What is the focus of Somatic Experiencing (SE)? How does it work?

There are many aspects to SE, but the main aim is to focus on completion of interrupted self-protective efforts.

There are basically 5 distinct phases of responses to threat.
Startle, defensive orienting, specific self protective responses (fight/flight/freeze/shutdown), completion and integration.

One of the building blocks of SE is working on the completion of these interrupted self-protective attempts.

Thwarted or interrupted self-protective attempts tends to get “stuck” in the physiology.

In other words, when there is a threat (real or perceived), the system gets ready for fight/flight. Stress hormones start to be released. The muscles in the whole body start to tense up. When we can’t complete the appropriate actions, the system freezes and we can’t discharge the energy that was built for self-protection. This unused energy becomes fixed in patterns of neuromuscular readiness.

These disruptions in the system could lead to the classical symptoms of traumatic stress, such as anxiety, sleep disturbances, uncontrolled emotional responses, chronic pain, digestive issues, auto immune illness etc…

SE is revolutionary and the gold standard of the bottom up approaches. It’s gentle, yet effective.

if you would like to embark on this journey of healing with SE, feel free to look at options to work with me via my link in the bio.

Have you tried SE before? Do you have any questions about it?