Sometimes anxiety is about what is going on at the moment and other times it is about dealing with the past. The problem when we do not deal with what has disturbed in the past is that we may experience mysterious or painful symptoms in our bodies, or we don’t experience anything. We need to get back “online” and address the disturbance. This can happen gently and without flooding with proper techniques.
Trauma and the Brain
This brings us to a significant question: How is it that animals in the wild, constantly dealing with danger, do not appear to have trauma? The difference is they do not have a thinking brain (prefrontal cortex). They never hear, “Stop it, pull yourself together, it wasn’t that bad”. They are able to metabolize the experience and return to grazing with the other animals. Many human beings who have been traumatized do not have this ability, and it’s not their fault.
Trauma affects not only the brain but the nervous system as well. When a person experiences an event they find traumatic, it disrupts their ability to self-regulate, that is, their ability to calm or motivate themselves as needed. Some people get stuck on “on” or “high”, they become hypervigilant, anxious or angry; others get stuck on “off” or “low”, becoming depressed, disconnected, numb, or exhausted. Somatic therapies help individuals to re-regulate their systems by a gentle natural approach.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing® is a modality in the mental health field that goesbeyond talk therapy. It teaches you ways of recognizing, reducing , anddischarging stressful energy from your body, specifically your nervoussystem. It helps you understand exactly how your body is managingoverwhelming stressful or traumatic events. In a gentle yet powerful way,Somatic Experiencing® helps you to let go of the stress that may haveaccumulated in your body, and allows your body to return to it’s innateability to self-regulate and be resilient.
Self Regulation and Resilience
Stress and trauma are facts of life. The human body has a natural ability tobalance itself which is called regulation. When we are faced with a physicaland/or psychological danger the brain goes into survival mode. It activatesour nervous system to prepare for flight or fight. This results in animmediate activation of our body’s systems to work together and aid oursurvival response. Once we realize that the threat is over, another part ofthe 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 traumatichistory, our ability to regulate stress is diminished. The brain mayperceive threats that are not currently happening or it may not signal thebody that the threat is over. the nervous system then becomes over-activatedand incapable of calming down. This can lead to physical symptoms such asheadache, stomach ache, allergies, back pain, or emotional symptoms such asanxiety, panic, hyper-vigilance, depression , or fatigue.
A trauma can be a one-time event that you perceive as life threatening, suchas a car accident, surgery, fall, choking episode or a physical attack,Trauma can also result from exposure to a natural disaster, war orterrorism. Trauma can be developmental, for example when a traumatic eventsuch as abuse abandonment or neglect interrupts the normal developmentalstates of a child.
Somatic Experiencing and Healing
Somatic Experiencing® is a gentle way of inviting you to become moreaware of your body. It helps you notice when your body is activated and whenyour body is calm. this allows you to see the patterns that you normally useto manage the stress in your life and how your body is physically respondingto these patterns.
In this process I will help you develop the safety and resources needed tobring you in touch with the physical sensations in your body. You maynotice, for example, areas of tension, discomfort, numbness, nausea orpressure. Using Somatic Experiencing® you become aware of your physicalsensations and begin to build a capacity to tolerate them. As your capacityincreases the body will naturally discharge the excess energy that builds upin the nervous system, leading to a reduction in somatic symptoms, Thishelps your body return to it’s natural, built-in ability to regulate moreeffectively and become more resilient.
Among the benefits of having a healthy, regulated nervous system are moreease in how you respond to daily stressors, better sleeping habits, lesssomatic symptoms in your body and a general sense of calm and well being inyour life.
History of Somatic Experiencing®
Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Peter Levine, PhD. He received aPhD in medical and biological physics from the University of California andholds an independent doctoral degree in psychology. The key insight that ledhim to developing his method of healing trauma was observing animals in thewild. Wild animals have an inborn immunity to trauma. If they survive a lifeand death encounter they shake off the experience and return to normalactivity. Levine theorized that humans’ highly developed rational brainoverrides the more primitive, survival-focused part of the brain, keepingit from completing this natural process. He felt this break in the naturalprocess resulted in leaving undischarged energy in the body that can lead tophysical or emotional symptoms. After extensive research and experience withtraumatized people, he developed his Somatic Experiencing® training tohelp people access their instinctive ability to discharge excess survivalenergy after an overwhelming event and prevent port-traumatic stresssymptoms.
To learn more about Somatic Experiencing® please visit the website ofPeter Levine, PhD, The Foundation for Human Enrichment. www.traumahealing.com
Peter Levine, PhD. is the author of the following books on healing trauma:
Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body
In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes
Trauma-Proofing Your Kids
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a therapy developed for Trauma which focuses on the body. Developed by Peter Levine, PhD, this bottom up approach emphasizes attention to sensation and movement in the body. Symptoms of traumatic stress are seen as incomplete defensive responses caused by the inability of the nervous system to process and integrate overwhelming information from traumatic events. The goal of the therapy is to release the traumatic activation enabling the trauma to be discharged from the body. Focus on bodily sensations can increase tolerance to the sensations and related emotions. SE uses invitational language and does not require extensive retelling of trauma memories which can be retraumatizing.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy
Trauma memories are approached indirectly and gradually. Clients learn to engage and disengage through learning skills to help regulate activation in the body. The trauma work can be titrated in order to keep clients from becoming overwhelmed and to help them to build increased tolerance. The client learns to monitor and downregulate arousal by using inner resources such as positive sensations and memories. Discharge of previously incomplete defensive responses allows the natural healing process of the body to restore the nervous system to balance and increase resiliency.
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SE INTERNATIONAL PRACTITIONER DIRECTORY
Trauma impacts physical health, mental health, learning, education, and multiple aspects of an individual’s life. Trauma is a fact of life; however, it does not have to be a life sentence. There is hope.
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) is a potent method for resolving trauma symptoms and relieving chronic stress. It is the life’s work of Dr. Peter A. Levine, resulting from his multidisciplinary study of stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, together with over 45 years of successful clinical application. The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and other emotional or early developmental trauma-inducing wounds. Learn more about SE.
Read more about our SE training that leads to becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP).
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].
The professionals listed in this directory come from a variety of backgrounds and are either graduates of, or current students in, our 3-year SE Professional Training. Make an informed decision. The contact information for individuals listed in this directory is to be used solely for professional referrals and is not to be used for marketing, solicitation, or other commercial purposes.
