What is Somatic Experiencing? (*)

Hunt and the Hunter - Tiger, Deer and Bambi in nature

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If you would like to book an appointment for a somatic experiencing session with me, please send an e-mail to nesteren@nesterenakcay.com I will be happy to serve you!

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In recent years, scientific studies have highlighted the importance of the biological component in the dynamics and symptoms of traumatic stress, and somatic awareness has been gaining an increasing place within therapeutic approaches. Developments in neuroscience support the view that somatic approaches reduce symptoms in the short term and are effective in the long term.

SOMATIC EXPERIENCING® (“Somatik Deneyimleme®” or “SE”) is a short-term, body-centered, psychobiological approach aimed at healing the adverse effects of trauma and chronic stress. SE works by bringing bodily sensations into awareness and tracking them so that incomplete responses can be completed, accumulated survival energy can be discharged, and the nervous system can regain its capacity to self-regulate.

While practicing the resource-oriented Somatic Experiencing® technique, we draw on sensation, imagery, our inner healing capacity, and our lower brain (“reptilian brain,” the part of the brain considered to be the source of instinctive human behaviors). The tension and load left by the difficult situations we have experienced are released from the nervous system by recognizing our own resources, differentiating and restructuring our experiences, and using bodily awareness and sensations. Over time, our nervous system capacity and bodily awareness increase; we learn to listen to the body’s wise intelligence and to trust the healing process and the healing dynamic within us. As our nervous system returns to healthy functioning, we perceive our boundaries with others, feel safe, and in our relationship with the environment we are guided not by fear but by curiosity and exploration. All sensations—including pleasure—become richer, and we can experience more deeply the full range of states that life in this world brings.

Developed in the United States by Dr. Peter Levine and known as “Somatic Experiencing®,” this approach is rapidly spreading in recent years as a respectful, sensitive, and effective method, and it is being applied in trauma resolution and many other fields.

As a psychobiologically based approach, SE offers:

• A comprehensive understanding of traumatic stress and how people respond to stress,

• A framework for assessing where a person may be “stuck” in fight, flight, and/or freeze responses,

• Clinical tools to resolve these impasses, change old behavioral patterns, and increase flexible resilience.

Core SE skills include: exploring and tracking sensations felt in the body; developing resources and helping them find a place in the body; orienting to time and space; rebuilding boundaries; completing incomplete defensive responses; and restoring flexible resilience.

(*) This text is taken from the Somatic Experiencing Türkiye website. For more information, please visit the Somatic Experiencing Türkiye website.