Somatic Experiencing®
Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-oriented therapeutic approach designed to process and release trauma and stress-related patterns. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine and refined in clinical application for over 50 years, it is informed by decades of research in medical biophysics, ethology and neuroscience fields. The approach recognizes that trauma is held in the body’s physiology, and that healing trauma involves identifying and resolving the incomplete defensive reflexes associated with the trauma. This renegotiation of stuck energy frees the physiology to return to a dynamic state of health, flow, and balance.
What Typically Happens in a Somatic Session?
- A session generally begins with me helping the client establish relational connection and grounding by orienting to their environment.
- I will guide the client to tune into and describe their current bodily sensations and awareness.
- By tracking felt sensations, stored stress and stuck trauma energy is gently accessed where it has been held in the body.
- I’ll assist the client to experience small, titrated bits of the energy in a carefully paced manner. This is to avoid overwhelming the system and allows the body’s natural protective impulses to arise and be completed.
- I will offer somatic skills, self-soothing gestures, and co-regulation to support the client’s release of the energy and the rebalancing of their nervous system.
- Upon closing the session, I’ll guide the client again to ground and orient to stabilize and anchor in the present moment.
- Clients are encouraged to engage in their daily activities with a gentle awareness and attunement tonguing shifts in their body’s responses.
- Over time, carefully guided somatic sessions will build the client’s confidence and connection with their body and restore resilience.
Family and Systems Constellations
Constellation Work is a holistic, experiential approach which explores how unresolved family issues, at times going back generations, can unconsciously influence an individual’s behaviors, emotions, and life patterns. The approach, developed by Bert Hellinger, seeks to reveal hidden dynamics, heal intergenerational trauma and offer relief where there has been discord. Constellation work is practiced worldwide and has been effectively applied to a multitude of interconnected systems and issues.
What Typically Happens in a Constellation Session?
- A client presents an issue they are struggling with and are supported in grounding and tuning into their body.
- Everyday objects are chosen to represent key people or elements of the issue.
- The objects are physically positioned according to what feels right to the client, creating a “living map” of the system or issue.
- As the objects are moved, hidden dynamics appear, and feelings may surface— often with surprising resonance and clarity for the client.
- I may suggest movements, statements, or rituals to bring resolution, restore order, and release burdens carried by the client.
- The client may experience confusion, release emotions or notice various sensations as shifts in the system and their relationship to the issue bring new perspectives not previously accessible.
- Upon closing the session, the client will be encouraged not to speak of or try to make sense of what transpired. This allows time for the deep, energetic shifts to settle into their system without interference from old patterns and thinking.
- Clients are encouraged to attend to their need for additional rest, nourishment or water they have. This is important to support the transformation happening in their system.