Somatic Experiencing (SE)
What is Somatic Experiencing (SE)?
​​Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a naturalistic, neurobiological, body-oriented approach to healing trauma and other stress-related disorders. Created by Dr. Peter A. Levine, SE focuses on restoring the body’s natural capacity for self-regulation, relaxation, and a sense of aliveness. By releasing stored trauma energy and resolving stuck survival responses, SE helps individuals reconnect with their authentic selves and regain emotional and physical balance.
Dr. Levine describes trauma as not the event itself but the body’s inability to process the overwhelming experience. SE works at the level of the nervous system, enabling the body to discharge accumulated stress and achieve resolution.
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How Trauma Affects the Nervous System
Trauma is not just a mental experience; it lives in the body, disrupting its natural ability to regulate and adapt. It can arise from intense, life-threatening events such as accidents, invasive medical interventions, abuse, war, or natural disasters. However, it can also result from ongoing stressors like neglect, chronic criticism, or unresolved emotional tension. When trauma occurs, the body’s instinctive survival responses—fight, flight, or freeze—may remain incomplete, leaving the nervous system stuck in a heightened or numbed state.
​These unresolved responses create trapped energy within the body, manifesting as symptoms like hypervigilance, emotional disconnection, or persistent physical pain. Somatic Experiencing (SE) works to address this by supporting the body’s natural process of restoring balance.
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Healing Trauma Through the Body
Unlike traditional talk therapies that focus primarily on the mind, SE engages with the body. Its methods are inspired by observations of animals in the wild, which instinctively discharge stress after facing danger. By guiding clients to safely access and release this stored energy, SE helps the nervous system move out of survival mode and return to its natural state of ease and equilibrium.
In practice, SE focuses on gentle, incremental steps that allow individuals to reconnect with their bodily sensations in a safe and manageable way. Through this process, the body’s innate healing mechanisms are activated, helping to resolve trauma at its root and fostering a greater sense of resilience and well-being.
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What Could You Expect from a Session?
A session is a guided process of reconnecting with your body’s innate capacity for regulation and balance. The goal is to move toward greater organization within the nervous system, helping it shift from states of dysregulation or overwhelm into a more resourced and grounded state.
We begin by cultivating awareness—through my guidance, I help you notice sensations, subtle shifts, and areas of ease or tension in your body. This initial step is crucial, as it lays the foundation for deeper exploration. By directing attention toward places that naturally support regulation, we create small pathways that help build a sense of safety and stability.
As the session unfolds, we work with somatic awareness to gently unwind patterns of stuck energy—whether from trauma, chronic stress, or other nervous system imprints. Through this process, we gradually shift out of habitual loops of dysregulation and begin to downregulate, allowing the body to access a more settled and resilient state. Each session is unique and tailored to what emerges in the moment, always prioritizing safety, presence, and attunement to your experience.
