Somatic Experiencing Therapy

About Somatic Experiencing

SOMATIC EXPERIENCING (SE) is a leading edge therapy with a body-centered approach. It is also a proven and effective psychobiological method to resolve anxiety, depression and chronic stress.

Dr. Peter A. Levine, renown psychologist and biological physicist, spent 45 years studying and treating stress and trauma. As a result of his multidisciplinary studies and clinical applications, he developed Somatic Experiencing (SE), a naturalistic approach to healing.

The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to preventing further PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma.

What are the Benefits of Somatic Experiencing?

The number one benefit to SE therapy is that it helps you to build the capacity to self-regulate, as well as, process and release suppressed emotions related to current and past life events. It will also help you:

• Reduce anxiety, anger and stress
• Increased energy and positive thinking
• Quickly develop self-regulation skills
• Learn how to quickly shift out of negative thinking and depressive states
• Naturally develop more tolerance and flexibility in relationships
• Improve sleep, digestion and concentration
• Ease physical and emotional discomforts associated with the current or past events
• Decrease the need to feel on-guard
• Decrease muscle tension
• Decrease frequency and intensity of nightmares and flashbacks

…All of the above benefits will then increase your overall physical health and wellness.

SE Therapy will also improve your sense of connection to others, as well as:
• Decrease your isolation or detachment from others
• Improve your sense of belonging
• Increase your sense of feeling alive and “real”
• Increase your capacity to feel confident and capable
• Deepen your sense of connection to the spiritual world

How SE Works

An SE session looks very much like the traditional talk therapy session; however, SE sessions facilitates the completion of self-protective responses and encourages you to be aware of body sensations, in order to address the root cause of your symptoms.

Unlike other methods of therapy, SE is not primarily focused on having you re-tell or re-live past traumatic events. Instead, it offers the opportunity to engage, complete and resolve past and current feelings that are trapped in the body, and learn self-regulation skills in a slow and supportive and safe environment. As a result, if you are locked in anxiety or anger, you will learn how to safely release this energy and experience more relaxing and peaceful states in your life.

If you are stuck in a depression or a heavy, low energy state; Robin will help you learn how to release yourself from this state and process the underlying feelings that are causing your system to shut down in the first place. Gradually, you will find your feelings of hopelessness and numbness transformed into empowerment, triumph, and mastery.

By doing this therapy, you will not only process and release feelings related to current and past events, but you will also build your capacity to self-regulate and handle stressful situations that may happen in the future. By correcting bodily experiences, this will also reset your nervous system, reinstate your sense of inner balance, improve your resilience to stress, and increase your overall vitality, equanimity, and capacity to actively engage in your life!

Who Would Benefit from Somatic Experiencing?

SE can benefit anyone who is struggling with:

• Anxiety, anger, or overwhelming stress
• Depression, lack of motivation, low energy and negative thinking
• Relationship conflict- you seem to have larger reactions to a seemingly small stimulus
• Abandonment fears and insecurities
• Self-esteem issues
• Life changes
• Grief and loss of a loved one
• A history of childhood abuse
• Different types of assault
• Injury and lasting effects from motor vehicle accidents
• Preparation/recovery for medical procedures
• Traumatic military experience and exposure to natural disasters.

The number one thing that people learn pretty quickly with this type of therapy is how to shift yourself out of either high states of activation (anxiety, anger, overwhelm, stress) or low states (depression, low energy, negative and despairing thoughts).

What’s happening when you feel heavy, depressed, or feel nothing is that your body is in a FREEZE response. You will learn how to identify this state and quickly break through it and come out of it. We can also start to look at what is making you go into these stuck physical states and process past trauma in small, titrated safe ways. After doing SE therapy, it won’t take long for you to feel more capable, confident and happy in your life.

Let Robin Morgan at A Path of Heart Counselling Services help you to finally heal properly by using this effective body-centered therapy. Begin to live a life of ease, as you experience less tension, anger, anxiety, depression, and let go of past events. Somatic Experiencing Therapy is one of the best methods of treatment to restore you to the person you have always wanted to be!

Call Robin now to book your first session at 250-863-7863