Somatic Experiencing®
Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and chronic stress by working directly with the nervous system.
What Is Somatic Experiencing®?
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) is a body-oriented therapeutic model developed by Dr. Peter Levine that aims to resolve symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies and nervous systems. It supports the healing of trauma and other stress disorders from a nervous system lens.
From a Somatic Experiencing perspective, trauma is not defined by the event, but by how the nervous system responded to those experiences and how those responses continue to affect the body and daily life.
When overwhelming events happen too quickly, too intensely, or without enough support, the body may not be able to complete the natural survival responses designed to restore balance.
Somatic Experiencing® is a bottom-up approach, meaning that we begin with the body and the nervous system rather than working only through thoughts or analysis.
By paying attention to sensations, emotions, impulses, and other aspects of present-moment experience, the work supports a gradual reconnection between body and mind.
Over time, the nervous system can begin to release stored survival energy and return to a greater sense of regulation, resilience, and safety.
How Trauma Affects the Nervous System
Trauma can occur when an experience is too much, too fast, or too overwhelming for the nervous system to process at the time it happens. When this occurs, the body may not return easily to a state of balance.
When faced with threat, the body naturally mobilizes survival responses such as fight, flight, or freeze.
These responses are designed to protect us and normally complete themselves once the danger has passed.
However, when these responses cannot fully resolve, the nervous system may remain stuck in patterns of activation, shutdown, or chronic stress.
From the body’s perspective, it may continue to feel as though the threat is still present. In Dr. Peter Levine’s words, our bodies get “all dressed up with no place to go.” We become stuck in survival patterns.
Over time, this dysregulation can show up in many ways, including anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, emotional overwhelm, or a sense of feeling disconnected from oneself.
Somatic Experiencing® works directly with these nervous system patterns, helping the body gradually release stored survival energy and restore its natural capacity for regulation.
Who This Work May Support
Somatic Experiencing® may be supportive for people who notice that their nervous system often feels stuck in patterns of stress, overwhelm, or shutdown.
These patterns can show up in many different ways, including:
• Anxiety — feeling constantly on edge, overwhelmed, hypervigilant, or experiencing panic attacks and phobias
• Depression and shutdown states — numbness, disconnection, lack of motivation, or difficulty moving forward
• Post-traumatic stress — lingering symptoms after accidents, assaults, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, invasive medical or dental procedures, or other overwhelming experiences
• Chronic stress and tension — including fatigue, chronic pain, or physical symptoms that haven’t improved with medical interventions
• Emotional resiliency and flexibility — feeling stuck in emotional patterns, or unable to feel and process emotional experiences
• Boundaries and relationships — difficulty creating or maintaining healthy limits, or challenges feeling safe in connection with others
• Coping strategies — patterns such as overworking, perfectionism, procrastination, or other behaviors that developed as ways to manage overwhelm but feel difficult to shift
• Feeling disconnected from the body — tension, fatigue, chronic stress, or health challenges that seem connected to emotional experiences
Somatic Experiencing® works directly with the nervous system patterns that underlie these experiences, helping the body gradually rediscover its natural capacity for regulation, resilience, and connection.
What Happens in a Somatic Experiencing® Session
Somatic Experiencing® sessions focus on the body’s present-moment experience rather than revisiting traumatic events in detail.
Our work together explores not only your experiences and story, but especially the patterns held in the body and nervous system — where the imprints of traumatic, stressful, or overwhelming experiences live.
Somatic Experiencing® offers a wide range of interventions that can support nervous system regulation. Each session is shaped by the moment-to-moment needs of the client, integrating what feels most supportive and meaningful in that space.
The work often includes practices such as:
• noticing sensations and shifts in the body
• orienting to the present environment
• moving gradually between experiences of activation and settling
• slowing the process down so the nervous system has time to respond
• identifying internal and external resources that support safety
• supporting the body in discharging and completing survival responses
Rather than focusing only on thoughts or interpretations, this approach works with the entirety of the human experience — sensations, images, behaviors, emotions, and meaning.
Over time, the nervous system can begin to rediscover its natural capacity for regulation, resilience, and recovery from stress.
