Somatic Experiencing

At a glance

Developed by Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing works with the nervous system’s own capacity to move out of a trauma-related “freeze” or dysregulated state, using slow, titrated attention to bodily sensation (“titration” and “pendulation” between activation and calm) rather than direct exposure to traumatic memory.

What it’s asking the therapist to do

Track a client’s nervous-system state closely (often through visible signs like colour, breath, and small movements) and pace the work carefully to avoid overwhelming activation, moving in small steps between it and calmer states.

The disability question

Phrases like “trauma stored in the body,” “nervous system dysregulation,” and “completing defensive responses” are widely used in this tradition and worth treating with real evidence discipline — useful clinical metaphors and models, not settled neuroscience in every specific claim. For disability specifically: many of the visible signs this approach relies on for reading nervous-system state (colour change, particular movement patterns, specific breath changes) may present differently, or not be reliably present, in a body with a different neurological or medical profile — which means the practitioner’s read of “activation” or “completion” needs to be checked directly against the client’s own report, not assumed from visible signs alone.

You may also want to explore

Polyvagal Theory · Who Knows This Body? · Other Approaches & Evidence