Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing Gets to the Root
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) is a gentle, empowering approach to effectively heal the impact of unresolved trauma and stress. Peter Levine developed SE™ by observing how wild prey animals are constantly exposed to threat but rarely show symptoms of trauma. But why? When a prey animal identifies a threat, their nervous system creates energy for a defensive response: either fight, run away (flight) or play dead (freeze). Once the prey animal experiences safety again, she discharges the survival energy by gently shaking or trembling. Humans have the same primal mechanism and desire for completion, but our rational brain often overrides the impulse. If the energy does not discharge and the wave does not complete, the charge of energy becomes trapped in our system and the body believes we are still under threat. Thus, trauma symptoms begin.
“Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the ‘triggering’ event itself. They stem from the frozen residue of energy that has not been resolved and discharged; this residue remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and spirits.” – Peter Levine, Waking the Tiger
Translating this Process into a Session
In our sessions we support your sense of safety. We explore small pieces of discomfort at a time, moving slowly and gradually. I guide you to connect with physical sensation as well as imagery, movement, emotion and thoughts. As they form, connect, disconnect and change, they express what your system needs. As we listen, the nervous system can gently release bound up energy and restore equilibrium and internal regulation. The approach also offers a profound and essential way to live more embodied and to process overwhelm as it forms in your day-to-day life, whether you have significant trauma or not.
“I so appreciate Emma’s deep intuition that I wasn’t ready to get in too deep. I had apprehension about Somatic Experiencing work, but Emma was so sweet and gentle and did such a beautiful balance of taking the lead and offering explanation when I wanted it.” – Ana A.
The Foundations of an SE™ Session
During sessions we “resource”, which is the practice of focusing your awareness on something that brings a sense of “okayness” and safety. Doing so increases your capacity to contain uncomfortable sensations without getting overwhelmed. It also teaches your system that it can return to a state of calm.
We “titrate”, meaning we work with small pieces at a time so that we don’t re-overwhelm your system. If you’re sharing a story, I’ll often pause you and invite you to notice what is happening in your system. By slowing down and inviting your awareness to the present moment, your nervous system will often carry out the completion of protective responses that it wasn’t able to do before. The process can be subtle and may take time.
We work with the “felt sense”—the “medium through which we experience the fullness of sensation and knowledge about ourselves” (Waking the Tiger). I guide you to become aware of and track your physical sensations. By bringing your attention to sensation, and noticing how it forms, develops and changes, energy in the system can move and release. (Release might look like a spontaneous deep breath, a yawn, a newfound capacity to look around the room, etc.)
We “orient,” meaning we look around our environment. Orienting is a natural behavior and there are two kinds: defensive orienting, in which we scan for a potential threat; and exploratory orienting, in which we take in the world around us through our senses. In a session, we play with exploratory orienting.
We “pendulate,” meaning we move back and forth between two experiences. We can pendulate between a uncomfortable sensation and a pleasant one. We can also pendulate between our inner experience and our exterior environment, including social connection. We do this to develop confidence in our system to move between alertness/action and settling/rest. Pendulation is the natural process of expansion and contraction. When we do move between opposite states like this, we restore the nervous system to a state of self-regulation and flow.
“I’ve been on a healing and self-growth path for most of my adult life so I’ve experienced a LOT of different forms of therapeutic and growth-oriented practices over the past 20 years. Not all of them have resonated or had lasting effects, but some of them have been profound for me. I’d say SE has that profound power. I really like some of the tools and languaging Emma has introduced, and notice how I’ve carried those beyond our sessions into my daily life. And I gotta say, Emma has capacity to hold vulnerable stories in a way that’s remarkably grounded—with warmth and acceptance, and also with an attention to when we may need to pause to tend to the feelings that are emerging. She makes sure it’s a really gentle process, almost like she’s wrapping me in nourishing resources as I explore the hardest places in myself. I dig it! And also tell almost everyone about it now. It’s that good.” – Kay’a H.
SE™ can effectively support you if you’re…
- Often feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed out,
- Regularly noticing numbness, disconnection, low-energy, or symptoms of depression,
- Finding yourself reacting rather than responding,
- Experiencing chronic symptoms or pain in which health professionals can’t identify the cause,
- Unable to connect with physical sensation or your body,
- Struggling to connect with others,
- Exhausted and burnt out, or experiencing chronic fatigue,
- Aware that you’re nervous system is stuck in the same pattern.
Resources for Learning More About SE™
I highly recommend listening to the whole series of short videos by Rachel English, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. You can access them here.
Consider purchasing these books from your local independent bookstore or checking them out from your local library.
For more learning, visit these websites:
Somatic Experiencing® International
Getting Started
We start with a 15-20 minute call (at no cost) to get a sense of whether we are a good fit for each other. If we decide to work together, you choose whether you’d like to begin with a 4, 6, 8 or 10 session package. Beginning with multiple sessions gives space for the process of doing and integrating this work. After the first set of sessions, you can schedule single sessions are get a new package. I offer in-person sessions in Searsmont, Maine or virtual sessions via Zoom. I can also see clients in downtown Belfast, Maine.
Package offerings:
- 4 sessions — $400 ($100/session)
- 6 sessions — $570 ($95/session)
- 8 sessions — $736 ($92/session)
- 10 sessions — $900 ($90/session)
Single session (only available after completion of a multi-session package) — $105
** I offer payment plans for everyone and a sliding scale for those in need. If money is the reason you don’t seek support, please reach out and we’ll see what we can arrange 🙂 **
Contact me:
Emma Schurink
soulwindsempowerment@gmail.com
Searsmont, ME