What is Somatic Experiencing®
Who developed it:
Dr. Peter A. Levine, originator of Somatic Experiencing® holds Doctorate degrees in Medical Biophysics and Psychology. From his 40 year study of the nature of stress and trauma, he developed a break through treatment process of resolving traumatic stress.
Who Uses it:
Somatic Experiencing is practiced by doctors, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, physical
therapists and bodywork and health care practitioners, teachers and others in the helping fields. The method is
sometimes referred to as a body/mind approach. It draws on the latest cutting edge-scientific research coming
from fields of traumatology, biology, neurology, psychology, attachment
theory, physiology.
Why it works:
Dr. Levine observed that animals in the wild are routinely threatened many times a day. Yet, they are rarely, if ever traumatized Animals have a built-in ability to return to their natural state of ease after a threatening event. Simply stated they do this by literally "shaking off" the survival action or residual energy through trembling, shaking, panting and completing motor movements . This is all part of the body's own wisdom to return to self-regulation and balance. The beauty is we as humans share this same innate ability to rebound from overwhelming events.
Somatic Experiencing® is the process that helps enable the human body to complete the frozen biological response to the overwhelming experience, release it, and ultimately heal the impact of traumatic events.
Somatic Experiencing® is not "talk therapy". It is a deep physiological process using body focused awareness and a container of safety. This is a process in which you are involved in every step of identifying and safely healing the wounds of trauma.
"Trauma is not in the event, it's in the nervous system"
- Peter A. Levine
