SOMATIC EXPERIENCING (SE)®

What is Somatic Experiencing® ?

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-based approach to supporting people through trauma, stress , overwhelm and unresolved survival responses. Instead of focusing only on thoughts and stories, SE works gently with the nervous system -- helping the body complete patterns that once kept us safe, but now keeps us stuck. SE does not push , force or retraumatize. It supports slow, mindful awareness of sensations and the shifts that build capacity and resilience over time.

Why people seek somatic work?

I often hear from people that they've told their stories many times - sometimes for years ( sometimes not at all). They have insight, they can explain their patterns, and they can even understand the impact- yet things continue to resurface.

This isn't a failure of talking.

Often it's simple that the nervous system holds a different layer of the story- one that talking alone can't fully reach. Somatic work helps us meet that deeper layer with gentleness, curiosity and support for integrated change to happen.

SE helps people reconnect with their bodies in ways that feel safe, grounded and supportive- and for some it is a gentle relearning of both how to be safe in the body and how to listen to it again.

Who should try somatic experiencing ?

SE may support people who :

Don't know where to begin with their healing or feel unsure how to start
have experienced any trauma ( big or small)
are living in chronic stress, burnout or exhaustion
feel anxious or "on edge"
experience emotional overwhelm
carry relational or attachment wounds
have lived through medical trauma or health-related fear
have childhood developmental trauma
struggle to feel connected, grounded or at home in their body
Feel disconnected from their emotions or unsure of what they are feeling
feel "numb", "flat", or like they "feel nothing"
struggle to notice sensations in their body
notice patterns of flight, fight, freeze ( shutdown) or dissociation

SE is helpful even when there wasn't a single "a trauma event" -- the body responds to long-term stress, disconnection and overwhelm just as deeply.

The Myth of Regulation

Most of us are taught the there are "good" and "bad" feelings- and that being regulated means being calm, stable or unbothered. But that's not how the nervous system works, nor is it how humans work.

"Regulation" isn't about staying calm. It's about having the capacity to feel , having the container that can hold activation, rest, shutdown, connection without feeling overwhelmed, stuck , or leaving ourselves.

Sometimes people can't tolerate the "good" feelings either. Joy, closeness, excitement or connection can feel just as intense as anger, shame , or despair. The body may not know how to hold them, or it learned those states weren't safe.

And when we can't tolerate what we feel- or don't feel- shame often shows up. We think we're supposed to react a certain way, feel something we don't or stay composed at all times.

Many of us try to regulate through thinking alone: analyzing, reframing, understanding, self-monitoring through hyper-fixation. But this can leave us disconnected from what the body is actually experiencing.

Somatic work builds capacity to be with more of your emotional range , adding truth and complexity to your experiences that thinking alone can't reach . It helps us to see ourselves with compassion and opens up more options and choice.

Regulation is not the absence of emotion.

It is the ability to move through emotions and come back to yourself again.

Trauma is in the nervous system, not the event. - Peter Levine

Trauma and You

Trauma disconnects us -- from our bodies, from ourselves, from other people, and from the world around us. It fragments us. One part feels too much, another part feels nothing and another part keeps going on as if nothing happened.

Many people think they have healed because they can talk about what happened, understand it, and even feel at peace with it cognitively -- yet their body still doesn't feel safe. This is not a failure. It's simple that the nervous system holds a different layer of the story.

Trauma isn't the event.

It's the body response to what was threatening, overwhelming, too fast, or too much to face alone.

To survive, we developed patterns that helped us cope : bracing, silencing, shutting-down, perfectionism or performance, numbness, people-pleasing, emotional distance, hyper-independence, staying busy , collapsing inward. Over time we can start to believe these patterns are who we are, when they are actually management strategies our system adopted to keep us safe.

They were wise at the time.

They just aren't the whole truth of us.

Those same strategies can leave us feeling:

Disconnected from ourselves
Unsure of what we feel
Frozen or shut down
Untrusting of ourselves, others or the world
Functioning from old patterns even when life has changed
Overwhelmed by emotions or unable to access them
distant from people and activities we care about

Safe things can feel unsafe.

Trauma can make even good things -- rest , joy , ease, connection -- feel unfamiliar or threatening. Sometime we seek familiar patterns even when they aren't good for us , simply because the nervous system recognizes them.

And when a different pattern is offered -- it can feel unfamiliar and therefore unsafe.

Unlearning old patterns and stepping into new ones can feel disorientating at first , not because they're wrong , but because they are new. And sometimes, even when we have access new patterns we may repeat them , this is when we need compassion most.

Healing is about coming back into connection with the parts of ourselves we had to step away from. And this reconnection happens slowly , gently, and support to meet your nervous system where it is -- not where you think it should be.

Fragmentation to Reconnection : The ARC of Trauma Healing

Safety

Rememberance and Meaning

Reconnection

Creating and establishing safety inside and outside of the body, enough to notice what is happing without feeling overwhelmed.

Being able to touch into your story through words or sensations from a grounded place - not from collapse or activation.

Returning to yourself , your body, and your relationships with more choice and presence.

This is not a linear process .
And sometimes even good things - rest, joy, connection and closeness - can feel unfamiliar or threatening because the body has been protecting you for so long.
Somatic work helps meet these parts gently, rebuild capacity , and integrate what became fragmented, at a pace your nervous system can actually hold.

Based on the work of Judith Herman : Trauma and Recovery

What does an SE session look like?

Somatic Experiencing is a collaborative approach, and we go at your pace. Your story in words is incredibly important, and I am also listening to the story your nervous system is telling.

We might explore :

What is happening for you as you are telling me your story
Noticing what is happing in your body ( tension, warmth, movement )
slowing down moments of activation
tracking sensations that feel grounding and supportive
completing small survival stress responses ( flight/fight/freeze)
Using imagery, movement, breath and sensations to shift patterns
building capacity to tolerate emotion without overwhelm
learning about your nervous system with compassion and how it has protected you -- and how it can soften

You are in control of what we explore and what feels right for you.

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Tracking

This is the foundation of SE.

Tracking is noticing what's happening

inside -- sensations, impulses, breath,

temperature, tension, ease- without

trying to change it. This builds

awareness, presence and safety.

Titration

We work in small amounts of activation

rather than diving in all at once. This

prevents overwhelm and teaches the

nervous system that it can move through

activation safely and slowly.

Pendulation

We move gently between activation and settling-- between "what's difficult" and

"what's supportive". This teaches the body flexibility and resilience.

Resourcing

Internal or external experiences that bring steadiness, safety or ease. Resources

anchor the nervous system so it can tolerate

more without being overly activated.

Flexibility

Flexibility means the system can shift states without getting stuck, overwhelmed shutting down, this supports building capacity.

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Orientation

Using the sense to come into the present

moment. Orientation interrupts threat

responses and helps the system recognize

safety right now.

How does SE work?

SE works by helping your nervous system shift out of old survival patterns and learn new ways of relating to sensation, emotion, and experience. Instead of pushing into the story or recreating the past, we work with what's happening in the present moment-- the body's impulses, sensations, breathe and internal rhythms.

Stress and trauma can lead the nervous system to organize around protection. Sometimes that means a response couldn't complete , and sometimes it means the body adapted in ways that were wise at the time but limiting now. SE helps these patterns soften and unwind at a pace that feels safe.

We do this by:

Noticing subtle sensations and impulses with support
Working with small amounts of activation rather than all at once
Moving between activation and resourcing to build flexibility
Supporting what feels grounding and stabilizing
Helping the body recognize what is present-time not past-time
Creating space for new patterns and options to emerge

Over time, your system becomes more flexible and responsive. You can gain more capacity, more compassion, more choice and more connection to yourself. SE doesn't force change , and it isn't a magic wand. At times the process can feel slow, but we work together to notice real changes as they unfold.

Interested

Contact Me