Somatic Experiencing was developed by Peter Levine in response to scientific advances in our understanding of how the body deals with trauma. In particular, the realization that, whatever our conscious response, the body has various processes it undergoes to create a “safe place” for us. In many ways it acts as a complement to Compassionate Inquiry, though where Compassionate Inquiry is a cognitive therapy, enabling the client to understand and adapt their own beliefs and behaviours, Somatic Experiencing is a sense-based therapy that encourages them to accept and work with their body’s own defence mechanisms.

The key is our sense of feeling. Much of our response to trauma is felt, be it anxiety, nausea, dissociation, adrenalization, and equally much of our sense of recovery comes from having passed through these sensations. As a practitioner, my role is to create a sympathetic environment where my nervous system accompanies yours, through whatever negative sensations it may be experiencing, until you reach place of greater peace and wellness. For instance, you may find, during a session, that you feel the need to cry; instead of diverting or distracting you, I would accompany you, perhaps physically supporting you, enabling the process to run its natural course in a gentler, calmer manner.

Central to all this is Levine’s understanding that the body wants us to deal with trauma, it wants to protect us from harm – which in some ways is why it puts us through these apparently negative, defensive responses -, and it wants us to complete the process and move on.
My role is to help facilitate that process.