THE SE APPROACH 

Somatic Experiencing® offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. 

THE SCIENCE

Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life-threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict. 


In nature, animals naturally allow their nervous systems to recalibrate and release survival energy after a shock or trauma. After being chased ("flight” response) or attacked (“fight” response), an animal will lie still and give itself time and space to pause and rest.  Then they will look around to see if they are safe; when they see they are safe, they allow their bodies to shake, discharging the nervous energy in its body before rejoining the herd.

In humans, it doesn’t always work this way. Our cognitive and emotional capacities—though a gift in many ways—override the primitive part of our brain that governs survival. On the heels of a traumatic event, our thoughts and emotions distract us from physically discharging  stress.

If we don’t discharge the stress of a traumatic event, it remains locked in our body as "freeze" -- the same state of immobility of an animal, if they cannot fight or run away. In this freeze state, the animal is preparing for one of two things: death or a last minute escape.  The unprocessed survival energy can also be locked in as “fight” energy or “flight” energy.

A person with unprocessed survival energy may appear calm on the exterior.  Internally, the feeling is comparable to what happens in a car when you press down the brake and the accelerator at the same time -- a huge amount of energy is revving, usually below  conscious awareness.  The “revved up feeling”  can create unpleasant even intolerable feelings in the mind and the body. 

This unprocessed survival energy can be experienced as immobility, high sympathetic charge (too much energy in your body that is hard to tolerate, so you need to move a lot), or functional freeze (the feeling I am here, but I am not present).  And from these various states, symptoms emerge. 

Somatic Experiencing® utilizes the language of the primitive brain,  which is sensation.   Unprocessed survival energy can be felt and discharged,  allowing the nervous system to settle back into its natural state of well-being.  After sessions, clients often report feeling more agency, capacity, clarity, coherence, ease and ability to focus.

Somatic Experiencing® is rooted in the premise that we, like animals, are biologically designed to heal.  Finding the right support for yourself is key in this process.  

HOW IT WORKS

The SE approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body.  This release can address the root cause of trauma symptoms. By gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations, SE supports a return to equilibrium in the system.

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FOR WHAT IS SOMATIC EXPERIENCING (SE) A GOOD APPROACH?

Being in a regulated state can help everyone.  Many physical, mental, emotional and interpersonal conditions can be served by SE ™ treatment. In a more regulated state, our brains work better with decision making, creativity, and interpersonal relations. You don’t need to have a specific trauma to benefit from SE. Just living in our stressful world can cause nervous systems to be out of balance.

Below is a partial list of issues for which the somatic approach is commonly used:

  • Chronic pain

  • Creative Expression

  • Family conflict

  • Academic under/over achievement

  • Depression

  • Car accidents

  • Anxiety

  • Disordered eating

  • Trauma

  • Addiction

  • ADHD

  • Terminal Illness

  • Compassion Fatigue

  • Stress

  • Burnout

  • Relational/interpersonal Issues

  • Medical Trauma

  • PTSD

  • Sexual issues

  • Substance use

  • Autoimmune disease

  • Life Transitions

  • Sports performance

  • Falls

  • Self-esteem

  • Life Transitions

Welcome to Gaia Somatics

ABOUT SOMATIC EXPERIENCING®

When stress accumulates or trauma is unresolved in our lives, our attention is captured by repetitive stress signals.   We may experience symptoms like anxiety, spaciness, and disconnection which have become normalized in today’s dominant culture.  We may feel worn-out, easily overwhelmed or feel as if we are always “on-guard."  As a result, it's hard to feel fully present in our lives.

By using Somatic Experiencing® to address these stress signals, our awareness is liberated and can broaden to allow a fuller experience of life.

Somatic Experiencing® cultivates and utilizes a kind, non-judgmental awareness of our inner experience.  As patterns of trauma and accumulated stress are recognized, we can be relieved of these burdens that weigh us down on physical, psychological and spiritual levels.

The resolution of trauma and stress not only allows individuals to reclaim their lives, it allows society to find new ways to resolve conflict and live in harmony.