Trauma Healing with Somatic Experiencing
When we have been in survival mode for too long, life can start to feel too constricting. If that's the case, it becomes helpful to understand how our body works so that we can help it release the trauma-survival patterns that are keeping it stuck. Somatic Experiencing is a gentle practice that help create experiences of safety and possibility through which the body can release the tensions that it holds and there can be more ease.
Our body is a living intelligent being. Functioning at a sub-conscious level, below the churning of our thoughts and words, it is pulsing and breathing, responding to the environment, metabolising food, healing scars, growing, shedding, seeking, resting, sleeping and waking up again. Rhythms and cycles are its language of communication.
During trauma, there is an interruption of our regular way of being, and an activation of our self-protective instincts. Again, these happen all by themselves, not by any thought or opinion. The body reacts to keep us alive and safe, always.
At the most fundamental level, there are three in-built self-protective instinct: Fight, Flight, Freeze.
They emerge as a full-body response from the autonomic nervous system.
Autonomic means 'sovereign', 'independent', 'automatic'. It happens by itself, and that's a good thing. Otherwise, it would not make for a very effective defensive system, if it is going to wait for us to make up our minds about something. When it is about danger and safety, the body has its own mechanisms to minimize damage and preserve energy.
These natural response of Fight, Flight, Freeze can be seen everywhere in the natural world. Animals in the wild, however, do not feel traumatized by the events that activate these responses, because their bodies shake off the energy (given that they have survived). Humans, on the other hand, rather than fully release them, tend to hold on to survival responses and so they get 'stuck' inside our body, causing all kinds of symptoms.
Symptoms can be physical aches and pains, emotional volatility or mental inability to focus or to sleep. Somatic Experiencing comes in as a refined mindfulness method applied specifically to help relieve these symptoms by releasing survival energy in a safe and gentle way.
'Releasing' does not have to be a big cathartic event. The Somatic Experiencing way prioritizes safety and stability, so it is a micro-dosing process.
During trauma, there is an interruption of our regular way of being, and an activation of our self-protective instincts. Again, these happen all by themselves, not by any thought or opinion. The body reacts to keep us alive and safe, always.
At the most fundamental level, there are three in-built self-protective instinct: Fight, Flight, Freeze.
They emerge as a full-body response from the autonomic nervous system.
Autonomic means 'sovereign', 'independent', 'automatic'. It happens by itself, and that's a good thing. Otherwise, it would not make for a very effective defensive system, if it is going to wait for us to make up our minds about something. When it is about danger and safety, the body has its own mechanisms to minimize damage and preserve energy.
These natural response of Fight, Flight, Freeze can be seen everywhere in the natural world. Animals in the wild, however, do not feel traumatized by the events that activate these responses, because their bodies shake off the energy (given that they have survived). Humans, on the other hand, rather than fully release them, tend to hold on to survival responses and so they get 'stuck' inside our body, causing all kinds of symptoms.
Symptoms can be physical aches and pains, emotional volatility or mental inability to focus or to sleep. Somatic Experiencing comes in as a refined mindfulness method applied specifically to help relieve these symptoms by releasing survival energy in a safe and gentle way.
'Releasing' does not have to be a big cathartic event. The Somatic Experiencing way prioritizes safety and stability, so it is a micro-dosing process.
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."
Quote from Dr. Peter Levine, In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness, North Atlantic Books, 2010.
What Is Somatic Experiencing?The guiding principle of Somatic Experiencing is that trauma is not caused by what happened to us, but by our body’s instinctive responses to what happened; and by the availability of support or lack thereof after what happened.
To that effect, Somatic Experiencing* Sessions are about: 1. Becoming aware of body sensation; 2. Creating to an experience of safety and support 3. Completing underlying defensive responses 4. Pausing and integrating the internal shifts 5. Re-negotiating trauma from the inside out in a non-re-traumatizing way. During an SE session, no interpretation or analysis is needed. What is needed is slowing down, so that the body's autonomic sense can come through. |
How to get startedRequest a free consultation.
I am available to meet and answer your questions over a 20-minutes online call. Feel free to get in touch. Fill out intake form. Kindly fill out this form prior to beginning our sessions, sign and return to me by email. Book an Appointment Session duration: 50 minutes long. All sessions are online. Standard Rate: $80 Package Rate: Four sessions for $75 each. *Somatic Experiencing is a stand-alone therapeutic practice as well as a complimentary practice together with psychotherapy, osteopathy and cranio-sacral therapy. **It is useful for relieving shock trauma, developmental trauma and complex trauma. |
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My Weekly QiGong - Come Cultivate Stability and Strength
I offer a weekly online Qi Gong practice for FREE, on Zoom. Care to join? Drop me a line.
QiGong is a kind of Chinese Medicine that involves slow and gentle movements of the body, designed to support vital functions, emotional regulation, stability and immunity. It is a good supplement to any other wellbeing practice your doing. Classes are open to anyone who would like to join, and are taught bi-lingually, in Arabic and English.
QiGong is a kind of Chinese Medicine that involves slow and gentle movements of the body, designed to support vital functions, emotional regulation, stability and immunity. It is a good supplement to any other wellbeing practice your doing. Classes are open to anyone who would like to join, and are taught bi-lingually, in Arabic and English.