Somatic Experiencing
Play Video
How can Somatic Experiencing (SE™) help you?
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma.
It offers a framework to assess where you are “stuck” in the fight, flight, or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states.
The Somatic Experiencing approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding you to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.(Somatic Experiencing International)
Somatic Experiencing can help you process:
- Trauma
- Grief
- Anxiety
- Depression
Overview
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied in multiple professions and professional settings—Psychotherapy, Medicine, Coaching, Teaching, and Physical Therapy—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.
The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. It offers a framework to assess where you might be “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states.
Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict. (Somatic Experiencing International)
Somatic Experiencing International is the leading authority on the SE™ method and is a major provider of training and educational programs. SE is a body-oriented therapeutic model that helps heal trauma and other stress disorders.
Developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D., it is the result of the multidisciplinary study of Stress Physiology, Psychology, Ethology, Biology, Neuroscience, Indigenous Healing Practices, and Medical Biophysics, with more than 45 years of successful clinical application.
Their Vision: Transforming lives through healing trauma.
Their Mission: Support trauma resolution and resilience through culturally responsive professional education, training, research, and outreach in diverse global communities.
Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. That is one of their guiding principles.
Trauma impacts physical health, mental health, learning, education, and multiple aspects of an individual’s life. Rates of trauma exposure can be as high as 60% in the general population.
Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life-threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict.
Traumatic experiences can take a heavy toll—not just in the moment. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex PTSD (CPTSD) can last for weeks, months, even years after the event.
You might be familiar with some psychological symptoms of PTSD, such as flashbacks and nightmares. Trauma and other mental health concerns like anxiety and depression often cause physical symptoms, too.
That’s where Somatic (meaning “of the body”) Therapy comes in. This approach prioritizes the mind-body connection in treatment to help address both physical and psychological symptoms of certain mental health concerns, including:
- Trauma
- Grief
- Anxiety
- Depression
Somatic Experiencing (SE), a specific approach to Somatic Therapy developed by Dr. Peter Levine, is based on the idea that traumatic experiences can lead to dysfunction in your nervous system, which can keep you from fully processing the experience.
The goal of SE is to help you notice bodily sensations stemming from mental health issues and use this awareness to acknowledge and work through painful or distressing sensations.
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) may work well with
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) is commonly used to treat
Explore the Research
We believe you should have access to high-quality research to help you make informed health decisions. Below are four trusted databases you can use as tools to expand your healthcare knowledge.
