Somatic Experiencing (SE)®

“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”

~Peter Levine, founder of SE

Somatic Experiencing is a form of body-oriented trauma therapy and a scientifically based method for working with physical and psychological symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma (PTSD). SE is based on Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory.

SE focuses on completing the natural responses to traumatic events and making feelings of powerlessness and despair understandable. Unprocessed traumatic experiences disrupt the natural rhythm and regulation of the nervous system. This reduces resilience and can lead to all kinds of physical, emotional, and psychological complaints. By integrating that stored survival energy, you restore your original vitality and resilience. In SE sessions, the body’s natural self-regulating systems are addressed by, among other things, increasing somatic awareness, slowing down, processing major experiences in small steps, and finding resources.

In SE sessions, we observe how the body’s physiology has remembered the story of what happened, so that with that information, the story as it was can be given a new sequel.

Photo: Eric Combeau