What is Somatic Experiencing®?

I am in a three year training program to learn a body-based therapy for treating trauma called Somatic Experiencing® (SE) developed by Peter Levine.

SE consists of a combination of theory and clincial techniques around using attention to process trauma within the body, or somatically. Much of the theory comes from observation of animals and the way they handle trauma and stress in the wild. Often animals respond to trauma by a combination of different strategies such as flight, fight, or freezing - playing dead. A great deal of emphasis in the technique is on processing or discharging trauma through building enough strength to keep one's attention on the somatic representation of trauma, and in some ways SE resembles various forms of meditation. There is an emphasis on the physical processing of trauma and its different effects on the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. A key concept is learning to regulate one's own nervous system through the direct influence of a therapist who regulates his or her own nervous system in sync with yours.

I believe that fundamental SE concepts and techniques are a necessary part of any kind of effective therapy, and they may appear under different names in different theories, particularly attachment theory. An SE session may in fact resemble traditional talk therapy except for the fact that you will be asked to draw your attention to what is happening in your body as you speak, or the therapist may draw your attention to different states of moving toward, away, or through a traumatic memory. On the other extreme, an SE session may be entirely non-verbal and physical, including physical contact, yet still directly process trauma in remarkable ways. The sessions and techniques may feel bizarre and mystical, and you may find yourself feeling muscles expand and contract, panting, shaking, and moving uncontrollably, but in fact these experiences are part of natural and mundane processes that are easy to identify and common to all mammals.

In my experience with SE in Oakland, the processing greatly resembles what I see in my clients who work with trauma using EMDR, and I often combine the two techniques. I am very excited about the amazing results I see with my clients using SE in Oakland, particularly for clients who are too severely traumatized to be able to tolerate EMDR. As with EMDR, I see many clients make dramatic and permanent positive personality changes.

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