FAQs

Somatic Experiencing® is based on the work of American psychotherapist Dr Peter Levine, who believes trauma is primarily biological – a physical phenomenon – not an incurable disease. His theory is based on observations of wildlife. Animals are regularly threatened with death yet rarely traumatised; their survival instinct kicks in, flooding their body with highly charged energy ready for fighting back, running away or playing dead. When the threat’s passed, that intense energy is discharged and the animal returns to full normal health.

We are all equipped with the same capacity to overcome an overwhelming experience, yet we also have an upper rational brain that frequently ‘rejects’ the powerful primal instinct of the body. The result is that huge fight/flight/freeze energy gets trapped in our nervous system where it can lead to all sorts of symptoms, sometimes immediately, sometimes not until years later.

SE^® facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

During sessions, I can also use Transforming Touch^®, guided by the work of Stephen Terrell at www.austinattach.com. This revolutionary modality for healing developmental trauma focuses on releasing trauma that is bound up in the body, in the muscles and organs and especially in the fascia, effecting change at a cellular level. 

People of all ages who have experienced trauma at some point in their lives.

Somatic Experiencing® can help you address trauma which may have resulted 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 chronic anxiety, ongoing fear and conflict.

Somatic Experiencing® teaches that trauma is not caused by the event itself but rather develops through the failure of the body, psyche and nervous system to process adverse events.

Sessions take place online via Zoom. You can also come to The Studio at Reepham House in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, for an in-person appointment.

Sessions usually last 55 minutes.

Somatic Experiencing® sessions are both educational and therapeutic, leading to a reduction in symptoms and a return to a more profound sense of psychological, emotional and physical well-being. Specialist bodywork and Transforming Touch®, through clothing, may be used when you are either seated or lying down. This helps support the healing process and enables the tracking of body sensations, allowing the nervous system to safely release trapped survival energy and trauma in a slow and manageable way.

Comfortable, loose clothing.

Every client responds differently, but experience shows that individuals locked in anxiety or rage are able to relax into a growing sense of peace and safety. Many of those stuck in depression gradually find their feelings of hopelessness and numbness transformed into empowerment. Somatic Experiencing® catalyses corrective bodily experiences and contradicts feelings of fear and helplessness. This resets the nervous system, restores inner balance, enhances resilience to stress, and increases people’s vitality, equanimity and capacity to actively engage in life.

Please get in touch for pricing information.

Somatic Experiencing® is designed to alleviate symptoms relating to trauma. Though these may often be emotional issues, if there is a physical element to the trauma or a physical problem present at the time of trauma, then these may be resolved by Somatic Experiencing® as well.

Yes, Somatic Experiencing® is suitable for dealing with trauma which may have resulted 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 chronic anxiety, ongoing fear and conflict. Through session, clients can restore their inner balance, enhance their resilience to stress, and increase their vitality, equanimity and capacity to actively engage in life.

Yes, Somatic Experiencing® can help relieve trauma from both the recent past as well as events that happened many years ago.

No. Somatic Experiencing® does not require you to re-tell or re-live the traumatic event. Instead, it offers you the opportunity to engage, complete and resolve (in a slow and supported way) your body’s instinctual fight, flight, freeze and collapse responses.

Somatic Experiencing® can be highly beneficial for teenagers as well as adults.

During the session, clients can be seated or lying down, so it is suitable for elderly people, as long as they are comfortable seated (or lying down) for 55 minutes.

The Somatic Experiencing^® Association UK website www.seauk.org.uk is a great source of information, along with the Somatic Experiencing^® Trauma Institute website www.traumahealing.org.

You can find out more about Transforming Touch^® at www.austinattach.com and you can also contact me at sarah@ytenehealing.co.uk for further information.