The Body Remembers: How Somatic Experiencing Helps Heal Childhood Trauma
Understanding How Body-Based Healing Complements Talk Therapy
Many of us understand trauma as something that lives in our memories—but what if it also lives in our muscles, our breath, our posture, even our gut? If you've ever felt triggered by something seemingly small or experienced anxiety that “comes out of nowhere,” you're not imagining it. The body remembers what the mind can't always explain.
That’s where Somatic Experiencing® (SE) comes in—a powerful, body-based approach to trauma healing that helps people reconnect with safety, resilience, and regulation from the inside out.
What Is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a trauma healing modality developed by Dr. Peter Levine. It’s based on the idea that trauma is not just what happened to you—it’s what happens inside your nervous system as a result of overwhelming experiences.
When we’re faced with threat (like neglect, abuse, or emotional abandonment), our bodies activate a survival response: fight, flight, or freeze. But if we can't complete that response—because we’re too young, too afraid, or the threat never ends—those energies can get stuck in our nervous system. That stuck energy becomes trauma held in the body.
Somatic Experiencing helps gently release that stuck survival energy so your body can return to a state of balance and safety.
How Childhood Trauma Shows Up in the Body
Childhood trauma—especially when it’s chronic or relational—can shape how your nervous system develops. You may have learned to:
Stay small or invisible to avoid punishment
Stay hyper-alert to detect changes in a parent’s mood
Shut down emotionally when connection felt unsafe
Numb or dissociate from your body to survive pain
These are brilliant adaptations—but they often persist into adulthood, long after the danger has passed. The result? Anxiety, chronic tension, emotional numbness, digestive issues, or difficulty feeling safe in relationships.
Why the Body Needs to Be Involved in Healing
Talk therapy helps you make sense of your experiences, build insight, and develop emotional awareness. But when trauma lives in the non-verbal parts of the brain and body, insight alone isn’t always enough.
That’s where Somatic Experiencing shines.
It works bottom-up (starting with the body), rather than top-down (starting with thoughts), helping your nervous system process and release trauma gently—without needing to relive or retell the story.
What Happens in a Somatic Experiencing Session?
A Somatic Experiencing session may look and feel very different from traditional talk therapy. It’s often slower, more spacious, and focused on moment-to-moment awareness.
Here’s what you might experience:
1. Tuning Into the Body
You'll be guided to notice physical sensations, tension, breath, and internal cues—without judgment. You don’t need to explain or analyze anything. We simply get curious about your body’s language.
2. Tracking Nervous System Responses
We gently observe how your body responds to memory, emotion, or present-moment triggers. This might include feeling warmth, tingling, restlessness, or pressure.
3. Resourcing
Before going into trauma material, we help you connect with internal resources—like calm, safety, support, or pleasure—to regulate your nervous system.
4. Pendulation
We slowly shift attention between discomfort and safety, between activation and settling. This back-and-forth movement is called pendulation and it helps the body discharge stored survival energy safely.
5. Completion
Sometimes your body may shake, sigh, yawn, or spontaneously move—signs that your nervous system is releasing stuck energy. These are healthy signs of trauma resolution.
How Somatic Work and Talk Therapy Work Together
Somatic Experiencing doesn’t replace talk therapy—it enhances it. While talk therapy gives your inner world language and insight, Somatic Experiencing helps your body feel the safety your mind understands.
Together, they support healing on all levels:
Mind: Make meaning of your story
Heart: Feel, grieve, and connect
Body: Release survival energy and feel safe inside again
For those healing from childhood trauma, attachment wounds, or abuse, this combination can be especially powerful. When your body and your inner child learn that it's safe to feel, connect, and rest—you begin to experience real freedom.
You Don’t Have to Stay Stuck
If you've tried talk therapy and still feel like something’s missing, your body might be holding pieces of your healing.
Somatic Experiencing is not about pushing or reliving your trauma—it’s about gently guiding your nervous system back to regulation, so you can feel more grounded, alive, and connected in the present.
✨ Your body isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution. ✨
Want to explore Somatic Experiencing in your healing journey?
I integrate SE with IFS and trauma-informed talk therapy to support deep, lasting healing for adults navigating childhood trauma and emotional wounds.
📩 Reach out today to schedule a consultation or learn more about working together.