Somatic Experiencing  

 “Trauma is a fact of life, it does not have to be a life sentence.” – Dr. Peter Levine

Dr. Peter Levine developed an amazing approach to trauma therapy called Somatic Experiencing® (SE).

He came up with this methodology by studying animals in the wild and asking the question…Why are they never traumatized? He learned that after an animal successfully escapes an attack, it goes to a safe space where it can release and shake off the incredibly large amount of energy that was created to mobilize them to safety. We as humans have this same capacity, we just never learned how to do this, until now. 

We’ve all experienced trauma, but how it impacts each of us is different and unique. If you feel a traumatic event or a life time of traumatic experiences still controls your life in some way, you’re not alone. Trauma can leave us feeling isolated, fearful and can highjack our vitality and zest for life. Often the symptoms of being traumatized won’t show up for six months to a year after an event has taken place. Whatever the case is for you, the body remembers. The amazing thing is we can use this memory to get to the root cause and heal it. 

As a SE therapist I can help you get in touch with that stuck energy and support your system’s wisdom to mobilize and release it. We do this by learning how to identify the sensations of those instinctual physiological responses of fight/flight/freeze. Developing the capacity to be with them allows us to move from helplessness and fear back into power and aliveness. Once this energy is released the body can return to a more optimal, regulated state and the system’s capacity to hold the ups and downs of life expands.

For more information on SE or Dr. Levine’s work, please visit www.traumahealing.org

Touch skills for Trauma Therapists 

Based on the work of SE faculty, Kathy Kain, Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists offers another way of helping us develop a deeper connection with our bodies. So often in therapy the body is left out. It has been well documented that touch is an integral part of healing. It is the first of our six senses to come online in utero and we tend to get less and less of it as we get older. When we can support our system in this gentle way, clients often find it easier to connect with their body and its wisdom of how it can and wants to heal. 

This is not manipulation or massage in any way, it’s a subtle contact that supports the client’s ability to tune in and track their sensations.  Just like in SE, it can also facilitate access to stuck energy and movement through the physiological responses associated with fight/flight/freeze. Once this movement happens, it often results in feelings of containment, grounding and deeper relaxation. 

For more information on Kathy Kain and her work, please visit www.somaticpractice.net