Somatic Experiencing®

What it is

A body-oriented way of meeting stress and overwhelm

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a mindfulness-based, body-oriented approach to stressful and overwhelming experiences, developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine.

SE starts from the observation that intense experiences can be reflected in the nervous system and affect our natural capacity for self-regulation. Instead of focusing only on what happened, or on purely psychological aspects, SE turns attention to body sensations and to the nervous system's responses connected with those experiences.

Through gentle, dosed attention to sensation, a more conscious relationship with inner states of tension can develop – and with it a greater sense of flexibility, stability and balance.

Background

Learning from nature

Dr. Levine's path to SE began in the 1970s with interdisciplinary studies in medicine and psychology. He noticed that wild animals, despite repeated threat, rarely show lasting stress responses – they have natural ways of discharging the tension and completing the cycle.

From these observations grew decades of research and practice. In my own work, SE is combined with Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory: a map of how our nervous system moves between safety, mobilization and shutdown.