Somatic Experiencing

 Stuff happens. And it leaves a mark. Maybe you were taught that that’s just life, you must accept it. Or rub some dirt on it and walk it off. Or even better, (not really) just be more positive and grateful. Surprise, that didn’t work. But it’s in the past, right?

Your nervous system disagrees. It remembers and keeps the score, even years after the fact. You may have heard people talk about “regulating the nervous system.” Maybe you’ve read some books, watched videos, but when it comes down to it, things still don’t seem right. You might be anxious, depressed, and on high alert all the time. Your fight or flight is constantly on, or we are overwhelmed and shut down. You are not happy, curious, engaged, nor all that present. Not really. Although you might be putting on our best mask to convince everyone else otherwise.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a therapy that addresses this and gets to a level not often touched by talk. It’s feeling, acting, and building mindful awareness to where the traumatic injury lives in the body. Until that is healed, healing in incomplete. It also is not a solo mission. This is where my role comes in. SE works from the “Bottom Up.” We find out what our nervous system is doing and work toward getting a sense of safety before trying to deal with the emotions felt and then work to change our thinking and logic if needed. Doing that process backwards can be slow and frequently ineffective.

Repeated traumas, defeats, setbacks, and the like reduce our tolerance for dealing with life’s ups and downs. Being patient leads to more of the same and will turn into resentfulness, anger, and a lot of misery and loneliness. After a while, everything can feel incredibly difficult.
SE is a method that employs mindfulness and knowledge of your nervous system we have evolved over hundreds of millions of years. We focus our awareness on the body and senses to heal trauma using positivity and support to take away layers of trauma our body holds in the nervous system.

When you heal, you not only restore, but you can grow into something even greater. This is Post-Traumatic Growth, something that is not mentioned nearly enough. When that happens, it is much easier to authentically have gratitude and finally feel free to be your true self. If this resonates for you, call today. Tomorrow is not a day of the week. Your journey starts when you do.