What is Somatic Experiencing ( SE), and why would I want to do this?

When trauma lingers, it is not just a memory—it is a holding, a tightening, a breath half-taken. It is indeed in the body. Somatic Experiencing listens to this quiet story, inviting the body to unwind, to release what was frozen, to find its way back to the flow of life.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a felt-sense, body-based approach to healing trauma and chronic stress.

It works with the nervous system—helping the body gently complete the survival responses that may have been interrupted during overwhelming experiences. Rather than focusing solely on thoughts or memories, SE invites deeper awareness of physical sensations, allowing trauma to resolve gradually and safely.

At its heart, SE is about restoring the body’s natural ability to regulate itself, building resilience from the inside out.

SE has been the Life-Changer, Bringer of Safety, Restorer of Ease in my life when all the other traditional (decades of talk therapy) and super groovy alternative modalities never made any lasting change. Many thousands of dollars later, I can look back at my life and see a definitive line before SE and after SE.

SE was developed by Dr. Peter Levine back in the 80’s. In fact, my amazing mother was always a scout of new healing modalities and I can remember her learning about his work when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Amazing to me the full circle aspect of this all, for me to have had such a profound life change by discovering and eventually training in SE.

To summarize Peter’s impetus for this amazing work, goes something like this. Dr. Levine was curious as to why prey animals don’t experience ptsd after regularly being traumatized by the hunt. He documented that the animal goes through various physiological engagements shortly after arriving to safety that would result in them not ending up with ptsd symptoms. If they didn’t go though said engagements, then the animal would indeed suffer symptoms of ptsd and would be more vulnerable overall from there on out.

So the work became…let’s complete those physiological, nervous-system based responses!

Gently, safely, we follow sensation, honoring the wisdom in every movement, every sigh, every shift. This is not forcing. This is allowing. A return to the body’s natural rhythm, a remembering of wholeness. That’s why unlike traditional trauma therapy, SE is not retraumatizing.

I hope this little introduction to SE is helpful, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you’d like to talk about doing this life-changing work.