Somatic Experiencing
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented therapeutic approach backed by evidence and designed to address trauma. It recognizes that traumatic memories often reside within implicit or wordless memory systems. Grounded in research on trauma and neurobiology, Somatic Experiencing aims to resolve developmental and acute shock traumas by leveraging the autonomic nervous system's capacity to reset itself.
Traumatic experiences can trigger repetitive responses within the autonomic nervous system, leading to dysregulation and persistent symptoms, such as those seen in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through a somatic lens, Somatic Experiencing helps clients identify and address fixated physiological responses associated with trauma, such as fight, flight, or freeze reactions. Through body-based exercises, clients gradually learn to return these activated states to a level within the autonomic tolerance window.
Informed by neuroscience and trauma research, Somatic Experiencing equips therapists with clinical tools to assist individuals in renegotiating traumatic memories and restoring a sense of safety and regulation in the present moment. By addressing the physiological impact of trauma, Somatic Experiencing can alleviate PTSD symptoms and dismantle patterns of insecure attachment, facilitating healthier relationships with oneself and others.
If we have experienced overwhelming things, we can learn to re-set our autonomic nervous systems and our thoughts and emotions to the experience of healthy caution and safety.
Why Somatic Experiencing?
Trauma is often described as a condition characterized by an inability to fully engage with the present moment. Symptoms of dissociation stemming from trauma can manifest as feeling disconnected from the world and lacking awareness of bodily sensations. Somatic Experiencing offers a therapeutic approach to gradually explore and process traumatic experiences in a manageable manner.
Somatic Experiencing practitioners assist clients in navigating their traumatic history, guiding them through both the distressing emotions and bodily sensations associated with trauma. This process involves learning to transition between unpleasant sensations to more neutral or pleasant sensations, fostering nervous system regulation and building resilience over time. By facilitating this movement between challenging and soothing sensations, Somatic Experiencing helps individuals develop the capacity to stay regulated on their own with greater ease.
Somatic Experiencing is beneficial for:
Healing developmental traumas, such as patterns of misattunement from parents and caregivers.
Resolving shock trauma effectively.
Reducing reliance on addictive patterns that serve as coping mechanisms against overwhelming emotions and sensations.
Allowing the healthy self-defensive response to resurface if suppressed, leading to improved relationships and enhanced capacity for intimacy.
Developing awareness of our felt-sense experience of anxiety and learning to address and resolve it as it arises.
Recognizing our felt-sense experience of depression, often associated with the nervous system's "freeze" response, and learning to identify and resolve it as it emerges.
Ann Matney, LCPC, SEP, LMT
Annie is a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Montana, a licensed massage therapist in the state of Montana, and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She is the co-owner of Sub Rosa Therapy with her sister, Kathryn Lloyd, MD. Annie has a long professional history with the body-based modalities of Rolfing Structural Integration and massage. She draws from this knowledge base as well as her Somatic Experiencing training to provide somatically-based mental health services as a counselor.