“Trauma is in the body, not in the event.”
- Dr Peter Levine
Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-centred approach to healing trauma, chronic stress and symptoms of overwhelm.
Two of the foundational aspects of SE® are the development of:
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Interoceptive awareness (internal sensations of the body - how I feel inside)
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Proprioceptive awareness (where my body is in space and how it moves)
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This awareness is used to support you to explore how traumatic experiences may be held in your body and how to support your body to process and release.
I am a fully qualified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and a member of the Somatic Experiencing Association UK.
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“The practice of nonjudgmental, agenda-less presence is the foundation for safety and co-regulation.” - Bonnie Badenoch, The Heart of Trauma
What to expect:
Resourcing
Resourcing in SE refers to the ability to connect with an internal sense of calm and ease. Together in sessions we will get curious about what resources are available to you.
Developing an ability to connect to your resource(s) is an essential part of exploring difficult, traumatic experience(s). Resourcing can become an anchor for you (in our sessions and in life) - a place you can come back to whenever sensations become too intense.
Titration
Titration - a term borrowed from chemistry - refers to the technique of slowly pouring small amounts of chemical solution into another solution until it reaches neutralisation.
In SE® it refers to the slow and gentle exploration your trauma story. In other words, I will encourage you to approach your story and the physical experience connected to your story, gently and slowly, one drop at a time.
This titration technique enables you to explore your experience without getting overwhelmed, gaining a sense of confidence and the ability to respond to intense sensations more effectively.
Pendulation
Pendulation in a SE session refers to the movement between difficult experience/sensation and resourcing. It is the transition between a state of activation and a state of calm/ease.
In sessions, I will encourage you to move slowly between a state of activation (where you might be experiencing uncomfortable/intense physical sensations linked to trauma) to a state of calm and expansion.
As we continually practice this together in sessions, you will learn to attune to your body’s own rhythm and its natural ability to shift between physical states, without feeling overwhelmed.
