Your body holds your story

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-focused therapy aimed at relieving stress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),  as well as 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.

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 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 aims for resolution of what the body has been holding, sometimes for decades. During this process, our relationship as client-therapist is key in providing a safe container as well as mirroring relationship dynamics that show up in daily life. These dynamics are experienced in the here-and-now of the therapeutic relationship and are valuable opportunities to practice navigating them with more awareness, safety, openness and trust:

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

• Deep pain can be processed through somatic release and old attachment wounds can soften through supportive relational experiences.

• At the same time, insights into survival behaviours provide validation: I am not broken — I survived the only way I could.

• This can result in a felt sense of safety, wholeness, and greater freedom in both your body and your relationships.