it is rapid but often imprecise. Depending on one's orientation, SBS can also be conceptualized as a synonym for the non-conscious aspects of the brain: soul, psyche, instincts, unconscious, primary process, conditioned reflex, and so on.

Somat Awareness Theory started with an attempt to operationalize the popular concept "Being in Touch With One's Feelings" and to explore the contention that this attitude was in some way desirable. It also sought to establish whether this "Being in Touch With Feelings" could be taught and learned. A 15-year study, commencing in 1982, included the development of a new measure, "Style In Perception Of Affect Scale" (SIPOAS), based on the responses of over one thousand subjects, utilizing over thirty validating measures and factors.

The study revealed three different styles in responding to the somats (the so-called "feelings"):

• BB ("Based on the Body"
• EE ("Emphasis on Evaluation")
• LL ("Looking to Logic")

It is postulated that the enhancement of mental health and a variety of desirable personality characteristics stems from a relaxed, rapid, accurate, and effortless awareness of the subtle changing somats. Confusions, or repression/denial, of the physical sensations in the body lead to sub-optimal emotional and behavioral responses. Similarly, confusions, repression or denial of the subtle sensations in the body that are the precursors of disease (and of certain injuries), may hinder the deployment of the body's natural immune and healing responses. In other words, relaxed, rapid, accurate, and effortless awareness of the subtle changing sensations in the body would enhance immunity to, and recovery from, disease and injury.

The construct of somat awareness may help us better understand the healing qualities of some of the alternative medical and health modalities. Somat awareness may constitute the core of many hitherto unexplained healing processes and may provide an adequate explanation for the placebo effect in many instances.