Somatic Experiencing®

As of October of 2018, Holly Dahl has completed the 3 years;

216 hours of live training to become a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner.*

 

If you would wish to take a gander at the Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute,

please check out the webpage here .

With every stuck place is a potentiality for energy and in that place are memories that reside within our body. What holds us back as a species when it comes to stressors, to chronic syndromes and in a wider sense our traumas, is by the managing of this said “energy”. Undomesticated animals found in the wild, who face threat on a regular basis do not suffer from what ails us; PTSD, anxiety, depression, autoimmune disorders, chronic dis-eases and so on. With the lifelong work of individuals like Dr. Peter Levine (creator of Somatic Experiencing®), Stephen Porges (behavioral neuroscientist who created the Polyvagal Theory), and Lisbeth Marcher (co-creator of Bodynamics, a psycho-somatic approach to muscle systems and their character structures); these pioneers have proved that through attention in body awareness and through the felt sense of both the client and therapist, liberation and renegotiation of trauma is possible.

 

 

                In the process of getting in touch with our primal sense, we will dip our toes into bodily awareness as it will naturally ebb and flow like a stream taking a leaf. (There will be a lot of analogies and I apologize ahead of time if it pulls your attention). We will notice the slight shifts in physiology, the behavioral and emotional changes that may occur. With presence, guidance and appropriate touch if it is not too soon, can bring support, safety and containment during moments of discomfort, like coaxing the leaf away from a turbulent eddy. With SE we do not delve deep into the whirl-pools that keep us locked in our holding patterns, we will instead work on the edges… edges of sensation, edges of thoughts, edges of images and ideas. From the edges there will be more room to see, more room for the body to feel safety, to prevent the cyclical patterns that have been so ingrained into the nervous system. Like working with a ball of yarn that has been knotted repeatedly, we will work to find what thread is waiting on the outside to be engaged with just a little, because we all know grabbing straight for the center and being forceful will make the unraveling more cumbersome than necessary.

 

 

                Somatic Experiencing® methods of bringing the self back to it's roots will eventually allow natural impulses and instincts that have gone under the radar to finally be drenched in attention. What once was forgotten can be retrieved in the stopping of bracing patterns that just wish to move towards an impulse. Our nervous system comprises of two necessary parts that will foster in the renegotiation of trauma; social engagement and the involuntary primal force that has kept us alive for generations on end. This primal force a.k.a. our reptilian brain holds our glorious vagus nerve in the core of our being, quite literally. The vagus nerve "wanders" through out all the sensory organs of the face and neck, the lungs, heart and digestive tract and the amazing part is that 80% is afferent, which means the gut brain receives information from the outside world, processes it and sends it to the brain. How the body holds memories isn't limited to the trunk of our body, but also in the  muscles and joints. Symptoms that could be affected by such influences are as follows, but not limited to;

 

  • anxiety, fear, panic attacks (usually due to two impulses fighting for completion)

  • hyper-vigilance, 'waiting for the other shoe to drop'

  • depression, only able to feel negative experience

  • feeling helpless, sense of collapse in muscles

  • stuck in shame, guilt or low self-esteem

  • easily triggered, exaggerated emotional responses

  • ruminating, intrusive thoughts or memories

  • feeling numb, vague, spacey, fatigue, in a state of fogginess

  • sensitivity and agitation to light and sound

  • disrupted sleep patterns, insomnia, nightmares

  • digestive issues, I.B.S., chronic constipation

  • asthma, breathing difficulties

  • chronic tension, protective bracing in the body leading to repetitive stress

  • chronic pain: fibromyalgia, joint pain, plantar-fasciitis, TOS; pins and needles or reduced sensation of touch, cold sensitivity of the fingers, muscle weakness or swelling

  • headaches, migraines; nausea

  • other chronic physical ailments

  • physical symptoms with no apparent cause; restless legs

Frequently asked questions about SE® therapy and topics that are important to take note

 

  1. Somatic Experiencing... So what is it? 
  2. What does an SE session look like with a body-worker opposed to a mental health practitioner?
  3. What exactly should I be expected to share as far as my trauma history and how soon can we work on this?
  4. What exactly is in the 7 stage process?
  5. Are there adverse effects/risks with this type of therapy?
  6. How many sessions will it take?
  7. How much does a SE session cost and do you offer a sliding scale?
  8. Is it okay if I go ahead and schedule online for a massage session and inquire about SE or just make a note in the booking requesting SE?