Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and stress developed by Dr. Peter Levine, PhD. SE understands trauma not primarily as a psychological event but as a physiological one — an incomplete response in the nervous system that can leave the body in a persistent state of activation or shutdown long after the original threat has passed. When we move through overwhelming experiences, the body stores the energy and tension of those events. Over time this can surface as anxiety, chronic pain, reactive anger, a sense of being constricted or scattered, or feeling stuck in patterns that no longer serve us.

One of SE's most compelling contributions is its capacity to reduce shame. Trauma responses — freezing, collapsing, dissociating — are not failures of character. They are automatic, evolutionarily wired responses the nervous system deploys when fighting or fleeing isn't possible. Understanding our wounds in these terms, rather than as personal failings, can itself be profoundly liberating.

SE works gently and gradually, without requiring you to revisit traumatic memories in detail. In sessions, we pay attention to sensations in the body — tightness, warmth, tingling, movement — and allow these sensations to complete the natural processes that were interrupted during the original experience. We engage this process through the body, emotions, images, and meanings — moving at your pace, guided by what your nervous system is ready to do. The body has its own wisdom and its own capacity to heal; SE works to unblock that capacity rather than impose a method on top of it.

Research supports SE's effectiveness for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and stress-related conditions — with improvements seen not only in emotional symptoms but in physical wellbeing. Studies show reductions in flashbacks, anxiety, and stress-related physical tension following SE treatment.