The Power of
Somatic Experiencing®
A somatic based approach:
Soma is a Greek word meaning “living body”. As Somatic Practitioners we honor and acknowledge the inherent relationship between body and mind. Body and mind are one, there are no differences. We, as humans, are also innately and inherently connected to Nature.
As somatic practitioners, we support people in their journey of connectedness, to and with self, nature and others. We pay particular attention to supporting nervous system regulation and embodiment because we understand that chronic stress, threat, trauma, injury, and abuse can cause a person to be living in their survival physiology - which evolved as a short term reflexive system to sustain life under stress and threat. We are not meant to live our daily lives through this nervous system.
A somatic practice can support a person in coming back to their long-term sustainable physiology.
As somatic practitioners, we support people in their journey of connectedness, to and with self, nature and others. We pay particular attention to supporting nervous system regulation and embodiment because we understand that chronic stress, threat, trauma, injury, and abuse can cause a person to be living in their survival physiology - which evolved as a short term reflexive system to sustain life under stress and threat. We are not meant to live our daily lives through this nervous system.
A somatic practice can support a person in coming back to their long-term sustainable physiology.
What does a Somatic Experiencing® (SE®) Session look like?
Because we know that every time we recall an event, our bodies relive the experience. For this reason, we work with client’s stories and experiences at a pace that supports integration of intensity. Though talking is welcome, sessions are organized around “tracking” or noticing sensations, images, emotions, and meaning as they arise in the present moment. Clients may not necessarily need to share distressing stories at length in order to integrate the intensity of the experience and find relief from their symptoms.
These skills of noticing, with the support of a relationally attuned practitioner, provide the context in which the sustainable life force can be restored.
These skills of noticing, with the support of a relationally attuned practitioner, provide the context in which the sustainable life force can be restored.
Slow is fast!
Working gently and at the “right pace” is the most efficient way to sustainably reintegrate survival energy into the body, and thus we do not seek out big cathartic experiences in sessions. Under these conditions, clients capacity for regulation, the ability to return to physiological and psychological equilibrium after stress, is restored and stabilized.
Supported by their sustainable physiology, clients feel more able to be connected in relationship to people and their environments, have healthy boundaries, feel secure and at home in the world, and be who they are here to be.
Supported by their sustainable physiology, clients feel more able to be connected in relationship to people and their environments, have healthy boundaries, feel secure and at home in the world, and be who they are here to be.
What can we learn from wild animals about trauma recovery?
Dr. Levine, founder of Ergos Institute of Somatic Education, found that prey animals in the wild are rarely traumatized despite routine threats to their lives. Yet human beings are readily traumatized.
Curiously, humans and other animals possess nearly identical brain-and body-based survival mechanisms. All mammals automatically regulate survival responses from the primitive brain mediated by the autonomic nervous system. Under threat, massive amounts of energy are mobilized in readiness for self-defense via the fight, flight, freeze responses. Once safe, animals spontaneously discharge this excess energy, restoring equilibrium and resetting the nervous system.
Animals in the wild utilize innate mechanisms to regulate the high levels of energy arousal associated with defensive survival behaviors. These mechanisms provide animals with a built-in 'immunity' to trauma that enables them to return to normal in the aftermath of highly charged experiences.
Somatic Experiencing® takes these lessons from the wild and applies them to gently accelerate release and healing.
SE™ does not require the traumatized person to re-tell or re-live the traumatic event. Instead, it offers the opportunity to engage, complete, and resolve — in a slow, gentle and supported way — the body's instinctual fight, flight, freeze and collapse responses. Individuals locked in anxiety or rage can then relax into a growing sense of peace and safety. Those stuck in depression can gradually find their feelings of hopelessness and numbness transformed into empowerment, triumph, and mastery.*
Curiously, humans and other animals possess nearly identical brain-and body-based survival mechanisms. All mammals automatically regulate survival responses from the primitive brain mediated by the autonomic nervous system. Under threat, massive amounts of energy are mobilized in readiness for self-defense via the fight, flight, freeze responses. Once safe, animals spontaneously discharge this excess energy, restoring equilibrium and resetting the nervous system.
Animals in the wild utilize innate mechanisms to regulate the high levels of energy arousal associated with defensive survival behaviors. These mechanisms provide animals with a built-in 'immunity' to trauma that enables them to return to normal in the aftermath of highly charged experiences.
Somatic Experiencing® takes these lessons from the wild and applies them to gently accelerate release and healing.
SE™ does not require the traumatized person to re-tell or re-live the traumatic event. Instead, it offers the opportunity to engage, complete, and resolve — in a slow, gentle and supported way — the body's instinctual fight, flight, freeze and collapse responses. Individuals locked in anxiety or rage can then relax into a growing sense of peace and safety. Those stuck in depression can gradually find their feelings of hopelessness and numbness transformed into empowerment, triumph, and mastery.*
*Source: Somatic Experiencing®
If you’d like to learn more about Somatic Experiencing® or the Nervous System, please see our courses.
If you’d like to schedule a session, please contact us. We have several Somatic Experiencing Practitioners.
If you’d like to schedule a session, please contact us. We have several Somatic Experiencing Practitioners.
