Somatic

Somatic Experiencing was created by Peter Levine to resolve trauma symptoms and chronic stress. It is a body-based therapy that encourages body awareness and increases tolerance for difficult body sensations and emotions. Somatic Experiencing can help to complete and resolve the body’s instinctual fight, flight, freeze and collapse responses in a slow supported way. It can also help shift feelings of anxiety and depression into empowerment and hope reseting the nervous system and restoring inner balance. Somatic Experiencing practitioners use a framework known as SIBAM (Sensation, Imagery, Behavior, Affect, and Meaning) to help clients incorporate their bodies in processing trauma. Clients focus on bodily Sensations, noting what they feel, often for the first time linking these Sensations with emotions. Guided Imagery helps clients visualize scenes to connect with their emotions, either passively (listening to a scene) or interactively (sharing thoughts during the exercise). The therapist observes Behavioral responses, like body language and posture, to understand the client's emotional state. The Affect examines how clients express emotions outwardly through word choice, tone, and pace of speech. Clients reflect on the significance of the therapy and their experiences to come up with there own Meaning. Some of the Key techniques used in somatic experiencing include: Bodily Awareness: Recognizing the body's response to trauma. Resourcing: Drawing on inner strength to cope with trauma. Titration: Gradually processing traumatic memories to avoid overwhelm. Pendulation: Shifting between states of arousal and relaxation to manage stress responses. This holistic approach helps clients address trauma by reconnecting with their bodies and emotions. I completed the 3 year Foundational training in 2010 and have been using this modality ever since.