What is Somatic Experiencing and How Does It Help in Trauma Therapy
Every day, more people are seeking ways to heal from trauma.
While traditional talk therapies are well-known, there are other, sometimes less familiar approaches that are amazingly effective in the renegotiation of trauma. One such method is Somatic Experiencing (SE).
In this blog, we’re diving into what SE is all about and how it can help you navigate trauma recovery.
Understanding Trauma
First things first: what exactly is trauma? Be sure to read this, this, this and this!
Trauma is more than just a bad memory.
Trauma happens when an event, or events, overwhelm our ability to cope. It doesn’t simply mess with our minds; it also takes a toll on our bodies.
People who’ve experienced trauma often deal with anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and even physical symptoms like chronic pain and fatigue. This could be a result of accumulated stress and shock in our bodies and nervous systems, creating a sort of stuckness in patterns of fight, flight for freeze.
SE posits that survival responses get stuck in the body when traumatic events prevent these instinctive reactions from fully completing. This causes stored energy and heightened arousal states to persist, resulting in ongoing trauma symptoms.
Through targeted techniques, SE helps individuals to discharge this trapped energy and restore their body's natural ability to regulate itself.
(For a full list of trauma symptoms, download our trauma symptom checklist)
According to SE, survival responses get stuck in the body through the following mechanisms:
Trauma and Survival Responses
When a person experiences a traumatic event, the body activates its survival responses: fight, flight, and freeze. These are instinctive reactions meant to protect the individual from harm.
Incomplete Responses
The body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) prepares to either confront the threat (fight), escape from it (flight), or shut down (freeze) if the first two options are not viable.
If these survival responses are not fully enacted or completed (e.g., the person is unable to fight or flee and remains frozen), the activation remains trapped in the body.
State of High Arousal
The incomplete survival responses result in a state of high autonomic arousal that can persist long after the event. This can manifest as tension, hypervigilance, anxiety, and other symptoms.
Stored Energy
The uncompleted responses leave behind stored energy in the muscles, nervous system, and other parts of the body. This persistent energy can keep the individual in a state of heightened alertness or emotional reactivity
Body Memories
Traumatic experiences can become encoded in the body as "body memories," which are different from traditional cognitive memories. These physical memories can be triggered by reminders of the trauma, causing the body to react as if it were in the original traumatic situation.
The Cycle of Re-experiencing
Because the survival response was never completed, the body can continuously attempt to finish the process, leading to cycles of re-experiencing trauma symptoms. This can make it difficult for the individual to feel safe and for the nervous system to return to a state of calm.
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Created by Peter A. Levine, SE is based on the idea that unprocessed trauma gets stuck in our bodies. Levine, a doctorate in both medical biophysics and psychology, observed that animals in the wild deal with trauma very differently compared to humans. They literally shake off the traumatic event and move on without long-lasting effects.
SE leverages this natural ability, but tailors it for humans.
SE focuses on bodily sensations — not just the traumatic event or the feelings surrounding it. By tuning into what the body is experiencing, we can begin to release that pent-up energy and finally move past it.
SE helps individuals complete the interrupted survival responses. Trauma therapists guide clients to gradually and safely access and process the stored energy and trauma in their bodies. By doing so, SE aims to restore the natural balance of the ANS, aiding the body in completing its physiological responses and returning to baseline functioning.
In Somatic Experiencing we track 5 channels of experience (SIBAM) to help folks process and integrate traumatic events.
SIBAM provides a structured framework to explore and process trauma through multiple dimensions of experience.
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Role: Focuses on bodily sensations.
Application: Clients are encouraged to pay attention to internal physical feelings such as tingling, warmth, tightness, or relaxation. This helps them become more aware of how their body stores and experiences trauma.
Goal: To ground the person in their bodily experiences, facilitating the release of stored tension and energy.
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Role: Involves using mental images or visualizations.
Application: Clients may be guided to visualize an image that arises spontaneously or that is suggested by the therapist. This could be related to the trauma or a calming, positive scene.
Goal: To help bring subconscious material into conscious awareness and provide a way to non-verbally process trauma.
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Role: Observes and addresses physical actions and movements.
Application: Clients might repeat specific motions or enact behaviors that were inhibited during a traumatic event. These could include fight, flight, or freeze responses that were not fully realized.
Goal: To complete these incomplete actions, which can resolve the trapped survival responses.
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Role: Pertains to emotions.
Application: Clients explore the emotions they experience in relation to the traumatic event, such as fear, sadness, or anger.
Goal: To allow the safe expression and regulation of these emotions, helping to process and integrate them.
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Role: Relates to the cognitive interpretations or beliefs about the trauma.
Application: Clients reflect on the meanings they have ascribed to their traumatic experiences, such as feelings of guilt, shame, or self-blame.
Goal: To reframe these interpretations in a way that helps release their negative impact and fosters a healthier understanding of the experience.
The Following Are The Key Concepts of Somatic Experiencing:
Trauma as a Bodily Experience
Levine posits that trauma is not just a psychological event but primarily a physiological one. Traumatic experiences cause the nervous system to become dysregulated.
Naturalistic Process
SE is grounded in the observation of wild animals and how they process and recover from the threat, often through physical movements and discharges. They typically do not get traumatized despite frequent life-threatening situations.
Somatic Awareness
SE emphasizes the awareness of physical sensations felt in the body. Individuals are guided to pay attention to internal experiences, often referred to as "felt sense."
Pendulation
This involves moving between states of comfort or safety and states of discomfort or distress. It helps release "stuck" energy from the traumatic event by gently oscillating between these states.
Titration
Rather than confronting traumatic memories head-on, SE encourages the gradual and controlled exposure to avoid re-traumatization. This is often done in small, manageable doses.
Discharge of Energy
SE aims to help individuals complete the defensive or self-protective actions that were initiated but interrupted during the traumatic event. This can involve physical movements and sensations that discharge pent-up energy (e.g., shaking, trembling).
Resourcing
Similar to EMDR, this involves identifying and focusing on internal and external resources that create a sense of safety and support. These resources can lessen the intensity of a traumatic memory or sensation.
Steps in a Somatic Experiencing Sessions
Establishing Safety
The therapist works to establish relational safety and ensures you feels safe and supported.
Tracking Sensations
Clients are guided to notice and track their bodily sensations carefully and mindfully.
Pendulation and Titration
The therapist supports you to oscillate between recalling the trauma and feeling safe, in small doses.
Discharge and Completion
Encouraging the body to release energy stored from the trauma through natural physical responses like shaking, crying, or other movements.
Integration
Helping you integrate the experience by discussing and noticing changes in their body, emotions, and thoughts.
What are the Goals of Somatic Experiencing?
Restoration of Self-Regulation- Enabling the nervous system to regain its natural balance and resilience.
Empowerment- Helping individuals reclaim a sense of agency and control over their bodily and emotional responses.
Healing- Facilitating the resolution of trauma and promoting overall well-being and healing.
What are the Benefits of Somatic Experiencing?
So, what’s the upside to all of this?
Many who participate in SE report relief from chronic pain, gastrointestinal issues, and even fatigue.
It’s not just the body that benefits; emotional health improves too, making it easier to handle stress and anxiety.
Unlike some therapies that offer short-term fixes, SE aims for sustainable healing, addressing the root of the problem rather than just the symptoms.
Somatic Experiencing offers a refreshing, body-centered approach to healing from trauma.
By focusing on bodily sensations and gently guiding trauma survivors through their physical responses, SE provides lasting relief that goes beyond symptom management.
If you’re seeking a holistic way to tackle trauma, SE might just be the path worth exploring.
Here at Reclaim Therapy we provide somatically focused trauma therapy for PTSD, CPTSD treatment and therapy for eating disorders.
We believe that our bodies hold an ability to heal and the answers that we often look for elsewhere. Our trauma therapists are passionate about helping people find safety in accessing that wisdom, so the people we work alongside can live the life that they’re longing for, and undoubtedly deserve.
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