Underneath the Words: Decoding Implicit Somatic Dynamics in Couples Therapy
With Somatic Experiencing faculty member Dr. Larry Iannotti, Jennifer Byxbee (Wellness Collective), and traumatologist and author Jordan Dann, LP-D
Oct 11, 2025
10:00 - 12:00pm ET
Location: Virtual
Source/ Event Link: Creative Arts Psychotherapy
“Because the real work of therapy is not about solving the fight over dishes—it's about helping two nervous systems learn how to find each other again.
What happens when your couple is locked in the pursuer–withdrawer loop? When one partner shuts down the moment you lean in, or another becomes demanding, insisting you give them "the answer"?
On the surface, it looks like conflict about dishes, money, or parenting. But underneath, it's the nervous system replaying its earliest attachment patterns—implicit somatic dynamics that are out of awareness, unconscious, and driving behavior into patterns of rigid repetition.
Too often, we get pulled into the content—debating fairness, refereeing arguments, problem-solving logistics. If you stay at the surface level with the words that are being said, you will just get pulled into the pattern that they're already experiencing.
This isn't theory. This is live, experiential practice designed to get you underneath the words and behavior. You'll learn interventions that put each individual in touch with these implicit dynamics—because once someone becomes aware of the somatic dynamics running the show, they can move out of repetition of the past and into the present where they have more choices.
What you'll walk away with:
Concrete skills for tracking subtle cues of dysregulation—the tightening jaw, collapsed posture, averted gaze
Practical interventions for the client who is always demanding answers, the partner who is compliant and immediately agrees, the partner caught in criticism and anger
Embodied techniques to support co-regulation in real time and guide couples into new rhythms of repair
Clinical confidence to work in a way that's more easeful, creative, and boundaried—disentangling yourself from getting induced into their system”