Somatic Experiencing

Description

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is primarily a method for healing trauma. There are two main types of trauma: shock trauma, which may arise from a sudden and terrifying event, and complex trauma, usually resulting from a sustained stressful experience.

Trauma can result in PTSD, or symptoms suggestive of PTSD. Long after the original event has passed, a person may experience uncharacteristically intense anxiety or rage, avoidance of situations which remind him or her of the stressful event, or an encompassing feeling of numbness. She or he may be emotionally shut down, distracted, “spaced out” and withdrawn. Flashbacks and nightmares are also common. Although these experiences vary from person to person, the impact of the trauma persists in the body, attitudes and emotional reactions.

Shock trauma can be primarily physical, such as a fall from a high place, or emotional, such as a profound and unexpected loss or betrayal. Sustained traumas include, for example, a lengthy illness, or years of verbal or physical abuse.

SE was developed by Dr. Peter Levine through observing the natural responses of animals to life-threatening situations.  After the immediate danger had passed, Dr. Levine noted how animals would release the trauma via spontaneous movements, such as trembling.

A deer flees from a predator to safety, shivers to release the stress from its body, and then relaxes to resume life as usual. Similarly, a captured, anesthetized bear wakes from the drug and spontaneously makes small running movements. Why? The bear’s body was primed to run before it was interrupted, so these movements are now part of the bear’s healing. Without them, the bear would be stuck, to some extent, in the tension patterns which would impair its wellbeing and ability to function (run, defend itself, etc.) in the future.

Yet we, as human beings, typically learn from an early age to suppress our natural tendency to recover quickly and fully from trauma. Beginning in our early years, many of us were discouraged from the natural movements which would free us from the deep biological and emotional impact of shock traumas. For example, most of us would be embarrassed to let ourselves shake after a major scare, and we suppress this movement – blocking our natural ability to recover. The trauma becomes locked deep in the nervous system. We can be changed by the experience, perhaps more constricted and avoidant, perhaps more intensely fearful or prone to fighting than before.