What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle yet effective modality for resolving trauma and increasing resilience within the autonomic nervous system. Oftentimes stress, trauma, and shock remain present within the body if one has not been provided with adequate support for regulation. By accessing the wisdom of your body, SE supports your innate ability to escape threat, orient to safety, and build capacity to experience a wider range of emotion. Originally developed by Dr. Peter Levine through careful study of physiology, biology, and neuroscience, SE provides insight into the incredibly wise connection between the body, mind, and spirit.
Traumatic experiences, whether a single event or chronic, are stored in our very cells through the body’s self-protection mechanisms. Body-centered psychotherapy provides careful attention to how traumatic experiences have developed long-standing patterns of movement, tension, and pain within one’s system.
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Somatic therapy is a body-oriented therapeutic approach that prioritizes connecting with ones’ body and nervous system as a gentle way to increase emotional expression and regulation as well as heal from all types of trauma. This is different from traditional talk therapy interventions that place more of a focus on thought patterns, beliefs, and cognitive functioning. Somatic work takes a “bottom up” approach whereas talk therapy tends to be more “top down”. Body-centered psychotherapy recognizes the fundamental relationship between the human body and ones’ psychological wellbeing and allows us to look at the entirety of ones’ experience, not just our thoughts.
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Somatic therapy can be beneficial in so many different ways for many different people. Many individuals find relief with somatic work, especially when traditional talk therapy has been unhelpful in addressing physiological patterns of stress and tension. Somatic therapy can also help you connect with yourself in a deeper way by helping you build resilience to life’s challenges, building a larger capacity to hold emotions, and finally experience freedom from past traumatic experiences.
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You can learn more about Somatic Experiencing here.
somatic experiencing faqs
You may benefit from Somatic work if you…
generally experience detachment, distrust, or disconnection from your body
desire a deeper understanding of how trauma “shows up” in the nervous system
experience chronic health conditions, chronic pain, or have unexplained or psychosomatic symptoms
suffer from emotional dysregulation or feel “all over the place” or “constantly on edge”
experience numbness, dissociation, or tend to “shut down”
yearn to come home to your body and experience a greater sense of safety within yourself