What is Somatic Experiencing® and what can I expect?

One of the many benefits of somatic and body oriented psychotherapy is that it allows for the creation and/or expansion of the container in which we can hold, meet and inevitably tolerate our emotions, sensations and experiences. An expanded capacity translates to more agency within ourselves, our relationships and our lives as a whole. We create and expand this “container” (the body!) through interoceptive awareness and tracking and when done in a therapeutic capacity, in a gently guided and co-regulated presence of a compassionate witness.

According to Somatic Experiencing International, “Somatic Experiencing (SE™) aims to resolve symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze, SE helps us release, recover, and become more resilient. It is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied in multiple professions and professional settings for healing trauma and other stress disorders. It is based on a multidisciplinary intersection of physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics and has been clinically applied for more than four decades. It is the life’s work of Dr. Peter A. Levine. It offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states.” You can learn more on the official website here.

I completed a three year advanced training in Somatic Experiencing and use it integratively, meaning I don’t typically use it as a stand alone modality in my work with clients. This allows it to be woven into a therapeutic context that can best benefit our work together and your goals. There is often a psychoeducational component to facilitate understanding of our own nervous system and empowerment of needs. There is no set “formula” for a session which also allows it to be adapted to the needs of the unique individual and nervous system. SE is helpful for addressing a variety of issues, especially symptoms of trauma & PTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, illness, pain, or anything that may have depleted our vitality or life force. It is a gentle, subtly powerful nervous system based approach that supports the system’s natural intelligence to discharge incomplete survival responses that may manifest as various symptoms, supports greater self + emotional regulation, coherence between systems in the body, stress resiliency and an expanded capacity over time.

In an SE session we may be addressing impacts of the past, but we are working directly with the present moment. We will access the “felt sense” and work with differing elements of experience (sensation, image, behavior, affect, meaning). We may also work with the body memory of a traumatic event (vs. the story) at the pace of your nervous system with the goal of remapping the body memory to regain aliveness.