Areas of concern:

  • Rape crisis
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • HIV/Aids support
  • Physical disabilities
  • Loss/Grief/death and dying
  • Cancer support
  • Family suicide
  • Hi-jacking / Robbery

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is based on the understanding that symptoms of trauma are the result of a dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and that the ANS has an inherent capacity to self-regulate that is undermined by trauma. SE bases its approach on the science that mammals automatically regulate survival responses from the primitive, non-verbal brain, mediated by the autonomic nervous system. In the wild, animals spontaneously “discharge” this excess energy once safe. Involuntary movements such as shaking, trembling, and deep spontaneous breaths reset the ANS and restore equilibrium. Humans disrupt this discharge through our enculturation, rational thinking, shame, judgments, and fear of our bodily sensations. Somatic Experiencing works towards restoring this inherent capacity to self-regulate by facilitating the release of energy and natural survival reactions stored during a traumatic event. According to founder Peter Levine, “Trauma lives in the body, not the event.”