Somatic Experiencing© : A Powerful Approach To The Treatment Of Trauma
In his 1997 book, Taming the Tiger, Dr. Peter Levine introduced Somatic Experiencing© (SE) as a short term and naturalistic form of therapy aimed at healing the psychological and physical sequelae of both single-episode trauma (e.g., a natural disaster, a car accident, a rape) and ongoing developmental trauma (e.g., ongoing childhood neglect ). Normally, when an individual is confronted with such traumatic stress, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is activated to provide the bodily mechanisms for survival-orientation to the danger, and the fight, flight, or freeze behavioral response to the danger. Dr. Levine proposed that symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological and physical problems associated with such stress arise in humans because the ANS becomes dysregulated and the physical tension normally associated with the adaptive ANS response is not fully discharged following the trauma.
Somatic Experiencing© (SE) therapy is typically conducted in a face-to-face session similar to traditional psychotherapy. The SE client is encouraged by the therapist to slowly explore the nature of the trauma and to focus on sensations (arousal or freezing) that are stored in the body. Through a titration process (use of small, incremental steps), the therapist helps the client move between an experience of physical tension (dysregulation) and discharge of the tension (a return to a state of regulation). The client then renegotiates the trauma, rather than repeatedly reliving or physically re-enacting it.
