What is Somatic Experiencing?
In psychotherapy, various approaches aim to help individuals alleviate symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and stress. One such method is Somatic Experiencing (SE), developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine. Unlike many approaches that mainly focus on cognitive processing, SE takes a body-centered approach, emphasizing the body’s natural ability to heal and regulate itself. By encouraging individuals to tune into and process their somatic (bodily) sensations, SE offers a unique and powerful path to recovery.
Understanding Trauma and the Body
Internal wounds can be healed
Typically, people think of trauma as a specific bad event that happened to someone. However, trauma isn’t defined by the event itself (or lack of event) but by a person’s internal response to it. Trauma is the wound left behind, impacting one’s sense of self, emotions, and physical state. Understanding trauma in this way can be empowering: while the past may be unchangeable, the internal wounds it leaves can heal over time with the right support and strategies.
Understanding moments of overwhelm
When we face a threat—whether it’s a sudden crisis, emotional neglect, chronic stress, or a lack of support—our bodies instinctively activate survival responses. These automatic reactions, known as fight, flight, or freeze, are part of our evolutionary wiring designed to protect us from danger.
Under normal circumstances, once the threat passes, the nervous system discharges the excess survival energy and returns to a regulated state. But when the body is unable to complete these responses—due to being overwhelmed, frozen in fear, or unsupported during or after the event—this energy can become trapped in the nervous system.
Over time, this unresolved energy can lead to chronic dysregulation, leaving the body stuck in a prolonged state of threat—even when the danger is long gone. This is why moments of overwhelm can continue to affect us, sometimes for years, and why trauma healing must involve working with the body, not just the mind.
Signs of Unprocessed Trauma:
- Anxiety or hypervigilance
- Depression or emotional numbness
- Chronic pain, fatigue, tension, and nausea
- Dissociation or feeling “disconnected”
- Digestive issues (e.g., IBS)
- Sleep disturbances
- Difficulty being present or feeling safe
If left unresolved, this stuck energy continues to shape how we feel, think, and relate to the world—often without us realizing it.
How does Somatic Experiencing (SE) help?
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based trauma therapy developed by Dr. Peter Levine, designed to support trauma resolution, nervous system regulation, and emotional healing. Unlike traditional talk therapy, SE helps individuals reconnect with their bodies to process unresolved stress and restore a sense of safety, presence, and calm.
By integrating the cognitive, emotional, and physical aspects of experience, SE works with the whole person. This integration is essential for truly healing trauma—not just understanding it, but releasing it from the nervous system.
The body holds an innate ability to return to balance. When we shift focus from the cognitive story to the body’s felt experience, we give the nervous system the opportunity to complete the fight, flight, or freeze responses that were interrupted during the original event. Over time, this stored survival energy can begin to release safely, helping to quiet the internal alarm system and build greater resilience.
Imagine how different life could feel if you weren’t constantly stuck in survival mode—how much more ease, energy, and connection you’d have to live the life you truly want.
What does an SE session look like?
Every SE session is tailored to your needs. It may include a blend of:
- Verbal check-ins and collaborative conversation
- Tracking body sensations such as breath, heartbeat, or muscle tension
- Slowing down to build awareness of the present moment
- Identifying internal and external resources for grounding and safety
- Psychoeducation about the nervous system and trauma
- Gentle movement or touch work (with consent)
- Not needing to retell your trauma story—you don’t need to relive the past to heal from it
Sessions prioritize safety, consent, and pacing—offering tools to help you feel more in control, less reactive, and more at home in your body.
Terms your Somatic Experiencing Practitioner may use
- Titration: (like in chemistry!) refers to the slow and gradual exploration of traumatic experiences, working with small pieces at a time. This helps prevent overwhelm and allows clients to build confidence, stay within their window of tolerance, and respond more effectively to internal sensations.
- Pendulation: This principle involves gently moving between states of activation (contraction) and calm (expansion)—such as tension and ease, or discomfort and relaxation. This back-and-forth rhythm helps the nervous system build resilience and the capacity to shift between stress and regulation without getting stuck in either extreme.
- Resourcing: refers to using internal and external anchors to promote self-regulation and a sense of safety.
- External resources might include comforting people, pets, nature, or familiar environments.
- Internal resources could be calming sensations, positive memories, or feelings of strength or relaxation.
These tools help stabilize the nervous system and provide grounding during trauma work.
Here’s a video where Dr. Peter Levine shares two ways to help clients feel safe
- Tracking: means noticing bodily sensations—like tension, heartbeat, or breath—without judgment or the need to change them. It helps you observe internal experiences with curiosity rather than fear, supporting body awareness and nervous system healing.
- SIBAM: is a model developed by Dr. Peter Levine that outlines five key channels of human experience: Sensation, Image, Behavior, Affect, and Meaning. This model helps clients understand how they process trauma and where to gently begin the healing process. It also supports integration across cognitive, emotional, and physical levels of experience.
Looking for a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner?
To find a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, you can visit the SE Provider directory to find a list of qualified professionals in your area.
Elizabeth, a Registered Psychotherapist and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner on our team, offers trauma-informed therapy for individuals ready to reconnect with themselves and feel safe again—in their bodies, minds, and lives.
