Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing (SE), developed by Dr. Peter Levine, is a neuroscientifically-based approach for the treatment of trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and related concerns. Somatic Experiencing supports the body’s innate capacity to heal after overwhelming and traumatizing experiences. SE does not require an individual to re-tell or re-live their traumatic event, and this gentle and effective approach can be offered as an accompaniment to other therapeutic modalities or as a body-based, “bottom-up” alternative to more cognitive, “top-down” approaches.

During traumatic events, our bodies instinctively take measures to help us survive. Those actions represent the wisest thing our bodies can do to facilitate our survival in the moment, but they may ultimately be unsustainable over the long-term or after the traumatizing event has passed. Using Somatic Experiencing, we can work together to help restore the balance of your nervous system. 

Somatic Experiencing techniques help to determine where a person’s nervous system is “stuck” in the fight, flight, freeze response cycle and then release the survival energy that can sometimes remain bound in the body following a traumatizing event. Our bodies can get “stuck” in a response to a wide variety of events including assault, loss, neglect, car accidents, medical procedures, natural disasters, war, birth trauma, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, or the cumulative effect of chronic stressors related to social oppression.  

For more information on Somatic Experiencing or Somatic Experiencing research go to: http://traumahealing.org