Somatic Experience
What is Somatic Experience?
Somatic Experience is a body based therapeutic technique that works to resolve trauma by inviting the body into the healing process.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is not about the event, it’s about the energy that gets stuck in the body around real or perceived threats. The extent to which a person experiences trauma is directly related to their ability to complete a self-protective response in the aftermath of a threatening event. If they are not able to restore a sense of safety, they will continuously sense danger even when no longer present. This is when the nervous system can get stuck in fight, flight, or freeze.
How does SE work?
Trauma memory is stored differently in our systems than conscious memory. Conscious memory is usually a sequential story, with a beginning and an end. Trauma memory is often fragmented, and incomplete and can cause a “fire alarm” in our brains and bodies. SE helps us move beyond the cognitive ability to understand our trauma. It's a process that reprograms the body's primitive survival instincts, allowing one to feel a greater sense of connection and safety. The goal is to release the trapped adrenaline that has accumulated over time. In SE, we use sensation, imagery, behavior, affect, and meaning (SIBAM) as the framework to incorporate the body and its experience into the process. We guide the client through the most primitive and complex brain systems. The therapist begins by encouraging the client to track sensations and movements, helping them to develop a felt sense of their internal states of tension, relaxation and respiration cycles. This a powerful mechanism to regulate the autonomic nervous system.
A key component of SE is the practice of alternating between sensations associated with trauma and those that are a source of strength and comfort. As clients learn to tolerate being uncomfortable, they build more resilience in their bodies. Cultivating the awareness of these sensations is the foundation of healing the psychological effects of trauma because it allows us to tolerate and complete the physiological impulses that are trapped in the body. For example, if a person is experiencing intense
tension in their neck, the therapist might ask them to observe the tension but also pay attention to other parts of the body that feel good or more neutral. Through this process, the patient learns to tolerate the discomfort and begins to develop a sense of being in charge of their physiology. The client gains confidence and the capacity to feel sensations and emotions without a sense of overwhelm. Sustained healing only happens when our nervous system regains a sense of equilibrium.
What can SE help with?
Unresolved trauma, especially when trauma is chronic, can lead to more extensive mental and physical health conditions such as anxiety, panic attacks, addiction, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression, eating disorders, hormonal imbalances, insomnia, digestive issues and muscle tension (just to name a few). SE can help to reset the nervous system and release stuck energy We know that when one system of the body is out of balance, all systems are affected. By healing and releasing trauma from our bodies, we not only feel better physically, we have more capacity to tolerate discomfort, to be present, and to access joy.