Somatic Experiencing Therapy in Los Angeles

CAN SOMATIC EXPERIENCING HELP ME?

Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to healing stress related disorders like anxiety and depression; it’s also used to treat trauma.

Somatic Experiencing (or SE) helps people who experience the unpleasant physical sensations that accompany anxiety, depression, PTSD and chronic stress. The SE approach supports the releasing of trapped energy in the body so people can recover and feel like themselves again.

For example, SE is effective at treating shock trauma, like experiencing a car accident or natural disaster or developmental trauma which occurs when you grow up with parents who are unable to adequately meet your needs. SE has been shown to be effective in treating Complex PTSD (CPTSD). I use SE to work with clients who are trying to break free of self destructive patterns like excessive marijuana smoking, drinking, overworking and other addictions.
Currently, I’m using SE techniques to work with people who were impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires.

HOW WAS SOMATIC EXPERIENCING DEVELOPED?

Somatic Experiencing was developed by Dr. Peter Levine, who has a doctorate in Medical and Biological Physics. When Dr. Levine was asked what the goal was in therapy he responded by saying “To feel more alive”.

He developed the SE approach while observing animals in the wild, who were constantly under the threat of death and yet did not display symptoms of trauma. Dr. Levine noticed that these animals allowed the energy of highly threatening events to move through their bodies.

From the SE website- “It is based on a multidisciplinary intersection of physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics and has been clinically applied for more than four decades.”

How DOES SOMATIC EXPERIENCING WORK?

Somatic Expereincing practioners work closely with clients to support them in completing “Self-protective motor responses” so they can release “thwarted” energy that is stuck in the body. It’s almost like you have a “fire alarm” going off in your brain and body triggered by past experiences, which causes overreactions (like hypervigilance) or underreactions (like dissociation) in your nervous system; SE helps bring your nervous system return to a more regulated state.

In an SE therapy session, clients are gently supported in increasing their tolerance for both pleasant and unpleasant body sensations and emotions. When you process these sensations with SE, you release stored energy and eventually the “fire alarm” only alerts you when their is a true emergency. As clients learn to track sensations in the moment, their nervous systems feel more regulated. This leads to a reduction in PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression, etc. and people begin to feel more like themselves. Click on this New York times article - to learn more about somatic therapy.

How CAN I LEARN MORE?

Here is a link to a Ted Talk by Monica LeSage who experienced a serious car accident and eventually recovered with Somatic Experiencing.  Here’s a link to Dan Harris’ interview with Dr. Levine on the Ten Percent Happier podcast, and the SE website is also a great resource.

my training in somatic therapy

All the modalities that I am trained in include working with the body. I have completed several body-based trainings including NARM (The Neuro Affective Relational Model) which is a three-year intensive training, Brainspotting, EMDR and TRM (The Trauma Resiliency Model). I am currently studying Somatic Experiencing (SE), which is a three-year program.