Everything you judge about yourself served a purpose at the time ~ Dr. Gabor Maté

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-focused therapy designed to relieve symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic stress, and other trauma-related conditions by helping regulate the nervous system. Developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine, SE works by tuning into the body’s innate ability to heal, using awareness of physical sensations to gently process and release stored trauma.

While gently pacing the process so the individual can safely assimilate the changes within their nervous system without overwhelm, SE may help restore a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness in the aftermath of trauma or after periods of chronic stress.

At its core, SE works with the body’s natural stress-response system (fight, flight, freeze) using a technique called pendulation—gently shifting between stored trauma sensations and a sense of calm and safety. This process strengthens resilience, making it easier to manage difficult emotions and sensations in daily life.

Somatic Integrative Therapy is similar to SE but different in that it works to inhibit coping and self-soothing behaviours (such as taking a deep breath, analysing, talking) that might feel good and relieving in the moment but also block the body and nervous system from deeply processing difficult emotions and nervous system states.

Instead of focusing on regulation it allows for resolution of what the body has been holding, sometimes for many decades. During this process, the client-therapist relationship is key in providing a safe container as well as brining up attachment wounds that can be worked through by using the emotions and behaviours that show up in therapy. In somatic psychotherapy, these dynamics are not just analysed but experienced in the here-and-now of the therapeutic relationship

• By engaging both body awareness and the relational field, you can access deeper layers of implicit memory.

• Traumatic energy is metabolised through somatic release and old attachment wounds are softened through corrective relational experiences.

• At the same time, the reframing of survival adaptations fosters deep self-validation: I am not broken — I survived the only way I could.

• The result is integration: a felt sense of safety, wholeness, and greater freedom in both the body and relationships.