Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders. The aim is to restore the nervous system’s natural ability to regulate itself. Therefor the energy held in the ‘frozen’ state is released in small, carefully monitored steps. In that process, we focus a lot on strengthening personal resources and boundaries and expanding feelings of security and safety. Somatic Experiencing works mainly without physical touch.

I am a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. If you are interested in receiving sessions contact me here.

How does Somatic Expereincing deal with trauma?

In SE, the traumatic event isn’t what caused the trauma, it is the overwhelmed response to the perceived life threat. If the energy that is mobilised to facilitate a fight, flight or freeze is not released afterwards, it is causing an unbalanced nervous system where a person is “stuck” in the response. The aim of SE is to help you access the body memory of the event, not the story. We don’t need to talk about what happened if you don’t want to.

Bottom up Processing

SE professes a body first approach to dealing with the problematic (and, oftentimes, physical) symptoms of trauma. This means that therapy isn’t about reclaiming memories or changing our thoughts and beliefs about how we feel, but looking at the sensations that lie underneath our feelings, and uncovering our habitual behaviour patterns to these feelings.

What happens in a Somatic Experiencing session?

In an SE session we work very careful. Through talk, movement and sometimes touch we activate resources that lacked in the actual event and track their physical sensations. You learn to stay anchored in the present.

We develop ways to pendulate between the resources and the overwhelming event back and forth, allowing the nervous system to release the energy held in the ‘survival mode’. This change takes place in small steps, to make it possible to integrate every bit of it and not become swept away. Slowly new physical sensations and experiences can happen and nourish feelings of safety and grounding in the present. Through the ability of self-regulation you become more able to take part in the general stream of life.