Somatic EXPERIENCING PRACTITIONER (SEP) IN LOS ANGELES & ACROSS CA
SOMATIC THERAPY
A mind-body approach to releasing trauma, stress, and shock that live within the body.
Have you tried traditional “talk therapy” but failed to see the change you were hoping for?
You want therapy that integrates what is stored in the mind and the body.
You’ve tried traditional talk therapy and you’ve felt like it hasn’t really gotten you anywhere.
You are looking for a new approach that helps you understand what your body is communicating and process deep emotions in your physical being.
how it works
What is Somatic Therapy by a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP)?
Somatic Experiencing (SE)™ aims to resolve symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze, SE helps us release, recover, and become more resilient. It is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied psychotherapy for healing trauma and other stress disorders.
The Somatic Experiencing approach 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.
Somatic Experiencing utilizes breath, self-touch, and visualization. The goal is to increase your tolerance for the uncomfortable and to move through an event slowly so that suppressed emotions may be processed. SE looks different for each client.
what you’ll gain
Somatic experiencing can help you…
Improve your ability to tolerate uncomfortable emotions or sensations
Identify your triggers and ways your body communicates
Reconnect to your body
Process suppressed emotional states or past traumas holistically
Manage chronic pain, illness, or medical issues
Reconnect & Learn from your MIND-BODY connection.
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Absolutely! SE is about building tolerance and touch is not the only approach of SE. We work with other approaches such as breath and imagery, slowly moving towards tolerated touch.
The goal is for you to use self-touch to build tolerance and expand emotion that is contained within the body. At no time will the therapist touch you.
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After a session, you may feel either very relaxed and energized or very tired. This will depend on your baseline at the beginning of the session and your initial ability to tune into your physical body. After a session we advise you to drink extra water, eat well and, if possible, take a little bit of space before engaging with the busy world again.
If you are feeling very tired, it is not advisable to engage in exercise or strenuous activities right after the session. Some people experience an increased capacity for coping with their life following a session, sometimes for hours, days, or the better part of a week.
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There is no rule on this. When we are experiencing dysregulation or have developed complex or chronic stress patterns, it can take time to regulate and reorganize. The sessions are not intended to be transformational or create huge amounts of change, but with regular care, they can help the body orient towards safety and increase capacity for aliveness.