What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a therapeutic approach that explores the impact of our history and circumstances on our body and nervous system. Somatic Experiencing is an approach that can be particularly effective for trauma resolution, as it aims to assist in regulating a dysregulated nervous system. When regulation returns to a previously dysregulated nervous system, clients may feel more able to be present, to experience a sense of aliveness, and to feel safer in the world.
How does Somatic Experiencing work?
Somatic Experiencing is a “bottom-up” approach to treatment that aims to resolve symptoms of stress, pain and trauma not primarily through cognitive processing as in traditional talk therapy, but via an exploration of how the body and nervous system have been impacted by stress, pain and trauma. A Somatic Experiencing therapist will work with the client to guide them to a place of greater somatic capacity, which in turn enables clients to naturally process and correct unhelpful thinking about the traumas they have experienced.
What can be treated with Somatic Experiencing?
Because Somatic Experiencing is a therapeutic approach rather than a treatment modality, it can be useful when working with a variety of issues. Somatic Experiencing is particularly well-suited to trauma, whether this is developmental (childhood) trauma, a single shock trauma like an accident or assault, or the cumulative impacts of multiple instances of trauma across the lifespan. Clients who feel “stuck” in fight, flight or freeze, or who notice patterns of fighting, fleeing or freezing in their lives, may find Somatic Experiencing especially helpful.
