i currently focus on my training in Somatic Experiencing (SE).
SE is a modality that is focused healing trauma and chronic stress,
in a one-on-one setting.
what is trauma? here is an example:
imagine an animal going into a freeze state
while being chased by a predator.
by pretending to be dead,
the predator might lose interest and walk away.
once the animal comes out of the freeze state,
you can observe how it is shaking its body:
with this shaking, the nervous system completes its cycle
from (a) walking around without threat
to (b) fight/flight to (c) freeze,
back to (a) walking around without threat.
the animal can move on.
trauma is created when this 'shaking' cannot happen:
the cycle cannot complete,
the experience gets stuck in the nervous system,
impacting the nervous system's capacity
to react appropriately in the future.
what do we do in sessions together?
whatever trauma(s) your nervous system carries,
our sessions can
(1) build and expand your awareness about
- how you know you here and present
- how you know when you are activated
- your relationship to body sensations, emotions and body movements/postures
(2) create experiences for your nervous system
that aid you in completing past trauma cycles
what are elements of this approach?
1 - you can choose what you want to explore,
2 - i am here to join you in this journey,
3 - we work with with what is emerging in each moment.
4 - re-telling of an incident can be one option to guide a session,
5 - we give your body a comfortable space to tell the story, too:
- we observe how you hold your body,
- what movements want to emerge,
- what sensations and emotions you notice:
this is the nervous system speaking! :)
6 - i will track and guide your activations and down-regulations:
- 'you' might be ok to go at a faster pace,
- but we move slow enough to not overwhelm your nervous system.
7 - it is not necessary to explore specific topics literally
8 - exploring the body's instinctual fight, flight
and freeze responses in general is possible, too.