What is Somatic Experiencing®?
A body-based way of working with trauma and stress.
Somatic Experiencing® is a body-based approach to working with trauma and chronic stress. We look at how your nervous system is holding an experience now and help your body finish the responses that got interrupted, so you can feel more settled in your own skin.
A way of working with the body as well as the story
Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Dr Peter Levine over many years. Much of what we call trauma is a nervous system story. When your system gets overwhelmed and can't complete its natural survival response, all of that mobilised energy has nowhere to go, and it stays held in the body.
Your body then keeps bracing for something that's already over. That can show up as tension you can't explain or a startle that never quite switches off, and sometimes as a flatness that makes it hard to feel much at all. None of this means something is wrong with you.
Somatic Experiencing® helps that held energy move, so your system can soften and settle.
A lesson from the wild
Levine noticed that animals in the wild meet life-threatening moments all the time, yet rarely carry trauma afterward. After a near miss, a deer will tremble and shake and take a few big breaths, then carry on as though nothing happened. That shaking does real work, because the body is releasing the huge charge of survival energy it just gathered.
We have the very same wiring, and we tend to override it. We tell ourselves to hold it together and push on, so the energy that wanted to move never gets its chance and the nervous system stays switched on. Much of Somatic Experiencing® is giving your body permission to finish what it started.
Working with sensation, slowly
A few principles sit underneath the work.
- Tracking sensation. You learn to notice what's happening in your body, such as warmth or an impulse to move. These are the signals your nervous system speaks in, and they show us where it's still holding on.
- Titration. We work in small, manageable doses. You touch a little activation, then come back to something steady, so your system is never flooded. Going slowly is the whole method, and it keeps you safe and resourced along the way.
- Pendulation. Your attention moves back and forth between what feels hard and what feels okay. That rhythm is how your nervous system learns it can visit discomfort and find its way back to safety.
- Completion. Defensive responses that got cut off, such as the urge to push away or run, can move through in a safe and contained way. As they do, the old charge releases, and there's often a sense of relief.
What a session looks like
Somatic Experiencing® sessions are conversational and unhurried, and you're always in the lead. You don't have to retell your trauma in detail, and you set the pace for what you share. Much of the work is noticing, out loud, what you're aware of in your body while I help you stay within a range that feels manageable.
Over time, people often notice they're less reactive and more present with the people they love, and some can feel things they'd gone numb to.
A question that comes up early is how many somatic therapy sessions you'll need.
Research into Somatic Experiencing® is still growing, and a randomised study published in 2017 found meaningful reductions in post-traumatic stress symptoms. It complements medical and psychological care.
This page is general information and not a diagnosis. If you're in acute distress or managing a diagnosed condition, please make sure clinical care is in place. This work can sit alongside it. No outcome is guaranteed. If you need help urgently, contact your GP, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or in an emergency call 000.
When Somatic Experiencing® tends to help
People often find their way to Somatic Experiencing® when talking has taken them as far as it can and something still hasn't shifted. It can help with the aftereffects of trauma, including complex and developmental trauma, and with anxiety and chronic stress that won't settle. It also suits people who feel frozen or numb, or who stay hypervigilant and easily startled, with poor sleep and a body that never quite relaxes.
You don't need one big, obvious trauma to benefit. Many capable, high-functioning people carry a low hum of tension for years without ever naming it. There's nothing self-indulgent about reaching for more ease.
Related ideas
What is Polyvagal Theory?
The map of the nervous system that explains why you can know you're safe and still not feel it.
Read →What is parts work?
A way of working with the different parts of you that hold protection and pain.
Read →Somatic Experiencing® in Melbourne
How I work with Somatic Experiencing® in Thornbury and Elsternwick, and online across Australia.
See how I work →Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Somatic Experiencing® and talk therapy?
Talk therapy works mostly with the story and your thoughts about it. Somatic Experiencing® works with the body and the nervous system, resolving the physical charge that stays behind after a hard experience. Many people come to it after talking has given them insight and the relief they were hoping for hasn't arrived.
Do I have to talk about my trauma?
No. Somatic Experiencing® doesn't require you to retell or relive past events, and retelling without enough support can do harm. Sessions stay with what your body is experiencing now, and you share as much or as little as feels right for you.
How long does it take?
There's no fixed timeline. It depends on what you're working with and how long you've carried it, along with the support around you. Some people notice shifts early, and deeper patterns take more time.
Is Somatic Experiencing® evidence-based?
Somatic Experiencing® has a growing research base, including a randomised controlled study showing reductions in post-traumatic stress symptoms. It's practised around the world by trained and certified practitioners, and it complements medical or psychological treatment.
Can I do Somatic Experiencing® online?
Yes. Somatic Experiencing® works well online as well as in person. Many people start online and move in person later, or stay online the whole way. I offer both, in Melbourne and across Australia.
Start with a free 45-minute consultation
The first step is a free 45-minute consultation, where we talk about where you are and whether this way of working suits you.