A single brief exposure to an overwhelming event can throw a normally functioning individual into an abyss of emotional and physical suffering. Whether or not a person rebounds from this dark edge of near insanity or tumbles more deeply into the ‘Black Hole’ of trauma has been a mystery to modern psychiatry. When events happen in life that are traumatic, they take us out of our natural way of being and leave behind a host of emotions and sensations that are too overwhelming to express at the time. These unprocessed emotions then become locked in the energetic centers of the body and brain, and if not expressed, can result in chronic stress, organ malfunction, physical ailments and disease, as well as disruptive behavior patterns, phobias and emotional imbalances. Few people question the seriousness of the problems created by trauma, yet we have difficulty comprehending how many people are affected by it.
Somatic Experiencing has been developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D., the founder and director of the Ergos Institute for Somatic Education. Somatic Experiencing is a cutting- edge psychobiological approach to the successful treatment of anxiety and post-traumatic stress (PTS). Somatic Experiencing was introduced in Dr. Peter Levine’s 1997 book Waking the Tiger. In it, he discusses at length his observations of animals in the wild, and how they deal with and recover from life-threatening situations. Dr. Levine concludes that animal behavior gives us “an insight into the biological healing process” and that “the key to healing traumatic symptoms in humans lies in our being able to mirror the fluid adaption of wild animals” as they avoid traumatization in reacting to life-threatening situations.
In Somatic Experiencing, PTSD symptoms are not seen as a pathology to be “managed” but as normal responses to an overwhelming life event. Trauma is a fact of life, and most of us have been exposed to it. Trauma, however, does not have to be a life sentence.
As human beings, we are biologically designed to respond to and recover from threat. Situations such as automobile and other accidents, falls, serious illness, surgery, natural disasters and sexual assault produce a predictable physiological sequence of reaction. When this sequence is successfully completed, the trauma is able to be resolved – and then transform into a new strength. Reenactments of trauma may be acted out in intimate relationships, work situations, repetitive accidents or mishaps, and in other seemingly random events.
When events happen in life that are traumatic, they take us out of our natural way of being and leave behind a host of emotions and sensations that are too overwhelming to express at the time. These unprocessed emotions then become locked in the energetic centers of the body and brain, and if not expressed, can result in chronic stress, organ malfunction, physical ailments and disease, as well as disruptive behavior patterns, phobias and emotional imbalances.
This work focuses on the brain stem and it’s survival-based functions.
Somatic Experiencing is a therapy that helps to relieve and resolve the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems by focusing on the client’s perceived body sensations (or somatic experiences).
The Points Holding Process (PHP) is thought to be an ancient art rediscovered that facilitates healing and consciousness. PHP practitioners hold pressure points on the body for extended periods of time in a way that allows these buried emotions to become awakened. Many report, “finding the inner joy of re-connecting with their inner self” and “seeing their life from a perspective they could never have imagined. “Others say they “have become conscious of other dimensions” and “experience a return to some essential peace they had always longed for.”
You can expect a deep and profound shift in areas of your life, usually accompanied by a series of deep emotional releases with corresponding memory associations. It dissolves fundamental traumatic thoughts and associations that have defined your personality and dictated habitual behavior.
