Somatic Experiencing
Understanding Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-focused therapeutic method designed to help individuals recover from the lasting effects of stress and trauma. Rather than focusing solely on the event that caused the trauma, SE centers on how those experiences are held in the nervous system and how they continue to influence a person’s ability to feel safe, regulated, and connected. By working with the body’s natural responses—like fight, flight, or freeze—SE aims to restore balance, encourage healing, and build resilience.
This approach is used by professionals across many fields, including psychotherapy, medicine, education, coaching, bodywork, and rehabilitation therapies. SE supports practitioners in working with trauma from a nervous system perspective while remaining within their scope of practice. Developed over decades by Dr. Peter A. Levine, the SE model integrates insights from neuroscience, psychology, physiology, ethology, and traditional healing systems.
How SE Supports Healing
Trauma can emerge from a single overwhelming incident or develop over time due to chronic stress. It can arise from experiences such as accidents, surgeries, abuse, neglect, violence, systemic oppression, or exposure to ongoing fear. Regardless of the source, unresolved trauma often disrupts the body’s ability to self-regulate.
Somatic Experiencing offers a framework for recognizing where someone may be “stuck” in survival responses like freezing, fleeing, or fighting. These responses, when not fully processed, can lead to symptoms such as anxiety, dissociation, or chronic tension. SE helps release the trapped survival energy and complete those protective responses, so the nervous system no longer signals danger when there is none.
The Science Behind It
Dr. Levine's early research was inspired by observing animals in the wild. Despite facing frequent life threats, animals don’t show signs of long-term trauma like humans often do. He discovered that animals instinctively discharge the intense energy generated during freeze states through shaking or trembling. Humans, on the other hand, often don’t complete this natural process, leaving that energy “stuck” in the body. This unresolved state can lead to emotional and physiological symptoms.
SE practitioners gently guide clients in becoming more aware of internal sensations, helping them develop a greater capacity to experience and move through those feelings without becoming overwhelmed. Over time, this allows the nervous system to return to a more flexible and balanced state.
An Integrative Path to Recovery
Somatic Experiencing is not a one-size-fits-all technique but a versatile approach that can enhance many healing modalities. It helps professionals across disciplines better support individuals dealing with trauma, chronic stress, or nervous system dysregulation. SE offers practical tools for promoting long-term healing, by working with the body’s innate ability to recover.