Interoception
Sensing internal bodily signals — heartbeat, hunger, tension, breathing.
How it shows up
Some people barely register these signals and only notice at the point of exhaustion that they were hungry or tense. Others register them too strongly and read every heartbeat as danger.
What we do with it in therapy
Interoception is a precondition for emotion regulation — without the signal there is no response. Body-based exercises strengthen it gradually, and carefully where there is trauma.
See also
Psychotherapy
The deliberate treatment of psychological difficulties by psychological means, within an ordered and confidential relationship.
Codependency
A relationship in which your own worth is measured by how much you care for someone else.
Polyvagal theory
A model describing three states of the nervous system: safe connection, mobilisation and freeze.
