Somatic Experiencing for Trauma Healing & Resilience
Coming to terms with the history our bodies carry is a sacred journey into self-compassion and self-discovery. We have innate capacities to heal, to re-negotiate, to shift gear. It takes some slowing down... to pause, to breathe, to ground and feel the earth... and find the stability and support to be able to look and see what's there. What are we carrying? What can we release? What can we evolve into?
Ultimately, working on healing our trauma is not just for ourselves, but for the collective, transforming the field for everyone around us too.
What causes trauma?
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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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Anything can be traumatic if it elicits our survival responses of self-protection and it is not sufficiently attended to. The key to avoiding being traumatized is to allow the defensive responses to complete their expression as a physiognomic need in order to return to a form of equilibrium. Defensive responses are evolutionary processes that have ensured our survival. They are necessary and intelligent. Usually, the responses happen instinctively and subconsciously, i.e. our thinking mind is not necessarily aware of them. Nevertheless, they effect our entire way of being in the world.
Because defensive responses are meant to be intense but short-term, if they remain in our system for long, they can cause havoc. Trauma can result from shock - like car accidents and falls - developmental challenges - like child abuse and neglect - collective trauma - like natural disasters and wars - and assaults - like muggings, molestations and rapes. In a nutshell, any breach of boundary is a trauma. Even medical procedures can be traumatizing because they involved a breach of boundary to which the body's nervous system will naturally respond to, even when we are under anaesthesia. Traumas are trespasses that leave us feeling unwell and out of balance in a variety of obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Helping to track the discomfort and give the self-protective mechanisms the necessary support so that they may be released in a safe and integrative environment is what Somatic Experiencing is all about. |
Common PTSD Symptoms
When threat is perceived, triggers for self-defense get activated.
Defensive responses can be generally identified as Fight, Flight & Freeze.
Trauma can generally be understood as a 'stuckness' of any one or combination of these defensive responses.
Common symptoms of trauma can appear in the following ways:
Defensive responses can be generally identified as Fight, Flight & Freeze.
Trauma can generally be understood as a 'stuckness' of any one or combination of these defensive responses.
Common symptoms of trauma can appear in the following ways:
- Physically: muscle tension, high blood pressure, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, numbness, paralysis
- Emotionally: anxiety, panic attacks, rage, depression, apathy
- Mentally: flashbacks, insomnia, night terrors, memory loss, inability to focus, spacing out
- Spiritually - feeling disconnected from life, unable to connect.
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.
How to get started
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Free 20-Minute Consultation.
If you are new to this kind of work and would like to get more information, you can request a phone-consultation to ask questions and to find out if we are a good fit. Download Client Intake Form. This is obligatory prior to beginning our sessions. Kindly fill out the form and email it to me as per below. Book Appointment. Sessions are 50 minutes long and the fee is $80. For people interested in package rates, 4 sessions are for $280. Sessions can be conducted online or in person. Cancellation Policy. Please allow 24hr cancellation's notice so as not to be charged for the session. Disclaimer Please note that I am not a therapist; I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) and I am a Yoga Teacher. I reserve the right to refer clients out to better-suited sources of support should we not be a good fit or if the work is outside my scope of practice. |
Reduced Rates
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Some of the most traumatized people in the Arab region are the ones with least access to trauma-healing support. Reduced-rates and packages are available for adult Arabic-speaking clients seeking help. Interested clients or therapists/social workers who wish to make referrals to me are welcome to get in touch.
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حل الكثيرمن الصدمات و الصعوبات في العالم العربي و قد يكون الأشخاص الأكثر عرضة لها هم أيضا ألأشخاص الأقل قدرة على الوصول إلى وسائل الدعم و المعالجة للتعافي منها. يشرفني أن أوفر جلسات بأسعار مخفضة لأهلي و أخواتي في بلاد العرب أو المهجرين و النازحين. على الراغبين بالتقدم إلى هذا العرض تعبئة الإثتمارة
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Recommendations
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.