Yeah, when you're tired, you're tired. So, I hope you just allow that to happen. Is the tiredness related to this time of year...did you get my latest newsletter? I talked about that.
You're Type A, eh? Well, it sounds like it's a good thing to be resting. Think of it this way, your body--and your nervous system--is learning something new.
Yes, I can see how behavioural activation would work. One of the most amazing things I got from somatic work is that I could finally see how change occurs. (I couldn't understand why other therapists weren't making more of this.)
I had recently read that it was the "behaviour" in CBT that was accounting for more of the change so what you're describing about behavioural activation sounds right on. Somatic work amounts to the same thing but we add a few things to make it more likely one can succeed at it. We add imaginal work (i.e. imagining the behaviour) and then gauaging the amount of change wanted with the amount of activation in the body so that's it's titrated. We then reduce the activation associated with the behaviour.
The somatic piece helps you to avoid setting yourself up for something you can't handle. But the more important reason--we think--is that by doing this in the presence of another nervous system, we're actually laying down pathways for that change.
So, in the session you build what's necessary to make it happen rather than talking about it and trying to do it on your own. So you create an "experience" in the brain. Doing a behaviour does this too. It creates an "experience" in the brain.
That "experience" with your psychiatrist sounded like his comment came at you from left field. It's too bad because in order to start feeling, we need a lot of safety...the nervous system needs to calm down...that comment would probably put me right back there in freeze mode too.
So, "feeling more" has its draw backs especially at the beginning when you don't know how to deal with emotions that have been blocked away for a time. When I wasn't seeing a therapist for a few years and I started to come out of freeze majorly, I moved right into fight. Look out!!! (Feeling much better, thank-you.)
Chat with you later,
Shrinklady