Somatic Experiencing®
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”
Dr. Peter Levine
What is Somatic Experiencing®?
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) is a pioneering, body-based approach to overcoming the effects of stress, overwhelm, and trauma.
It is the life’s work of American psychotherapist, Dr. Peter Levine, and is the result of the multidisciplinary study of stress physiology; psychology; ethology; biology; neuroscience; indigenous healing practices; and medical biophysics. It has had more than 45 years of successful clinical application.
In his studies of animals living in the wild, Dr. Peter Levine noticed that whilst they were regularly threatened with death, few were traumatised. Wild animals naturally discharge survival energy from their bodies either by acting on their primal instinct for survival (for example by running away), and/or by shaking after the event.
We have the same capacity to overcome overwhelming experience, but our rational brain frequently ‘rejects’ the powerful primal instinct of the body. The result is that survival fight/flight energy gets trapped in our nervous system where it can lead to all sorts of symptoms, beliefs and unhelpful behaviours; sometimes immediately, sometimes not until years later.
How can Somatic Experiencing® help me?
In the West, we have historically treated the symptoms of trauma. For example, we might treat psychological symptoms such as anxiety or depression with talk therapy, behavioural symptoms such as avoidance or phobias with CBT, or physiological symptoms such as IBS or insomnia with medication.
Somatic Experiencing® takes a different approach. It recognises that trauma is in the body and not in the event.
When a threatening event happens, the nervous system immediately, and effectively, enters survival mode. You might have heard of ‘fight or flight’, which are two of the body's naturally intelligent, in-built, survival mechanisms.
If fighting or running away aren't possible, then the nervous system might decide that 'freezing' is the best option.
The enormous physical energies that have been mobilised for survival (for example by running or fighting) can become trapped in the body, causing dysregulation in the nervous system.
Through the use of movement, breath, touch and awareness techniques, Somatic Experiencing® helps to gently and effectively renegotiate survival stress which is trapped in the body, tapping into the natural biological processes that were unable to be mobilised at the time of the event. This renegotiation helps your system return to a natural state of ‘relaxed alertness’ and ease, builds resilience, and reconnects you to your innate sense of aliveness, vitality and flow.
While trauma is a fact of life, it does NOT need to be a life sentence.
What is an SE session with you like?
Sessions with me are an hour long, and can be in person (in Islington, North London) or on zoom. I also work from time to time from my studio in East Suffolk.
Traditional talk therapies use a ‘top down’ approach, where you work with your therapist primarily with the rational mind. You might talk about the event that happened, your history and perhaps your childhood and family.
Somatic Experiencing works from a ‘bottom-up' approach. This means that rather than trying to talk your way out of past trauma, you instead sense your way out of it by accessing the somatic memory that is present in your body today. In this way, SE® broadens the approach to trauma treatment by engaging the regions of our brain that are not easily accessed by talking.
In a session I will gently guide you to follow the sensations in your body and to slowly track the cycles of up-regulation and down regulation in your nervous system. We work together very slowly and gently, as the nervous system needs time to find regulation. We might also use movement and breath exercises, and if appropriate, touch.
Whilst I will always honour the story about what happened to you, your body is the gateway to healing trauma.
Does Somatic Experiencing® involve touch?
Somatic Experiencing® is referred to as a body-based modality, because its focus is on the body rather than on the mind. It doesn’t necessarily involve touch. However, one of many therapeutic tools of Somatic Experiencing® is SE™ Touch.
SE™ Touch is always available to be used as part of a session, if appropriate and if you feel it would be helpful. It is not massage, but a simple supportive touch.
Our work together is always a collaboration, and you can decide whether or not you feel that touch would be appropriate or helpful.
I am also trained in NeuroAffective Touch® which is a polyvagal-informed model, using intentional mindful touch to bring the unconscious memories held in the body into conscious awareness. This can also be integrated into sessions if you feel it would be helpful.
How many sessions will I need?
How many sessions will depend on the level of dysregulation in your nervous system. Shock (one-off event) trauma is the quickest to resolve, and may only take a few sessions. Developmental trauma is likely to take a great deal longer. It is very hard to anticipate though, and every body will respond differently.
I recommend starting with 6 sessions. After that we can assess how things are going, and where you feel you are in your healing journey.
An Introduction to Somatic Experiencing®
In this video, you will learn about the physiological basis of trauma and how Somatic Experiencing® (SE™), developed by Peter A. Levine, PhD, helps distressed individuals recover a sense of well being, stability and vitality.