Trauma is an experience of overwhelming fear, powerlessness, or helplessness to respond to a threat of bodily harm or death. It is not the event itself that is traumatic; it is the person's perception and capacity to respond. If a person perceives the situation to be life-threatening, and their sense of safety and boundaries are breached, the situation is potentially traumatic. Major losses that tax an individual's adaptive capacities can also result in trauma symptoms. Over time, symptoms become increasingly disconnected from the original experience and the person may have unexplained panic attacks or phobias, depression and feelings of impending doom, and an inability to mobilize resources to carry out positive plans in their lives.

Chronic dysregulation also may lead to immune and endocrine problems such as chronic fatigue, headaches, neck and back problems, asthma, digestive distress (GERD, irritable bowel syndrome), and thyroid dysfunction, among other health problems.

Symptoms of Trauma

Hyperarousal: increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, muscle tension, racing thoughts.

Constriction: of the blood vessels, breathing, muscle tension.

Dissociation: "spacing out," numbness, a common way to endure painful experiences by disconnecting from memories or feelings.

Helplessness, immobility, freeze response: a feeling of being completely immobilized and powerless to act.

Hypervigilance: being "on guard" at all times, restlessness, exaggerated startle response.

Other:
Intrusive memories, nightmares, night terrors, difficulty concentrating.

Abrupt mood swings (rage, tantrums, shame), or excessive shyness and diminished emotional response.

Inability to trust due to altered perceptions of self and the world, which leads to isolation and impaired relationships.

Inability to make commitments due to an excessive need to control everyday experiences.

Use of substances or behaviors (alcohol, drugs, nicotine, food, shopping, gambling, excessive exercise) to cope.

What is Somatic Experiencing?

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a body-awareness approach to trauma being taught throughout the world. It is the result of over forty years of observation, research, and hands-on development by Dr. Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger. Based upon the realization that human beings have an innate ability to overcome the effects of trauma, SE has touched the lives of many thousands. SE restores self-regulation, and returns a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness to traumatized individuals who have had these precious gifts taken away.

A short-term, naturalistic approach to the resolution and healing of trauma SE empowers clients to access and restore the wisdom of their bodies by tracking and discharging residual levels of highly "charged" energy arousal so they can return to normal functioning in the here and now and re-engage with life.

How does SE differ from other therapeutic modalities?

SE employs awareness of body sensation to help people "renegotiate" and heal rather than re-live or re-enact trauma.
SE's guidance of the bodily "felt sense," allows the highly aroused survival energies to be safely experienced and gradually discharged.
SE "titrates" experience, rather than evoking catharsis - which can overwhelm the regulatory mechanisms of the organism.
SE helps eliminate pitfalls of re-traumatization and the spurious generation of "false memories".

SE is not dependent on drugs or outside agents. It helps people access their own, instinctive ability to rebound from overwhelming experiences by helping them complete the threat response (fight or flight) and move them from immobility (freeze) to mobility. Completing the threat response cycle discharges energy that is fueling the symptoms of trauma. SE helps clients process trauma-related sensations, arousal, movements and emotions, and integrates cognitive, emotional and sensorimotor responses within the client's ability to tolerate the intensity of the information.

SE is a gentle, respectful approach that empowers clients to reconnect to their instinctive resources and recognize their strengths and resilience. Clients report feelings of expansion and transformation once they are freed from the "frozen moment in time" that is trauma. They are then free to move into their lives grounded and centered, as empowered agents of change in their lives, and better resourced to deal with stressful conditions in a way that will not tax their adaptive capacities.

For more information, visit the Foundation for Human Enrichment at www.traumahealing.com