Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach that was developed by Dr Peter Levine. It is focused on releasing energy that has become trapped in the body as a result of trauma.
There is however no comprehensive description of what constitutes a traumatic event, as it is anything that is too fast, too much, too soon, for the body to process, or in the case of emotional and physical neglect there was not enough safety, which of course puts the body into a fearful highly stressed state over a prolonged period of time.
“ This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds”- Peter Levine phD
Trauma symptoms can show up in many different guises- ranging from anxiety, depression, a general sense of dis-ease, lack of focus and motivation, insomnia, chronic pain, as well as the more extreme forms of PTSD, flashbacks, dissociation, de-personalisation, frozenness, and a kind of removedness from life.
Seen from the perspective that trauma is in the body as opposed to the external event or situation, SE works with the premise that trauma interrupts the body’s innate capacity to regulate itself through cycles of activation and discharge. The outcome of this is that our threat detection system stays on, unable to discharge the build-up of energy that is our natural response to real or perceived threat, and unable to engage our relaxation cycle.
SE aims to support the body to re-connect with its natural capacity for integration and healing, to restore balance, to complete unfinished cycles, and to make available to us the life force that when trapped in the nervous system is robbing us of pleasure and peace.
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