A healthy well-regulated nervous system is able to respond to the environment appropriately as well as cycle throughout the day; responding to events with appropriate levels of elevation (awake and ready to get stuff done!) and de-activation (rest/relaxation).

Through events in our lives such as chronic stress or traumatic events, big or small, the system can get stuck at different stages of activation. If the body is not able to complete the trauma cycle (think of a prey animal escaping a predator and will shake and tremor, then run and join the group) Somatic Experiencing works to re-negotiate the trauma, allowing the body to integrate and complete, so that the stress and threat is removed from our “current” experience to become part of our history timeline.

Feelings of being overwhelmed, or an inability to cope, physical tension, long-term and re-occurring pain, mood swings, trouble sleeping, intestinal issues such as IBS or leaky gut and PTSD are just some of the issues linked with the nervous system’s inability to properly regulate.

My own path with the work of SE™ began as a professional interest and I soon learned how my own system was affected. I have personally seen the benefits and feel conviction in the importance of this work, so much so I began training to become a SE™ practitioner.

SE™ sessions can be done seated without contact, or with gentle, appropriate touch at the discretion of the client. The work is done by addressing body sensations and working to increase regulation by slowly working through the activation and deactivation of the nervous system. The focus of the work is to not overwhelm the system but to educate the nervous system back to regulation so that the individual has appropriate nervous system responses.