Somatic Experiencing ®

Developed by Peter Levine PHD to address the effects of trauma. Levine developed this approach after observing that prey animals, whose lives are routinely threatened in the wild, are able to recover quickly by physically releasing the energy accumulated during stressful events. Humans on the other hand often override these natural ways of regulating the nervous system with feelings of shame, pervasive thoughts, judgments and fears. Somatic Experiencing aims to help people move past the place where they might be stuck in processing a traumatic event.

Though many people who experience traumatic events recover completely, for those who do not, unresolved trauma can lead to considerable mental, emotional and physical health problems, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disorders, mood swings, immune system problems, addiction. Somatic Experiencing aims to restore the body’s ability to self regulate in order to achieve balance and integrity.

Somatic therapy involves present moment awareness and explores bodily tension, gestures and bodily sensations through a combination of awareness dialogue, movement and or touch.