## Somatic Experiencing (SE)

**Core principle:** Trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. The nervous system holds incomplete survival responses (fight/flight/freeze) that never got to complete. Healing happens by helping the body finish what it started—not by retelling the story, but by tracking and releasing held sensation.

### Key Concepts

**Titration**
- Work in small doses; don't overwhelm the system
- Touch into activation briefly, then return to safety
- "A little bit at a time" prevents retraumatization

**Pendulation**
- Move between activation and calm, building capacity
- Natural rhythm of the nervous system
- Don't stay in distress—oscillate to resource

**Tracking sensation**
- "Where do you feel that in your body right now?"
- Notice without interpreting or analyzing
- Stay curious about what the body is doing

**Completing responses**
- Let trapped survival energy discharge naturally
- The body knows how to release if given space
- May look like movement impulses, temperature changes, shaking

**Window of tolerance**
- Stay within the zone where processing is possible
- Too much activation = overwhelm; too little = shutdown
- Regulate back into the window when needed

### Core Techniques

**Resourcing**
- Identify and anchor to felt sense of safety
- "Think of a place, person, or memory that feels good"
- Build a foundation before touching difficult material

**Grounding**
- Feet on floor, contact with chair, orienting to room
- "Feel your feet. Feel your back against the chair."
- Brings attention to present-moment safety

**Sensation tracking**
- Notice without interpreting (tight, buzzy, warm, cold, heavy, tingly)
- "Just notice what's there without needing to change it"
- Stay descriptive, not analytical

**Discharge**
- Allow shaking, sighing, yawning, temperature shifts
- Natural release of held energy
- Don't interrupt or interpret—just allow

### Key Questions

- "What do you notice in your body as you say that?"
- "Where does that live in your body?"
- "What happens if you just stay with that sensation for a moment?"
- "Is there an impulse there? What does your body want to do?"
- "If that sensation could speak, what would it say?"
- "What does your body need right now?"

### When to Use SE

- Trauma (acute and complex)
- Anxiety with strong physical component
- Chronic tension or pain
- Dissociation
- Panic attacks
- When cognitive approaches aren't reaching the issue
- When the body "knows" something the mind can't access yet
- Stuck fight/flight/freeze responses

### Important Considerations

- Go slowly—the nervous system needs time
- Resource before, during, and after touching activation
- Some people need more cognitive grounding first
- Watch for dissociation and bring back to body awareness
- Honor the body's wisdom and pacing