Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing expands capacity for the here and now and brings safety and ease to a threatened and hardworking system.
Through attuned and guided explorations, traumatic events from the past can be renegotiated and metabolized by slowing down the experience and allowing your body to process events in the present moment, completing the circuit that was interrupted by trauma.
Somatic Experiencing sessions are a great option if you are feeling your nervous system is stuck – either in a constant place of anxiety or the numbness of depletion and withdrawal (or both).
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is not only a powerful trauma resolution modality, but is useful for everyday nervous system maintenance and support.
Modern life has many of us living more isolated and intellectually reliant. And the systems we live in and under can make it challenging to slow down or get the care and connection we need. Living this way for a prolonged period of time increases our allostatic load, is metabolically costly and is not sustainable.
When we are holding our stresses and traumas in our bodies and have not had the opportunity to slow down, process, digest, metabolize, or re-organize, those bound and braced moments are stored in our beings resulting in a myriad of traumatic stress symptoms.
If you’ve had overwhelming experiences in your life, or the kind of distress that leaves traumatic imprints, your body is busy- working in defense and protection. The parts of you that are meant to help you tend and connect to yourself and your needs with ease and efficiency are occupied, maintaining survival.
Somatic Experiencing might be helpful if you . . .
… struggle to relax or slow down
… struggle to get going or feel motivated
… are exhausted, overwhelmed or burnt out
… are feeling disconnected, shut down or numb
… feel a sense of urgency but are unable to take action
… feel angry, short-fused, or frustrated
… struggle to set boundaries & tend toward people pleasing
… find yourself often saying yes when you really mean no
… have a hard time sticking up for yourself or taking up space
… are in a self-harm or addiction cycle
… experience chronic pain, illness or fatigue
… have chronic digestion issues
… feel stuck in your life or relationships
… struggle with healthy habits and routines
… feel like you can’t get free of the past
… find it hard to communicate, be seen or be heard
… have certain activities that no longer feel safe or accessible
… feel unsafe in the world
… want to connect to and understand yourself in a deep & profound way
… have done talk therapy, have seen doctors or specialists and want to try a new way
Through somatic explorations we will engage, express, complete and resolve – in a slow and supported way – your body’s instinctual responses to move towards more nervous system coherence, access greater resilience and a more dynamic sense of self and expression.
Traumatic stress symptoms arise when the normal regulatory mechanisms are interrupted in some way.
The nervous system becomes over-activated when stimulation is introduced too fast, too soon, too long or when it is too much, or even not enough, for normal resiliency to process.
Some of us can get stuck in a threatened state, or state of survival.
Those stuck in “ON” for too long can develop anxiety and a host of other symptoms. Those stuck in “OFF” can develop depression and exhaustion, to name a few.
And some of us can fluctuate between both “on” and “off” experiencing a wide range of prolonged threat response symptoms.
Somatic Experiencing allows us to experience support, reestablish a sense of safety, and tend to ourselves in nourishing ways.
SE fosters gentle exploration of the physiology of the nervous system, the body’s instinctive responses to stress or overwhelming events.
It addresses the lingering effects of trauma held in the body by resolving and discharging powerful, incomplete survival energies and strategies.
Making space for the nervous system to settle, unwind and eventually function from a place of personal rhythm and coherence, not fear, is the heart of our work together.
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It can be hard to know if something is “right” for us! And it often can take a few sessions to know if it’s “working” or supporting you in the ways that you need.
I would love to chat with you over email, phone or zoom to answer your questions, and help support you having a felt sense of whether this modality is a good fit at this time in your life.
It’s my goal to support your agency, not swindle you into something that may not be beneficial at this time.
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It depends! What happens in a session will vary depending on your lived experiences, nervous system capacity, therapeutic goals and immediate, emergent needs.
You may come into a session(s) with a specific topic or symptom that needs tending to, or, we can explore whatever is present and at the forefront that day, or both!
Through attuned and gentle somatic explorations we will welcome your "somatic voice" as a strong participant in the therapeutic process. We will work together to become fluent in the language of your body.
As we become fluent in you and your nervous system, we will use this information to reorganize traumatic symptoms bound in your autonomic nervous system.
While it may be challenging at times, this therapy is not meant to be hard.
You’ll be guided and supported in tracking, feeling and being with your body throughout our time together. Your mind is welcome and necessary, of course, but it’s not going to get the front row seat it’s accustomed to.
This modality spotlights your somatic experience, and the story your nervous system wants and needs to tell.
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No it is not! And, I am not a licensed psychotherapist. While the set up is similar to what one may think of as a “talk therapy” modality, the approach and focus is quite different.
Psychotherapy is considered a “top-down” process that tends to our cognitive narratives, mindset and insights.
Somatic Experiencing is a “bottom-up” process that tends to the story of our nervous system and physiology.
Top down models tend more to the "why" of things, whereas bottom-up models tend to the "what" of things.
While both therapies incorporate thought and emotion, SE differs in its focus by utilizing the body as a means of digesting and integrating trauma and overwhelming experiences.
Both Somatic Experiencing and the Safe and Sound Protocol provide a “bottom-up”, or neurophysiological support, for processing events held in the body and influencing change through the autonomic nervous system.
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I offer Sliding Scale Session Rates for all services.
Details can be found here.
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The goal of most bodywork is to manually relax, release, or lengthen tissues to increase overall function and decrease stress or pain in the body. It does not address the underlying survival patterns in the nervous system that may be causing the muscle tension or pain.
SE + Relational Bodywork, however, does address the underlying survival patterns in the nervous system and is specifically designed to work with the survival energy that may no longer be serving us.
Additionally, SE session takes place with the client fully clothed, which differs from many massage and bodywork modalities.
Light therapeutic touch (not massage) may be incorporated into an SE session, but in a different way than traditional massage or bodywork.
Touch work may have a soothing, grounding, containing or otherwise reparative quality, and therefore utilized during an SE session. You, the client, take an active participant role in SE touch work. In a massage, you are more of a passive recipient.
If you do not feel comfortable with touch, or if the session does not call for it, session work will not include touch.
More information regarding touch work and relational bodywork can be found here.
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I am currently offering Somatic Experiencing sessions virtually. As space becomes available and our relationship evolves, in-person sessions are available.
Virtual appointments can be done from the comfort of your own space, from anywhere in the world. Online SE can accommodate busy schedules, accessibility challenges, cold symptoms and more.
In Person appointments can include touch work (if needed/wanted) and a closer therapeutic container. In person appointments do require the use of a KN95/N95 mask. Details regarding In Person policies can be found here.
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Feeling nervous or unsure is completely understandable!
Turning towards our bodies can bring up many feelings we’re not used to, or perhaps, too used to.
Part of somatic healing can be to gain more embodied clarity regarding our yes’s and our no’s.
Contact me to explore if this is an appropriate therapy for you at this time in your life.
Questions, curiosities, hesitations are expected and welcome!
I am happy to answer what I can in whatever method of communication is most accessible to you; email, text, phone or zoom.
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We can set up a free 30 minute Zoom consultation to see if we are a good therapeutic fit.
Initial appointments are 90 minutes in length and held over Zoom.
During this time we will meet and greet, go over a bit of your history, and discuss your desired treatment goals and outcomes.
After that, we will spend some time getting to know your nervous system through a guided mapping exercise. This activity helps us both learn a bit about your body and its experiences.
Traversing the somatic terrain requires we both have a felt sense of safety, boundaries, and trust. This initial appointment will help us build a shared and personalized nervous system language, which is the foundation of our work together.
