Also known as: SE, Somatic Experiencing therapy, Levine method
Body-based therapy developed by Peter Levine that addresses chronic autonomic activation by helping the body complete protective responses that trauma interrupted. Particularly suited to pre-verbal trauma and presentations where narrative therapy reaches a ceiling.
Peter Levine developed somatic experiencing from observing how animals in the wild metabolise threat events. Protective responses (fight, flight, freeze) cycle through and resolve when uninterrupted. In humans, social and cognitive constraints often interrupt these responses, leaving them stuck in the body as chronic autonomic activation.
The protocol works with the body's natural capacity to complete what was interrupted. The therapist tracks subtle body sensations and movements, helping the client notice what wants to happen but never did. A protective gesture. A defensive stance. A directional movement away from threat. These responses are titrated and allowed to complete in small increments.
Sessions involve far more attention to body sensation than narrative content. The work is slow and incremental. Five to fifteen sessions is typical for single-incident presentations; complex trauma often requires 6 months to 2 years.
Somatic experiencing is particularly well-suited to: trauma where the threat response was clearly interrupted (held still during attack, unable to flee, frozen), pre-verbal trauma where narrative is not available, trauma in patients with high dissociation, and trauma where standard therapies have produced limited result.
Training is rigorous. Somatic Experiencing International offers a 3-year certification programme. The protocol takes longer than EMDR but reaches material EMDR sometimes cannot. Many trauma-trained therapists use both approaches and select based on case features.
Bessel van der Kolk's research showed that trauma is stored pre-verbally and often cannot be reached through narrative alone. EMDR is VA first-line. Somatic experiencing, trauma-informed yoga, neurofeedback, and EFT offer body-first paths for trauma that talk cannot reach.
Acute uncomplicated grief responds well to talk therapy and time. Complicated grief that gets stuck in the body often needs body-based work. EMDR for grief, somatic experiencing, and consciousness coaching offer paths through grief that words alone cannot reach.
Glossary31 terms covering modalities, mechanisms, and conditions