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Psychotherapy

TRE™ can complement professional psychotherapy, creating synergy between somatic and psychological approaches to healing. The body releases what words sometimes cannot reach. Different therapeutic traditions offer different points of integration with TRE™.

How psychotherapy and TRE™ work together​

What psychotherapy offers TRE™​

  • Provides framework for understanding what arises
  • Offers relational support for processing
  • Addresses cognitive and relational dimensions
  • Provides professional guidance for complex material
  • Creates container for deeper work

What TRE™ offers psychotherapy​

  • Accesses material held in the body that verbal therapy may not reach
  • Provides somatic completion of what therapy surfaces
  • Supports integration between sessions
  • Offers ongoing nervous system regulation
  • Grounds cognitive insights in body experience

Humanistic and experiential approaches​

Humanistic therapies emphasise present-moment experience, the therapeutic relationship, and the client’s inherent capacity for growth. These approaches are particularly well-suited to integration with TRE™ because they already value embodied experience and trust the organism’s wisdom.

Person-centred therapy​

Person-centred therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, emphasises unconditional positive regard, empathy, and the client’s self-directed healing capacity.

Natural fit with TRE™​

  • Both trust the organism’s innate healing wisdom
  • Both are non-directive: the body/client leads
  • The emphasis on self-regulation in TRE™ mirrors person-centred respect for autonomy
  • The felt sense explored in therapy deepens through body awareness from TRE™

Integration​

  • TRE™ practice between sessions supports the self-actualising tendency
  • Body awareness enhances access to the ‘organismic valuing process’ Rogers described
  • Therapist’s unconditional regard extends to whatever arises somatically

Gestalt therapy​

Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, emphasises present-moment awareness, embodiment, and completing ‘unfinished business’.

Natural fit with TRE™​

  • Gestalt already works extensively with the body
  • Both emphasise awareness of present-moment sensation
  • TRE™ can help complete the ‘unfinished gestures’ Gestalt identifies
  • The tremor mechanism naturally supports Gestalt’s focus on organismic self-regulation

Integration​

  • Gestalt techniques (empty chair, body awareness) prepare the ground for TRE™
  • TRE™ can complete what Gestalt work surfaces
  • Both practices support moving from ‘aboutism’ to direct experience

Existential therapy​

Existential therapy addresses fundamental questions of meaning, freedom, death, and isolation. While seemingly abstract, existential themes are deeply embodied.

How TRE™ complements​

  • Anxiety about existence often manifests as chronic body tension
  • Embodiment grounds abstract existential exploration
  • Releasing held tension can shift one’s relationship to existential concerns
  • The body’s aliveness accessed through TRE™ counters existential numbness

Integration​

  • Existential exploration in therapy; embodiment practice through TRE™
  • Body awareness brings existential themes into lived experience
  • TRE™ can help release the ‘existential anxiety’ held in the body

Cognitive and behavioural approaches​

Cognitive therapies work primarily with thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours. While TRE™ works at a different level, the two approaches can complement each other effectively.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)​

CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours.

How TRE™ complements​

  • Cognitive restructuring — Body-based grounding makes new thoughts more accessible
  • Behavioural activation — Nervous system regulation supports motivation and action
  • Anxiety management — Somatic release addresses the physical component of anxiety
  • Exposure work — TRE™ helps discharge activation from exposure exercises

Integration​

  • Use TRE™ to reduce baseline activation, making CBT techniques more accessible
  • After challenging CBT sessions, TRE™ can help process residual activation
  • Body awareness from TRE™ can help identify thoughts through their physical signatures

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)​

ACT emphasises psychological flexibility, acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action.

Natural fit with TRE™​

  • Both emphasise acceptance rather than control
  • ACT’s mindfulness component develops body awareness
  • TRE™ embodies the ‘willingness’ ACT cultivates
  • Both support being present with difficult experience

Integration​

  • ACT’s defusion techniques help with thoughts that arise during TRE™
  • TRE™ provides direct experience of ‘acceptance’ at the body level
  • Values clarification in ACT can inform how TRE™ practice is integrated into life

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)​

DBT, developed by Dr Marsha Linehan, combines cognitive-behavioural techniques with mindfulness and acceptance.

How TRE™ complements​

  • Distress tolerance — TRE™ builds nervous system capacity for activation
  • Emotion regulation — Somatic release supports emotional processing
  • Mindfulness — Body awareness deepens present-moment attention
  • Interpersonal effectiveness — Regulated nervous system supports better relating

Integration​

  • Body awareness enhances the ‘observe’ and ‘describe’ mindfulness skills
  • TRE™ between DBT sessions supports integration
Coordination required

If you’re in DBT treatment, coordinate TRE™ practice with your therapist. DBT is often used for significant emotional dysregulation, and TRE™ should be introduced carefully within that context.

Psychodynamic approaches​

Psychodynamic therapies explore unconscious processes, early experiences, and relationship patterns. TRE™ can support this work by accessing material held in the body.

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy​

How TRE™ complements​

  • The body holds what the mind has repressed
  • Somatic release can surface unconscious material for exploration
  • TRE™ can access pre-verbal, early developmental material
  • Physical release supports working through emotional content

Integration​

  • Material arising in TRE™ can be explored in therapy
  • Therapy provides container for understanding somatic experiences
  • Body awareness adds dimension to transference exploration
  • TRE™ between sessions supports ongoing processing
Check with your therapist

Some psychodynamic practitioners prefer to work without outside interventions.

Attachment-focused therapy​

Attachment-focused approaches address early relational patterns and their impact on current functioning.

How TRE™ complements​

  • Attachment patterns are encoded in the body
  • The nervous system holds early relational experiences
  • TRE™ can release held attachment activation
  • Co-regulation in TRE™ mirrors healthy attachment

Integration​

  • TRE™ practice can surface attachment-related material
  • Therapy provides relational container for processing
  • Working with a Certified TRE™ Provider offers corrective relational experience
  • Body awareness helps identify attachment activation in real-time

Parts work​

Internal Family Systems (IFS)​

IFS, developed by Richard Schwartz, works with the different ‘parts’ of our psyche: protective parts, wounded parts (exiles), and the core Self.

How TRE™ supports IFS​

  • Releasing what parts hold — Parts often hold tension in the body. TRE™ can release this physical holding.
  • Accessing parts through the body — Body sensations during TRE™ may signal parts wanting attention.
  • Self-energy access — The regulated state after TRE™ supports access to Self energy.
  • Integration — TRE™ helps integrate shifts achieved in IFS sessions.

How IFS supports TRE™​

  • Understanding what arises — When emotions surface during TRE™, IFS provides a framework for understanding.
  • Working with resistance — Protective parts may resist tremoring. IFS can help these parts feel safe enough to allow release.
  • Processing content — Material that surfaces during TRE™ can be explored in IFS sessions.
Not just IFS

Other parts-based approaches similarly benefit from the somatic dimension of TRE™. The body often holds what parts carry, and release at the somatic level supports parts work.

Practical guidance​

Timing​

  • Some find TRE™ before therapy sessions opens them up
  • Others find TRE™ after sessions helps integrate the work
  • Experiment to find what works for you

Communication and coordination​

  • Inform your therapist about your TRE™ practice
  • Share relevant experiences from practice
  • Bring TRE™ experiences into sessions when relevant
  • Coordinate more closely if you have significant trauma history

Considerations​

  • Combining modalities can accelerate access to deep material; ensure adequate support.
  • Timing of TRE™ relative to therapy sessions varies by individual.
  • Some therapeutic traditions prefer clients not to do outside body practices; discuss with your therapist.
Professional collaboration

Inform your therapist about your TRE™ practice. Many therapists welcome somatic approaches. The combination of verbal processing and somatic release often accelerates and deepens the work.