What is an SE session like?
An SE session feels like being invited into a safe space to relax and go exploring. You might have a specific issue you want to look at in general or work with something that has just come up that day. We often begin with Orientation, which is noticing your surroundings and your current relationship to them. SE isn’t really talk therapy, but we use talk and your story to reach a feeling. Once we have a feeling we are with the body, the somatic part of this therapy, and I will begin to invite you to taste this feeling more directly and perhaps in ways you have not been asked before. The feeling and what is happening inside your body is what is key. This could be a yummy feeling or a more uncomfortable feeling or even a numbness. Surprisingly these feelings can be hard to stay with, but with practice you will learn how to navigate being with any feeling.
The movement between feelings is called Pendulation and is a key element of SE work. By working with small pieces we do the work by moving between feelings of discomfort and comfort and back again. This pendulation between feelings is what over time informs your nervous system that it’s safe to experience any kind of feeling because it learns from direct experience that it will change. In practical terms this is the key to experiencing difficult subjects and feelings because you know experientially that you won’t get stuck there.
Every session no matter the topic will always end in a positive place of resource. We might dip into a difficult matter 3-5 times in an hour session meaning we dip into a positive matter 5-7 times. We are working towards nervous system relief and resilience and ultimately discovering what works for you and expanding those elements rather than always being in the muck of trauma.
The outcome we are always aiming for is nervous system safety and resilience. From that place any issue in life is much more manageable when you feel safe enough to make decisions or change. SE will not remove whatever pain or trauma story you have experienced in life, but learning to live with your life experiences in a new way and not experience unpleasant symptoms when they get triggered is a real possibility through this work.
Services
Choose a session according to your needs
Somatic
Experiencing
One hour via zoom or in person if locally present. We will explore any specific issues or concerns you have or navigate whatever is present at the time of the session.
$100/h
Somatic Experiencing
table work
In person only. Somatic table work is excellent at gentle supportive touch that can address a wide range of nervous system regulation and is especially helpful with early childhood issues that are pre verbal or have no story.
$100/h
Massage
session
In person only. A special blend of bodywork and emotional touch to address any physical issues or relaxation. Can be tailored for medical injury, myofascial release, cranial sacral, trigger point, food and hand reflexology, or traditional Swedish relaxation.
$100/h
SE breath
work
In person only. A breath work session that uses SE as the foundation to move any energy or activation around issues you wish to explore directly or as an exploratory session. You breathe and experience while I help guide you with limited verbal prompts, directive touch, and can be supported with musical accompaniment. Generally a stronger emotional session than a traditional SE session.
$100/h
What I have learned and now lovingly put into practice is simply this:
Everyone
has the ability and roadmap to heal themselves completely (you are not broken)
Nervous system
healing requires a second nervous system to “borrow” as an example of safety (you need a second person to support you)
Healing
happens when you drop into feeling (somatic) and allow your feelings to move fluidly between discomfort and safety (pendulation is the mechanism of lasting healing)