Individual Somatic Experiencing® sessions,

a description of the method follows, taken from the site http://www.somaticexperiencing.it/

 

Somatic Experiencing® ‚offers a new and rich insight into trauma.

It is a powerful psycho-physiological working method, developed by Dr. Peter Levine, for the treatment and prevention of trauma; it is based on the observation of animals which, although usually exposed to dangers, rarely remain traumatized; innate biological mechanisms allow them to return to normal after an extremely "strong" experience in which their own life was in danger.
The most significant contribution of Somatic Experiencing® is the understanding that what happens in the traumatic event is not merely psychological, but a complex physical, neurological and psychic reaction.

Trauma resolution resides in completing and unloading physiological processes rather than remembering or retracing the event.
The trauma is not encolosed  in the event, but in the physiology of the body.

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BIOLOGICAL BASES

The reactions that occur in the traumatic event are essentially instinctive. This explains why cognitive approaches and working with emotions can perhaps improve some symptoms but cannot help dissolve them.
The basic biological responses, with which we human beings react to a threat, perceived or real, orient us towards the threat and then mobilize all our energies for fight or flight.
When we are successful, our body finds its ways to return to the state of equilibrium. If the event instead leaves us with a sense of having been overwhelmed, of mistrust and inability to defend ourselves, then the survival energy mobilized for fight or flight, literally has no place to go to discharge itself and ends up converted into symptoms.

The  trauma lies in the incomplete biological response to a threat to our life.

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BASIC PRINCIPLE

To prevent a person from being overwhelmed by the memory of the event again, a basic principle called “pendulation” is applied in SE®. In this technique, the therapist helps the client to shuttle between small pieces of traumatic material and support resources.
Stabilizing resources, going slowly, step by step, supporting the client to feel the effects in the body, helps build new inner experiences and supports the nervous system in letting go of excess activation.  People can gradually process the traumatic experience and regain a continuity of the self.   SE® is an approach based on containment: it does not promote catharsis, it helps the person to move from fragmentation to integration.​