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Somatic Experiencing
a Body-Focused approach for Healing Trauma 

Welcome to this alternative approach for healing trauma. 

​Somatic Experiencing (SE) is an alternative approach that focuses on the body's inner experience because that is where the response to trauma happens; our self-protective mechanisms are fundamentally a physiognomic process.  

Because defensive responses are about survival, they tend to be intense and overwhelming. So SE has a devised a way to work with defensive responses incrementally so that releasing trauma is not as scary as it may seem. 

It is important to heal our trauma, not just for ourselves but for our families and our societies. Keeping trauma in our system is very disruptive. 
Repressed defensive responses puts the body under immense stress and creates a lot of tension.  

Coming to terms with the history our bodies carry is a journey, an initiation, into self-compassion and self-discovery. Ultimately, working on healing our trauma is not just for ourselves, but for the collective, transforming the field for everyone around us too.  

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Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the event itself. They arise when the energy, mobilized to meet an extreme or life-threatening event, is not fully discharged and integrated. This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds."
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Dr. Peter Levine, In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and R​estores Goodness, North Atlantic Books, 2010. 

What causes trauma?

Anything can be traumatic if it elicits a self-protective mechanism and is addressed or repaired. Often, there are multiple layers. Trauma can result from shock - like car accidents and falls - or developmental challenges - like child abuse or neglect - collective trauma - like natural disasters and wars. Even medical procedures can be traumatizing. 

Defensive responses can be generally identified as Fight, Flight & Freeze. Common symptoms of trauma - i.e. the stuckness of these responses - include (physically) muscle tension, inability to settle down, insomnia, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, numbness; (emotionally) anxiety, panic attacks, rage, indifference; (mentally) flashbacks, night terrors, memory loss; (spiritually) feeling disconnected from life, inability to connect, helplessness. 
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Self-empowerment and self-acceptance means being at home in our own body.

Somatic Experiencing is a safe and gentle way to unravel these stuck responses, renegotiate the trauma, and reclaim the energy that has been caught inside them. Living life becomes easier, fuller and more empowered. ​
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How to get started

Request a Free 20-Minute Consultation. The purpose of this consult is for you to ask any questions about this approach and for us to find out if we are a good fit. 

Click HERE to Download my Client Intake Form. You can find more about the nature of the practitioner-client relationship in this document and you have the choice to fill out the form and email it back to me at ywithzena@gmail.com. 

Book an Appointment. Sessions with me are 55 minutes long at a fee of $80.  They are can be taken online or in-person, both approaches are equally effective.

Book a Package. I offer a sequence of 4 sessions at a fee of $300. 

Please note, I am not a therapist and reserve the right to refer out, should we not be a good fit or if the work is outside my scope of practice. 

Cancelation Policy

Please allow 24hr cancellation time so as not to be charged. 
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Financial Aid 

Some of the most traumatized people in the Arab region are the ones with least access to trauma-healing support.  Reduced-rates are reserved for adult Arabic-speaking clients who are refugees or internally displaced survivors of war and conflict with limited financial means. 

حل الكثيرمن الصدمات و الصعوبات في العالم العربي و قد يكون أن الأشخاص الأكثر عرضة  لصدمات نفسية و جسدية  هم الأقل قدرة على الوصول إلى دعم علاج خاص للصدمات. لذلك  أوفر فرص علاجية بأسعار مخفضة. هذه الفرص محجوزة للناطقين باللغة العربية و المثابرين بحياتهم بحالة لجوء أو نزوح داخلي أو نجاة من أيام حرب وعنف و موارد مالية ضيقة. 
 العرض يوفر 4 جلسات خلال فترة شهر و يشترط وجود تواصل عبر الإنترنت. 
قد يتم تسجيل المتقدمين في قائمة الانتظار.
إذا كنت ترغب في التقدم  على هذا العرض 
إنقر هنا 

Recommendations

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For those interested in learning more about this approach to healing trauma, I highly recommend reading this book by the founder of Somatic Experiencing Practice, Dr. Peter Levine. For those who prefer listening to reading, the publication is also available as an audiobook here. Readers will benefit a lot in understanding what happens to their body when they experience trauma and how to best help their body release this trauma.


Feel free to get in touch for any enquiries, consultations or appointments.  

Given the nature of my work, I will often be in a session and unable to answer directly. Best to leave me a text message or an email and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Zena Takieddine, M.A., S.E.P.
Contact: ywithzena@gmail.com
Text Message/WhatsApp: +961 76116839

 
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