Somatic Experiencing®

TRAUMA IS A FACT OF LIFE. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A LIFE SENTENCE. -Peter Levine

As a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, I often integrate Somatic Experiencing® techniques into my work. Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Peter A. Levine, PhD, as body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders. Levine developed this approach after observing that prey animals, whose lives are routinely threatened in the wild, are able to recover readily by physically releasing the energy they accumulate during stressful events. Humans, on the other hand, often override these natural ways of regulating the nervous system with feelings of shame and pervasive thoughts, judgments, and fears.

Somatic Experiencing® aims to help people move past the place where they might be “stuck” in processing a traumatic event. The SE™ approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. SE™ isn’t about reclaiming memories or changing our thoughts and beliefs about how we feel, but looking at the sensations that lie underneath our feelings, and uncovering our habitual behavior patterns to these feelings. We know that trauma isn’t about the event that happened to you. Trauma is about how that experience changed your nervous system. So we don’t discuss what happened if you don’t want to.

Somatic Experiencing® operates in cycles, where you sense your way through the normal cycle of internal sensations – contraction/expansion, pleasure/pain, warmth/cold – but only at the level that you can handle. This repeated, rhythmic process helps you to develop a greater capacity to handle stress, experience a sense of flow, and stay in the present moment.

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If you are interested in learning more, Contact me to schedule your free, in-person, 30 minute consultation.