Sonntag, 11. Oktober 2026

Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented trauma therapy method developed by Peter Levine (USA, 1942). His first book ("Waking the Tiger") was published in 1997.

How Somatic Experiencing was developed

The biophysicist and psychologist Peter Levine has wondered why wild animals that experience life-threatening events on a daily basis are hardly traumatized. He has found that in such survival situations, large energies are activated in the body to ensure survival through fight or flight. However, when these fight or flight responses are not possible or cannot be completed, the energy remains trapped in the nervous system and (trauma) symptoms develop: The nervous system then gets stuck either in the highly activated fight or flight mode/sympathetic nervous system (symptoms such as hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares) or in the “playing possum reflex’/dorsal parasympathetic nervous system (symptoms such as emotional numbing, dissociation or hopelessness). Animals have an advantage over humans in that they can discharge this unused mobilization energy in a natural way, e.g. by trembling. Through this process, the nervous system can return to a healthy balance. In SE therapy, the first step is to increase the processing and containment capacity of our nervous system, so that we can then process and integrate this blocked trauma energy in small pieces at a time.


What is a trauma? according to Somatic Experiencing

Trauma is the inhibited response of the nervous system, not the external event. Trauma occurs when the organism is overwhelmed in its ability to regulate states of arousal. The traumatized nervous system breaks down and cannot rebalance itself on its own. This manifests itself in a thorough fixation and loss of connection. This leads to a restriction of resonance, vitality and orientation to the present moment and can perpetuate itself. In Stephen Porges words, trauma characterizes the switch of the organism to ‘protection mode’ instead of ‘connection mode’.


The role of the nervous system

In SE, the nervous system takes on a central role. This understanding is based on the belief that most of our actions, experiences and thoughts are determined and influenced by the states of the nervous system (bottom-up). These states are not necessarily conscious but implicit. Trauma also resides in the implicit part of our memory or in the body, as trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk says ("The body keeps the score"). Therefore, the therapeutic approach aims at working with the implicit memory in the nervous system rather than cognitive restructuring. The therapist always keeps the client’s nervous system in focus, because it reveals more than the story told (although the story is important too, of course): the nervous system indicates whether the person is feeling safe and connected, anxiously scanning the area for danger, or absently and seemingly calm floating away in dissociation.
Every nervous system is continuously scanning the environment for danger, and is adapting to the perceived conditions without a conscious awareness of it. This process is called neuroception and has been introduced by Stephen Porges. The therapist helps the patient to develop an awareness of his/her neuroception and the states of the nervous system. This is the basis for self-regulation of one's nervous system. The goal of each individual SE session is to support the patient being able to hold the emerging activation energy (emotions, body sensations, etc.) and to return to a more balanced state. In the long term, these experiences of calming and co-regulation lead to an increase in resilience, i.e. the ability to vibrate and regulate, reduce the fear of intense emotions, and increase trust in one's own body.


SE and the Polyvagal Theory

Originally, Peter Levine and Stephen Porges, the founder of polyvagal theory, developed their concepts independently. But when they discovered the similarities of their theories in the 1970’s, they also began to work together. The polyvagal theory provides a very suitable theoretical foundation for Somatic Experiencing and vice-versa: Somatic Experiencing is the consistent transfer and application of the polyvagal theory into practice. In brief, the PVT postulates that the state of our nervous system affects our experiencing, feeling, perceiving, thinking, and our autonomic, autonomic body responses (blood pressure, heart rate, perspiration, etc.). Porges conducted research on the vagus nerve, which is responsible for the parasympathetic state, and - simply put - distinguished between 'connected' relaxation in safety (ventral vagus) and 'disconnected' relaxation in danger of life (dorsal vagus). The latter corresponds to freeze state, dissociation, or, in animals, the ‘playing possum reflex’. Moreover, he identified social contact as a regulatory mechanism for our nervous system and thus a biological necessity for healthy regulation and thus human survival. Porges defines trauma as follows: "Trauma impairs our capacity for interpersonal contact by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection."


SE and Spirituality

Somatic Experiencing does not claim to be spiritual or religious, and neither do I. Nevertheless, I would like to point out the compatibility of these approaches of life. The philosophy of SE - just like that of NARM or Gestalt therapy - corresponds to a humanistic view of man: we all have autonomy and responsibility for our actions, and already possess within ourselves everything we are looking for and need for healing. In other words, it is about rediscovering the natural self-healing and regulatory capacity that is inherent in all of us. And it is about accepting oneself the way we are in every moment. Only like that can we realize that we already are who we want to become and that it is therefore more about letting go of resistance than about "working out" an ability or efforting. As much as I understand about ZEN Buddhism - and I am not an expert - it is also about learning to accept everything as it is and letting it pass through you. In polyvagal terms, that would mean: In a ventral-vagal state, I am in the present moment, connected to myself with the ability to flexibly regulate and openly adaptively respond to the world and meet other people.


SE, developmental trauma and touch

The deeper the layers of consciousness that we want to touch and treat, the more likely we are dealing with preverbal early childhood ‘memories’, and thus a time when we were babies. For this reason, journeys into these depths require more support and safety and also a very special kind of communication, namely one that can be understood by our preverbal, right-hemispheric brain: this includes physical contact, touch, gentle rhythmic movements and play. If someone feels ready to embark to these deeper layers and work through developmental traumas, I am happy to help.

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