SOMATIC EXPERIENCing® THERAPY

Finding Flow After Trauma

Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, body-based approach to healing trauma and stress. Trauma isn’t just in our minds - it lives in our nervous system.

When something overwhelming happens, the body’s natural fight, flight, or freeze response can get interrupted, leaving us feeling “stuck” SE ® restore the nervous system’s natural rhythm so you can feel more grounded, present, and free.

The Role of Pendulation

Healing doesn’t happen by diving back into the storm. Instead, SE guides you to notice a small wave of activation (like a racing heart, tight chest, or anxious memory) and then to return to calm, safety, or grounding. This gentle back-and-forth -called pendulation -helps the body release survival energy that was locked away during the trauma. Over time, this restores flow and resilience.

Think of it like the tide: moving out with the wave of stress, and then coming back in to the safety on the shore.

• Feeling more grounded in your body

• More choices in how you respond to stress

• Less reactivity, more presence

• Ability to flow between activation and calm without feeling stuck

Two Different Paths, Same Goal Healing Trauma

EDMR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) is often desired by those who have experienced trauma. It uses bilateral stimulation (eye movement, tapping, or sounds) to help brain reprocess disturbing memories so they feel less overwhelming. EMDR works especially well for single-incident traumas like car accidents, assults, or medical events.

What Makes SE® Different?

There isn’t one “right” way to heal. EMDR and SE ® are both powerful tools for healing. SE ® may be less familiar, but or many, it goes deeper -addressing not just the memory of trauma, but how it lives in the body. Just like EDMR, SE also helps people release trauma - but it works primarily through the body and nervous system, not just through the brain and memory recall. By guiding you to gently move between stress and safety, SE allows the body to finish incomplete survival responses and return to balance.

SE® is particularly effective for accumulated stress, developmental trauma, complex PTSD, and while exploring memories that feel overwhelming.

EMDR: Like reading a difficult chapter of your story and helping the brain refile it in the right place.

SE: Like helping the body finish what it couldn’t complete during the trauma, so the story no longer controls your nervous system.