Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing® is a modality in the mental health field that goes
beyond talk therapy. It teaches you ways of recognizing, reducing , and
discharging stressful energy from your body, specifically your nervous
system. It helps you understand exactly how your body is managing
overwhelming stressful or traumatic events. In a gentle yet powerful way,
Somatic Experiencing® helps you to let go of the stress that may have
accumulated in your body, and allows your body to return to it's innate
ability to self-regulate and be resilient.
Self Regulation and Resilience
Stress and trauma are facts of life. The human body has a natural ability to
balance itself which is called regulation. When we are faced with a physical
and/or psychological danger the brain goes into survival mode. It activates
our nervous system to prepare for flight or fight. This results in an
immediate activation of our body's systems to work together and aid our
survival response. Once we realize that the threat is over, another part of
the nervous system begins calming the body, bringing it back into balance,
When our body is self regulation this is called resilience.
When our resilience is compromised due to life experiences or traumatic
history, our ability to regulate stress is diminished. The brain may
perceive threats that are not currently happening or it may not signal the
body that the threat is over. the nervous system then becomes over-activated
and incapable of calming down. This can lead to physical symptoms such as
headache, stomach ache, allergies, back pain, or emotional symptoms such as
anxiety, panic, hyper-vigilance,
depression , or fatigue.
A trauma can be a one-time event that you perceive as life threatening, such
as a car accident, surgery, fall, choking episode or a physical attack,
Trauma can also result from exposure to a natural disaster, war or
terrorism. Trauma can be developmental, for example when a traumatic event
such as abuse abandonment or neglect interrupts the normal developmental
states of a child.
Somatic Experiencing and Healing
Somatic Experiencing® is a gentle way of inviting you to become more
aware of your body. It helps you notice when your body is activated and when
your body is calm. this allows you to see the patterns that you normally use
to manage the stress in your life and how your body is physically responding
to these patterns.
In this process I will help you develop the safety and resources needed to
bring you in touch with the physical sensations in your body. You may
notice, for example, areas of tension, discomfort, numbness, nausea or
pressure. Using Somatic Experiencing® you become aware of your physical
sensations and begin to build a capacity to tolerate them. As your capacity
increases the body will naturally discharge the excess energy that builds up
in the nervous system, leading to a reduction in somatic symptoms, This
helps your body return to it's natural, built-in ability to regulate more
effectively and become more resilient.
Among the benefits of having a healthy, regulated nervous system are more
ease in how you respond to daily stressors, better sleeping habits, less
somatic symptoms in your body and a general sense of calm and well being in
your life.
History of Somatic Experiencing®
Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Peter Levine, PhD. He received a
PhD in medical and biological physics from the University of California and
holds an independent doctoral degree in psychology. The key insight that led
him to developing his method of healing trauma was observing animals in the
wild. Wild animals have an inborn immunity to trauma. If they survive a life
and death encounter they shake off the experience and return to normal
activity. Levine theorized that humans' highly developed rational brain
overrides the more primitive, survival-focused part of the brain, keeping
it from completing this natural process. He felt this break in the natural
process resulted in leaving undischarged energy in the body that can lead to
physical or emotional symptoms. After extensive research and experience with
traumatized people, he developed his Somatic Experiencing® training to
help people access their instinctive ability to discharge excess survival
energy after an overwhelming event and prevent port-traumatic stress
symptoms.
To learn more about Somatic Experiencing® please visit the website of
Peter Levine, PhD, The Foundation for Human Enrichment.
www.traumahealing.com
Peter Levine, PhD. is the author of the following books on healing trauma:
