"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive."

Thich Nhat Hanh

What is Somatic Experiencing®?

Somatic Experiencing® is a body-awareness approach to trauma being taught throughout the world and is the result of over forty years of observation, research, and hands-on development by Dr. Peter Levine. Dr. Levine discovered a way to support the human being and their innate ability to overcome the effects of trauma.

SE® restores self-regulation, and returns a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness to traumatized individuals who have had these precious gifts taken away. Dr. Levine has applied his research and work to combat veterans, rape survivors, Holocaust survivors, auto accident and post surgical trauma, chronic pain sufferers, and even to infants after suffering traumatic births.

Nervous System as the Medium

I often say, the nervous system is the medium of Somatic Experiencing®; much like clay is the medium of some sculpture, or fascia is the medium of Rolfing. A healthy nervous system moves through periods of manageable arousal, or activation (sympathetic nervous system) and settling (parasympathetic nervous system). This natural pendulation causes a settled nervous system to feel relaxed yet alert, embodied, available for connection, stable, and resilient.  When a person's nervous system becomes injured through life events, stress, trauma, etc, it can get stuck in on or off. Symptoms of this stuck state can be; anxiety, panic, hyperactivity, restlessness, hyper-vigilance, digestive problems, chronic pain, depression, flat affect, chronic fatigue, disconnection.  

Somatic Experiencing® asks the client to gently step inside their own felt sense experience in the moment. This moment-by-moment style, gives the client time to repair any damage to the nervous system. Whether that be a unexpressed defense response, an unfelt emotional response, or any un-discharged responses. The pace of this work is slow. The goal is to reclaim a full sense of self.