What's a Somatic Experiencing Session Really Like?
/Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a technique and experience that can support you through times of challenge and create more ease and capacity to handle all the things life throws at you.
It was created Dr. Peter Levine, who says “human beings are born with an innate capacity to triumph over trauma.” Given the journeys that I and so many people I know have undertaken to overcome trauma, I was drawn to Somatic Experiencing because I wanted to experience that triumph. But the technique is also about more than beating trauma. In Levine’s words: “The healing process can be a catalyst for profound awakening; a portal opening to emotional and genuine spiritual transformation.”
On the practical level, SE is a body-oriented approach that helps heal trauma and other stress disorders through building resilience and capacity in the autonomic nervous system. It is based on a multidisciplinary intersection of physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices and medical biophysics, and it has been clinically applied for more than four decades. You can learn more at traumahealing.org.
Trauma is something that we experience as being “too much”, something that happens “too fast” or “too soon” in our bodies and nervous system. Trauma may result from a large array of stressors and may be an acute stress (e.g., an accident) or cumulative stress (e.g., living with a chronic health condition). Both types of stress can impact a person's ability to live with resilience and ease. The time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been ripe with stress, and I think that acknowledging that can be helpful in understanding why you may have mixed feelings as we transition back to pre-pandemic ways of life.
Somatic Experiencing facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of nervous system energy stored in the body, and thus addresses the root of trauma symptoms. I am training to become a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and when an SEP uses the technique with a client, it gently supports the client’s ability to be present to difficult feelings in the body and cultivates a deeper capacity for resilience and ease. So in the pandemic-era example of anxiety related to returning to work or social gatherings or being in public without a mask, an SEP can help clients be present with the sensations that anxiety brings by supporting them through these sensations. The result is that clients ultimately feel a shift in their bodies and nervous systems that lessens the negative sensations of anxiety.
I discovered SE when I realized that past traumas were impacting my health (anxiety and chronic fatigue). I love how this work highlights the body's innate goal of keeping one safe and how working with trauma and the nervous system can be effective without needing to talk through the specifics of the experience of the trauma. I know that having this understanding of my nervous system helped me navigate the last year. I am training to be an SEP because I feel this work is incredibly important for all of us. I have completed the first year of a three-year training and have begun incorporating nervous system support into Pilates sessions. I am also offering SE coaching sessions at a reduced rate.
What is an SE session like?
An SE session is typically done with both of us seated. Sessions can be done virtually or in person and will start by gently guiding you to notice your body: your feet on the floor, your hips in the chair, your breath, and the environment that you are in. We’ll build on this to gently explore the sensations in your body or a relevant past experience. SE sessions will always focus on sensations in the body, so even though there may be talking about experiences, we’ll be focused and curious about sensations in the body in the present. In an SE session, I might encourage you to move parts of your body or to get up and explore a movement. While the impact of these sessions can feel subtle in the moment, they are very impactful over time and can send a ripple of well-being out into your life.
Are you interested in learning more about how SE could support you through life’s challenges? Reach out! I’d love to share more.
