Another way to understand Somatic Experiencing

Everything I wrote in my first blog post about Somatic Experiencing--back in the summer of 2024--is true. It was a good, solid explanation of some of the core aspects of the work. If you're itching to understand the nuts and bolts, I'd encourage you to read that post.

And if you want a little more of a zoom-out concept, and an analogy to everyday life, this newer blog post might be for you.

Somatic Experiencing is a complicated, many-layered modality. For those who want to fully grasp the basics, the minimum necessary is a time-consuming three-year certificate program, which culminates the title of Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), for those who complete all of the requirements. Some of my mentors and colleagues like to remind students and teaching assistants alike, that much of this work takes far longer than three years to understand.

All that said...

The work can also be surprisingly simple.

When it comes down to it, the true essence of Somatic Experiencing is learning how to be fully present, attuned, and a little bit strategic...about simply working with a full human.

We work with the many different systems that make up a person, rather than just one aspect. While an SEP's expertise is deepest and most valuable when it comes to working with your nervous system, we are also working on several other levels at the same time. One layer or "channel," might be more prominent at any given moment. But the others are always in the mix.

That's why the work can surprise us, sometimes, when previously difficult changes...seem to 'just happen.'

So what are some of these layers?

As long as it's in our scope of practice, SEPs often work with much of what you might expect in other forms of talk therapy. This is the "meaning" channel in SE. The meaning channel contains a lot, and we can work with it from many different perspectives, and use different techniques, compared to other forms of psychotherapy.

You might think of the meaning--basically your story--as your right hand playing a keyboard.

When we add the body into the equation, we add depth and resonance. This might be like adding the left hand to play the lower notes on the keyboard. These notes might harmonize with your melody. And then, sometimes the lower notes carry the melody, and then change it! That's when the healing process starts to shift more profoundly, and often with more ease.

In addition--and this is where it gets more complicated and intertwined:

The nervous system is central to everything we do.

The work with the nervous system brings additional instruments into the band. Depending on your taste in music, you might think of adding a bass or cello, a mix of percussion, and occasional guitar (again: your choice. always your choice.)

We work together to expand your nervous system's capacity, and your capacity to "regulate" (or work with) your nervous system. At first, this might look like doing conscious explorations together, or "exercises" - like practicing your scales, tuning your instrument carefully, or even cleaning it. Eventually, and even in the early stages--you'll learn to improvise. The goal is to move from practicing your scales to, say, playing jazz.

Once you have all of these instruments on board, you start to see that your possibilities have expanded, and you're capable of doing and being more.

At the same time, the trauma that you have experienced will feel smaller in comparison, now that it lives within a larger container. With more room, more capacity, available to you, it will be more ease-full to work through it--bit by bit. We start around the edges, one small piece at a time, and always with the support of the full band.

This is my own analogy. It's not an official position or organizational talking points. But so far, it's the closest I've come to explaining the work.

I hope it helps!