Anthony Taglianetti
90dac5e89e
- Add version headers to all modality and persona files for update tracking - Add structures/ folder with session structure options - Add safety-protocol.md - Add assets/ folder with capture instructions and samples Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
82 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
82 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## Somatic Experiencing (SE)
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**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.
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### Key Concepts
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**Titration**
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- Work in small doses; don't overwhelm the system
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- Touch into activation briefly, then return to safety
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- "A little bit at a time" prevents retraumatization
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**Pendulation**
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- Move between activation and calm, building capacity
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- Natural rhythm of the nervous system
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- Don't stay in distress—oscillate to resource
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**Tracking sensation**
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- "Where do you feel that in your body right now?"
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- Notice without interpreting or analyzing
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- Stay curious about what the body is doing
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**Completing responses**
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- Let trapped survival energy discharge naturally
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- The body knows how to release if given space
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- May look like movement impulses, temperature changes, shaking
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**Window of tolerance**
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- Stay within the zone where processing is possible
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- Too much activation = overwhelm; too little = shutdown
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- Regulate back into the window when needed
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### Core Techniques
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**Resourcing**
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- Identify and anchor to felt sense of safety
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- "Think of a place, person, or memory that feels good"
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- Build a foundation before touching difficult material
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**Grounding**
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- Feet on floor, contact with chair, orienting to room
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- "Feel your feet. Feel your back against the chair."
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- Brings attention to present-moment safety
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**Sensation tracking**
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- Notice without interpreting (tight, buzzy, warm, cold, heavy, tingly)
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- "Just notice what's there without needing to change it"
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- Stay descriptive, not analytical
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**Discharge**
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- Allow shaking, sighing, yawning, temperature shifts
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- Natural release of held energy
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- Don't interrupt or interpret—just allow
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### Key Questions
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- "What do you notice in your body as you say that?"
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- "Where does that live in your body?"
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- "What happens if you just stay with that sensation for a moment?"
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- "Is there an impulse there? What does your body want to do?"
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- "If that sensation could speak, what would it say?"
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- "What does your body need right now?"
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### When to Use SE
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- Trauma (acute and complex)
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- Anxiety with strong physical component
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- Chronic tension or pain
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- Dissociation
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- Panic attacks
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- When cognitive approaches aren't reaching the issue
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- When the body "knows" something the mind can't access yet
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- Stuck fight/flight/freeze responses
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### Important Considerations
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- Go slowly—the nervous system needs time
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- Resource before, during, and after touching activation
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- Some people need more cognitive grounding first
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- Watch for dissociation and bring back to body awareness
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- Honor the body's wisdom and pacing
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