Your body remembers what your mind is still trying to understand.
Healing trauma through the nervous system, not just the narrative.
What Is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based approach to healing trauma developed by Dr. Peter Levine. Rather than asking you to retell or relive traumatic events, SE works with what is happening in your body right now, helping your nervous system complete the interrupted survival responses that have been held in place, sometimes for years.
It helps to understand what trauma actually means in this context. Trauma is not defined by the size or drama of what happened. It is defined by the impact. Any experience that felt overwhelming, that activated a sense of threat or helplessness, or during which you were unable to successfully protect or defend yourself can leave a traumatic imprint in the nervous system. This includes experiences that might seem too small or too ordinary to count. What matters is not what happened but what your body could not fully process at the time.
When something overwhelming happens, your body prepares to fight, flee, or freeze. Sometimes that response never gets to complete. The energy mobilizes but has nowhere to go, and it stays held in the nervous system long after the event has passed. SE helps your body finish what it started, gently and at a pace that feels safe.
The result is not just symptom relief but a genuine shift in how your nervous system operates. A return to flexibility, presence, and the felt sense of being safe in your own body.
Who Benefits from SE?
SE may be especially helpful if:
Talk therapy hasn't fully relieved your symptoms. You understand what happened, but your body hasn't caught up
You feel anxious, numb, or unsafe in your body even when things are objectively fine
You feel disconnected from your body or find it difficult to identify what you're feeling physically or emotionally
Stress shows up in your body as headaches, digestive issues, chronic tension, or fatigue without a clear medical explanation
You carry the effects of childhood wounds, relational trauma, or overwhelming experiences that live on in how you feel today
You feel overwhelmed by bodily sensations, or find yourself actively avoiding physical awareness
You want a gentle approach that doesn't require you to retell or relive what happened in detail
You are nervous about trauma work and want a therapist who will follow your pace rather than push you forward
What to Expect in a Session
SE sessions look and feel different from traditional therapy. Rather than spending the hour talking through your history, we slow down and bring gentle attention to what's happening in your body right now: sensations, impulses, images, or shifts in energy that arise as we work together.
A session might involve noticing where you feel tension or ease in your body, following a sensation as it moves or changes, exploring the edges of an emotion without being swept away by it, or simply pausing to find what feels settled or safe before going deeper. You are always in the driver's seat. Nothing is forced, and we move at the pace your nervous system sets.
Titration
We work in small, manageable doses, approaching difficult material gradually rather than flooding the system.
Pendulation
We move between activation and settling, helping your nervous system build the capacity to tolerate and integrate.
Resourcing
We build internal anchors of safety and stability before exploring more challenging material.
Completion
We support the body in completing survival responses that were interrupted, releasing what got stuck.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Many people have spent years in talk therapy and still feel stuck. That's not because they did anything wrong. It's because trauma isn't just stored in memories. It lives in the nervous system as unfinished survival responses. Talk therapy helps us understand what happened, but SE helps the body complete the fight, flight, or freeze responses that got interrupted. This is why someone can intellectually understand their trauma and still feel anxious, numb, or unsafe in their body. SE works with the physiology directly, which is often where the real blockage is.
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Completely. Many people who come to SE feel disconnected from their bodies, and that disconnection is itself a response to overwhelm. SE starts exactly where you are, even if that's numbness or not feeling anything at all. We build capacity gradually, and you are always in control of what we explore and when.
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No. SE works with your body's present-moment experience rather than requiring you to retell or relive what happened. You control how much you share and when. Many clients find it a relief to work with trauma without having to narrate it exhaustively.
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SE has a growing body of clinical research supporting its effectiveness for trauma, PTSD, and stress-related conditions. While the evidence base is still developing compared to longer-established modalities like CBT or EMDR, SE is widely used in trauma treatment programs and supported by numerous clinical studies. I integrate it with other approaches to support comprehensive, individualized healing.
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It varies. Some clients notice meaningful shifts within a few sessions. Deeper trauma patterns often benefit from six months or more of consistent work. We check in regularly on your progress and adjust our approach as needed. There is no pressure to commit to a specific duration.
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Yes. SE translates effectively to telehealth. What matters most is the quality of the relational container and attunement between therapist and client, both of which are fully present via video. I offer SE via telehealth throughout California, with in-person sessions available in the Northeast Los Angeles area.
Not all somatic therapy is the same
"Somatic" has become a widely used term in therapy and can mean very different things depending on a therapist's training. Many therapists describe their work as somatic based on a short course or workshop. Becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) is a different undertaking entirely: it requires completing all three levels of SE training through Somatic Experiencing International, a minimum of 270 hours of supervised clinical work, and a formal credentialing process. It is a rigorous multi-year certification, not a self-designated title.
This matters for you as a client because SE done well and SE done partially are genuinely different experiences. The safety of the pacing, the depth of the work, and the capacity to stay with difficult material without retraumatizing depends directly on the depth of the practitioner's training. If you have worked with a therapist who described their approach as somatic and didn't experience meaningful results, it is worth knowing that the credential matters before concluding the approach isn't for you. I hold a full SEP credential, which you can verify through the SEI practitioner directory at traumahealing.org.
Honoring the Roots of Body-Based Healing
Somatic Experiencing and other body-based therapies are relatively new within Western clinical frameworks, but the wisdom they draw upon is ancient. Indigenous cultures around the world have long understood that trauma and healing live in the body—not just the mind.
Traditional healing practices across cultures have recognized for centuries what modern neuroscience is now confirming: that the body holds memory, that connection to land and community supports regulation, and that healing happens through relationship, ritual, and embodied presence.
I acknowledge that Somatic Experiencing, while developed within a Western clinical context by Dr. Peter Levine, echoes wisdom that indigenous healers, elders, and traditional practitioners have carried for generations. I am committed to honoring these lineages rather than erasing them, and to practicing with cultural humility as I continue to learn.
Your body has been trying to tell you something.
If SE resonates and you're ready to explore what that might look like, I'd love to connect. A free 20-minute consultation is simply a conversation. No pressure, no commitment.