Somatic Experiencing®
“Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering.”
-Peter A Levine, PhD
SE is a naturalistic, neurobiological body-oriented approach that aims to resolve the symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies. It supports the nervous system to come into more regulation and to increase capacity towards the stressors we encounter in life. This, in turn, allows for more awareness and connection to self and to others. It has been developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine PhD over four decades of multi-disciplinary study, astute and brilliant observation, and clinical experience. Since starting the training of SE, Becca brings the tools of SE to all her work.
“Trauma is not what happens to us. But what we hold inside in the absence of an empathic witness.”
- Peter A Levine, PhD
In one sense what we call trauma, is the lingering effects on the body’s entire system from experiences that were overwhelming. When an individual has many small or large experiences that feel overwhelming and threatening to the individual AND the individual does not fully reach a state of feeling safe after the event, the effects of trauma can ensue. In a way, the body system has not fully resolved that the event is over and that it survived fully. This can affect our bodies physically, emotionally, and impact our conscious awareness. The effects can accumulate and enmesh with one another over time.
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Trauma often results in disconnection of the individual to oneself as well as to others. The resultant effects of this disconnection permeate our life in unconscious ways and manifest through symptoms, emotions, behaviors, and disease.
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Most of us humans operate with the unconscious effects of what we call trauma in our lives. This can not only the result of our own experiences in our lives, but also what occurred whilst we developed in utero and what our ancestors have experienced in their lives.
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The effects of trauma and chronic stress often present as contributors to medical illness, as well as physical pain and contributing to chronic muscle tension patterns.
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In guiding in bodily sensations, SE aims to resolve the effects by bringing the body into a felt experience of safety and clarity so that the body finally realizes that it has made it through the stressful event, has survived, and is safe and alive. This helps to untether the individual’s body and consciousness from that event. The result is that the experiences no longer have charge and grip over the body and the system comes into better coherence, and ultimately has more capacity and flow. From there, vitality emerges.
The applications of SE are vast. Anyone wishing to increase their sense of connection, resilience and empowerment while decreasing reactivity, stress, and bodily symptoms may find this mode of treatment to be beneficial.
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As a doctor, one of Becca’s focuses is the application of Somatic Experiencing to help support the resoultion of the underlying contributors in those who have medical symptoms and disease. Some expamples include headache, including migraine headache, IBS, autoimmunity, chronic pain, Post-infectious disease syndromes like ME/CSF and Long COVID. This too includes those who have experienced medical trauma of any kind, including surgery or in preparation for a surgical or medical procedure. It can also be helpful to support guidance in decision making about medical issues by coming into a deeper connection with the body. For example, Becca used it to help her patients guide their decision about whether they wanted to take the COVID-19 vaccine; with exploration of their own body sensations, they were able to make this decision from an embodied sense of personal agency.
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As a mother, she also loves to work to support parents along their journey to and through parenthood. She recognizes that the more of us are less effected by the grips of trauma, stress, and reactivity, the more we can be attuned to ourselves and to our families and so that the next generation may heal from a healthier space instead of more accumulated trauma.
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SE is very supportive for psychedelic preparation and integration. Many are looking towards psychedelics, i.e. psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, MDMA, Ketamine etc to help heal trauma. Becca is both psychedelic experienced and friendly. She understands the transformative capabilities of these medicines and recognizes that too the experience can sometimes itself be too much and difficult to integrate. SE can help prepare the individual for deeper work with psychedelics by increasing capacity for the experience and can also help to integrate the experience after the psychedelic journey into the body for lasting shifts.
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She is not a mental health professional though as a physician, some aspects of mental health are in her wheelhouse. When working with SE, it is recommended to have the support of a mental health professional in support of integrating the experiences.
Typically, SE sessions are 60 minutes; at some times, doing a longer 90 minute session for some material is supportive. As a body centered, bottom-up approach, the techniques of SE work slowly to track sensations in and out of the body, pendulate (go back and forth) between sensations, and follow movement, images, or emotions that come. The SE practitioner will help to support guidance while keeping herself regulated and attuned to the client and may suggest certain things all of which is voluntary. For example, the practitioner may introduce concepts of certain movements and sounds or invite you to bring in imagery and ask you to notice certain shifts in your awareness and sensations.
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A person may choose to work with a particular body sensation, past experience experience, behavior, symptom emotion or event. Or a person may choose to simply show-up and allow what wants to come forth to present. There is no need to try with Somatic Experiencing. It is an exploration of body-sensations. And there is honoring of the bodies own wisdsom which is supported in each session. There isn’t a way for the person experiencing it to do it wrong. Becca aims to work slowly as to not introduce greater overwhelm into the body for a gentle experience. The goal is to end each session with a feeling of being settled. The person is always in control and is encouraged to explore and express their wishes and boundaries.
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Touch can be a very supportive component of SE when appropriate and desired. Touch can be done in a chair or on a traditional massage table. The person remains fully clothed during a touch session.
People often choose to work in weekly or bi-weekly sessions to allow time for integration and the rhythm that is right for the individual. The number of sessions necessary for the intended outcome is highly variable.