Somatic Experiencing: Releasing Trauma Through the Body

Trauma does not only live in memory. It settles in muscles that never quite release, breath that sits too high in the chest, a nervous system that swings between overdrive and shut-down. Clients often walk into my office describing anxiety with no obvious source, unexplained exhaustion, or a pattern of reactions that feel out of proportion to the moment. When we track the body carefully, the picture tends to sharpen. Somatic experiencing, often shortened to SE, is a way of working with trauma that listens to the body’s language and helps it complete responses that were interrupted during overwhelming events.

I came to SE after years of practicing talk therapies. I watched smart, resilient people explain their stories with insight and still feel trapped by the same rushes of panic or numbness. Once we shifted attention to posture, breath, and sensation, things changed. Not because thoughts or beliefs do not matter, but because trauma is first a physiologic experience. It is a survival reflex that never got to finish, a body that did its best to protect you and then got stuck in protection mode. SE gives that reflex a way to settle.

How trauma lodges in the nervous system

The nervous system has a few basic survival moves: mobilize to fight or flee, or immobilize to play dead when escape is impossible. These states are adaptive in the moment. The problem appears when the system does not return to baseline. People notice it as hypervigilance, a startle that feels like an electric jolt, clenched jaws, irritable bowel flares, or a tendency to shut down during conflict. I see this with clients after car accidents, medical procedures, assaults, childhood neglect, and a wide range of cumulative stressors that look ordinary on paper but pile up in the body.

Imagine slamming the brakes for a near miss on the highway. Your body surges with adrenaline, heart rate spikes, muscles prime for action. If you pull over, shake, cry, and breathe until the wave passes, the nervous system completes the arc and rebalances. If you immediately drive to a meeting and suppress the reaction, the incomplete survival response can hang around as tension or unease. SE helps the body find its way back to that shake and breath in a controlled, titrated way.

A similar pattern shows up in burnout. It is not always a psychological weakness or poor boundaries. Often, the system has adapted to chronic overload by staying in sympathetic drive. People report that they cannot feel rested even after a weekend off, or they need caffeine to get going and wine to slow down. That seesaw is a physiologic pattern, not a moral failing. Somatic work can downshift the baseline so recovery becomes possible.

What somatic experiencing is, and what it is not

Somatic experiencing grew out of Peter Levine’s work on stress physiology and ethology. It is a body-first approach to trauma resolution. Rather than retelling a story in detail, the therapist and client track sensations, movements, impulses, and microexpressions. The goal is not catharsis for its own sake. It is to complete thwarted defensive responses and build capacity to move between activation and rest without getting stuck.

It is not exposure therapy in the classic sense. SE does not push you to recount the worst moment at full intensity. In fact, we deliberately avoid flooding. It also is not a substitute for medical care. If you have chest pain, you see a physician. If you have complex trauma and dissociation, you need a therapist trained to pace the work safely and integrate with other modalities, such as IFS therapy or EMDR.

SE is deceptively simple. Sessions often look quiet from the outside. We might spend three minutes helping you notice the sensation in your feet while you think about a difficult email, then switch to a resource like the feel of a supportive chair back. When a tremor starts in your thigh, we slow down so the system can discharge energy in a manageable way. Small arcs, repeated over time, change how the nervous system organizes itself.

Core principles you can feel in the room

• Titration: taking small, digestible doses of activation so the system learns it can handle them without overwhelm.
• Pendulation: moving attention back and forth between activation and safety, like gently rocking a stuck gear until it frees.
• Orientation: using the senses to locate yourself in the present world rather than in remembered danger.
• Resource building: strengthening sensations, images, movements, and relationships that bring stability.
• Completion: allowing the body to finish protective actions it could not complete then, which often looks like subtle impulses to push, turn, duck, reach, or vocalize.

These terms may sound technical, but they guide real moments. A client recalls an argument and feels a pressure in the chest. We slow down and ask what the body wants to do. The sternum subtly lifts, breath deepens, shoulders widen. With a tiny push through the palms, the chest pressure eases by 30 percent. That is completion in miniature.

What a session can look like

Most SE sessions start with orienting. I might ask you to look around the room and name three pleasant or neutral objects. This is not a gimmick. The eyes tell the midbrain whether the environment is safe. When the gaze softens and the neck rotates more freely, the autonomic brakes begin to release.

From there, we pick a small target. https://troyvncs298.cavandoragh.org/preventing-burnout-with-quarterly-therapy-intensives Not the worst event, maybe a two out of ten activation. As you describe it, we pause often to track physical signals. Where do you feel that in the body? What happens if you bring 10 percent more attention there? Is there an impulse under the surface? The therapist watches for micro tremors, color changes, breath shifts, tiny movements in the hands and eyes. Together, you follow these threads without forcing. When the system gives a sign of settling, such as a spontaneous sigh, a warmer sensation in the belly, or a yawn, we mark it and rest on a resource.

Clients sometimes expect a big cathartic release. Those do occur, but more often the work feels like learning a new rhythm. One client with panic attacks learned to spot a pre-panic shoulder hitch. If she paused and let the hitch grow into a fuller shrug with an exhale, the panic never crested. Another client with medical trauma reclaimed the ability to lie back for dental care by orienting to the room, pressing her heels into the chair to feel contact, and letting a slow tremor move through her calves while staying connected to the present.

Anxiety through a somatic lens

Anxiety, in my experience, is frequently a body trying to complete something. The mind tries to make sense of the feeling and spins stories that raise the alarm further. Traditional cognitive strategies can help challenge those stories, but when the arousal is high, insight alone does not land. SE aims to lower the physiological arousal so the mind can think clearly again.

A client in his thirties came in with sudden surges of fear during video meetings. He had already tried breathing exercises, which oddly made it worse. When we tracked sensations, he felt constriction at the sides of the neck and an impulse to turn his head to the right. We practiced tiny rotations and let a swallow come naturally. During one session, a heat wave moved from neck to chest and ended in a long exhale. He reported fewer episodes the following week. The turning had been a protective impulse that never finished. When allowed, the system settled.

SE is not magic. If generalized anxiety is driven by thyroid dysfunction, sleep apnea, or stimulant overuse, body work will have limited effect until those are addressed. And for some clients, a structured protocol like EMDR may target specific memory networks more efficiently. I often combine approaches, using SE to stabilize arousal and EMDR to process discrete traumatic nodes.

Burnout, when stress stops cycling

Burnout has a cultural narrative, usually about workload and values, both of which matter. Underneath, the physiology tells its own story. People caught in chronic sympathetic drive burn glucose fast, breathe shallowly, and brace through the day. At night, they cannot downshift. On weekends, they crash and feel guilty. Over months, inflammation creeps up, motivation downshifts, and minor tasks feel insurmountable.

Somatic practices can restore cycling. A small but reliable intervention is to catch micro-moments of completion during the day. After a difficult call, let your gaze move to the far wall, track the edges of a picture frame, notice the temperature on your cheeks, and wait for one unforced breath to deepen. Stand, push your palms into the desk for three seconds, then release and feel the rebound in the arms. These are not hacks. They are ways of telling the midbrain that the threat has passed so it can stop budgeting for battle.

Clients in helping professions often need to rebuild interoceptive trust. Years of overriding hunger, fatigue, and boundaries blunt the signals. In early sessions, I teach a simple check: three times a day, ask what sensation is most noticeable and whether it is expanding, contracting, warming, cooling, moving, or still. Do not fix it, just label the trajectory. Over weeks, this recalibrates attention toward the body’s dashboard instead of only the to-do list.

Where SE fits with IFS therapy and EMDR intensives

Therapists rarely need to choose one modality forever. The art is in sequencing. With clients who have fragmented inner systems, I often start with IFS therapy to build a respectful relationship with protectors and exiles. Once there is permission and trust, SE can help those parts express their protective impulses physically. For example, a protector who keeps the jaw tight may finally let the jaw soften while another part stays present and resourced. Parts work brings meaning, SE brings completion.

EMDR can pair well too. Some clients benefit from EMDR intensives, especially when they have a constrained schedule or want to make concentrated progress around a few target memories. In an intensive, we might work 3 to 6 hours a day for 1 to 3 days, with breaks, preparation, and follow-up. It is not appropriate for everyone. People with unstable housing, active substance dependence, or recent suicidality may need a steadier pace. Even within intensives, I weave SE principles to prevent overwhelm. If the gaze fixates, we pause for orientation. If the breath gets shallow, we widen attention to the feet. These micro-adjustments protect the nervous system’s capacity so processing completes instead of derailing.

For ongoing weekly therapy, SE offers a gentle, cumulative path. For clients who feel stuck in talk therapy yet wary of rapid protocols, the body-first approach often feels safer and more attuned. The trade-off is that it can be slower. We earn change instead of forcing it. The goal is not to power through but to exit the cycle of re-injury.

Safety, pacing, and edge cases

Good SE work privileges containment. Flooding can retraumatize, especially for clients with complex histories. If a client dissociates easily, we anchor more often in the present and build capacity to notice micro-signals that precede a floaty feeling. Sometimes we avoid eyes-closed work. Sometimes we keep one hand on a textured object as a tether. The therapist must watch for cues like glassy eyes, a sudden drop in tone, or loss of time, and steer back to safety before proceeding.

Medical trauma requires special care. A client with a history of fainting during blood draws may have a strong vasovagal reflex. Mobilizing too fast can tip them into collapse. I will often keep sessions upright, emphasize orienting to the room, and test small bits of activation with immediate returns to resource. If a client is pregnant, we avoid positions and breath patterns that reduce venous return. If there is a history of seizures, I coordinate closely with medical providers and keep activation tiny.

Cultural context matters too. Some bodies have learned to suppress visible signs of distress for safety, particularly in marginalized communities. Asking a client to tremble openly may feel unsafe. In those cases, we work more subtly, often with contained movements, less direct eye contact, and rituals that honor the client’s background.

What change looks like, and how to know it is working

Progress in SE often shows up between sessions. You notice that the tight band across your ribs eases more quickly after a hard meeting. The startle you have had in grocery stores for years becomes a small flinch rather than a lightning bolt. Your partner’s raised voice still matters, but your hands do not go numb. Sleep lengthens by half an hour. These are not miracles, they are physiologic signs that regulation is returning.

Clients sometimes worry that feeling worse after a session means failure. More often, it means we touched activation that the body is now processing. The question is dose. If you feel wrung out for two days, we went too far. If you feel tender or a bit fatigued for a few hours and then clearer, we likely hit the right edge. I ask clients to track three variables for a few weeks: sleep quality, baseline tension, and reactivity to minor stressors. Two of the three improving is a good sign. If none are improving, we adjust the plan or consider blending in EMDR or a cognitive approach.

I also encourage people to involve their primary care physicians. Rule out medical contributors to anxiety and burnout, such as thyroid issues, anemia, perimenopausal shifts, or sleep disorders. I have had more than one client discover untreated sleep apnea was amplifying their nervous system load. Once we treated the apnea, SE had a clearer path.

Practical tools you can use now

Even without a therapist, you can begin to shift your physiology. Keep it simple and brief. Two or three minutes, two or three times a day, beats a heroic 20-minute session once a week.

One form is structured orienting. Sit comfortably and let your gaze move slowly around the space. Without judgment, name to yourself the shapes and colors you see. Let your neck and shoulders soften as your eyes lead the movement. Wait for a spontaneous breath or swallow. Notice any place in the body that feels 1 percent more at ease, then linger there for a few seconds.

Another is contact and release. Press your feet into the ground for a count of three, then release and feel what changes in your calves and thighs. Or interlace your fingers and gently pull for three seconds, then release, noticing temperature and tingling. These micro-movements give the nervous system something to complete.

Finally, practice titrated breath. Rather than deep breathing, which can spike anxiety in some people, try a gentle lengthening of the exhale. Inhale through the nose for a count of three, exhale through pursed lips for a count of four. Do five cycles and stop. If you feel dizzier or more anxious, shift to orienting instead.

When intensives make sense

Intensives can be powerful when life circumstances demand a concentrated push. I have worked with first responders, executives facing deadlines, and parents who can only secure childcare for a short window. EMDR intensives are often the format of choice, but SE principles are woven throughout to manage arousal. A typical intensive day includes preparation, resourcing, several processing blocks of 60 to 90 minutes with breaks, and a closing period to restore balance.

The decision to pursue an intensive depends on stability. If you can hold gains between sessions, have reliable support, and your symptoms cluster around identifiable events, an intensive can compress months of work into days. If your system is fragile, you dissociate easily, or your stressors are ongoing and diffuse, weekly SE often provides a safer container. Neither path is superior. They solve different problems.

Choosing a practitioner who fits

Training matters. Look for someone with SE training through the Somatic Experiencing International curriculum or equivalent, ideally through the advanced level. For EMDR, look for EMDRIA certification if you plan to combine approaches. Beyond certificates, the relationship matters most. You need a therapist who respects your pace, tracks your cues, and explains what they are doing without jargon.

Here are concise questions that help you assess fit:

• How do you decide when to push forward and when to slow down in somatic work?
• What signs tell you a client is outside their window of tolerance, and how do you respond?
• How do you integrate SE with IFS therapy or EMDR if needed?
• What does progress typically look like over the first eight sessions?
• How do you handle aftercare if I feel stirred up between sessions?

Pay attention not just to content, but to how your body feels hearing the answers. If you feel more settled, odds are good you have found someone who can co-regulate with you. If you feel pressured or confused, keep looking.

A brief vignette: reclaiming the body after burnout

A mid-career nurse came to me in the middle of burnout. She slept five hours a night, woke with jaw pain, and felt either wired or depleted. Talk therapy had helped her set boundaries, but the body would not cooperate. In our first SE sessions, orienting made her nauseous, a sign of high activation. We kept it brief and used tactile resources, like a weighted blanket across her thighs, to anchor her. Over four weeks, micro-tremors in her calves began during sessions and she reported yawning more at home, both signs of discharge.

At week six, she noticed that after a chaotic shift she could feel her feet on the unit’s vinyl floor and let her eyes track to the window. The familiar adrenaline surge decayed more quickly. At week ten, she slept 45 minutes longer on average without changing her schedule. We then folded in a brief EMDR intensive focused on a specific code event that haunted her. SE kept her system steady enough to process efficiently. Within three months, she described her workday as “hard but not punishing.” The tasks had not changed. Her physiology had.

Final thoughts from practice

Somatic experiencing gives people back authorship of their nervous systems. The work is subtle, but the downstream effects are concrete: fewer panic spikes, steadier energy, clearer sleep, less reactivity, more choice. It does not replace other therapies so much as it completes them. IFS therapy can bring compassion and clarity to inner conflicts. EMDR, including EMDR intensives when appropriate, can metabolize discrete memories efficiently. SE ties it all together by ensuring the body gets to finish what it started.

If you live with anxiety that feels untethered to facts, or burnout that will not yield to rest, consider a body-first approach. Learn the feel of your own signals, practice tiny completions all day long, and choose a guide who can match your pace. The body remembers how to settle. Sometimes it just needs permission, a little time, and the right kind of attention.

"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ProfessionalService", "name": "Alli Christie Counseling", "url": "https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/", "telephone": "+14027658761", "email": "[email protected]", "address": "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202", "addressLocality": "Lone Tree", "addressRegion": "CO", "postalCode": "80124", "addressCountry": "US" , "openingHoursSpecification": [ "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Monday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" , "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Tuesday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" , "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Wednesday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" , "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Thursday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" , "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Friday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" , "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": "https://schema.org/Saturday", "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" ], "areaServed": "Colorado", "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/allichristiecounseling/", "https://www.instagram.com/allichristiecounseling/" ], "geo": "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 39.5516997, "longitude": -104.8794188 , "hasMap": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alli+Christie+Counseling/@39.5524957,-104.8803997,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x876c859f7a8fa043:0x7712f13d361a1824!8m2!3d39.5516997!4d-104.8794188!16s%2Fg%2F11h2cf2bsx"

Alli Christie Counseling provides mental health services centered on therapy intensives for high-achieving women in Colorado, with an office in Lone Tree.

The site highlights EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and focused support for concerns such as anxiety, burnout, panic, trauma, and self-doubt.

The practice is led by Alli Christie Disney, LPC, and the Colorado location page says the office works with women from across the state, including Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins.

For local visitors in Lone Tree, the office is listed at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

The practice appears best suited for women ages 16 and up who want a structured, longer-format therapy option rather than standard weekly sessions alone.

The official Colorado page also says online sessions may be available for people who prefer virtual work or want follow-up support after an in-person intensive.

To ask about fit or scheduling, call (402) 765-8761 or visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/.

For map directions and public listing context, see https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alli+Christie+Counseling/@39.5524957,-104.8803997,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x876c859f7a8fa043:0x7712f13d361a1824!8m2!3d39.5516997!4d-104.8794188!16s%2Fg%2F11h2cf2bsx.

Popular Questions About Alli Christie Counseling

What services does Alli Christie Counseling offer?

The official site lists therapy intensives, EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, anxiety support, and burnout-focused therapy content.

Who is the practice designed to serve?

The Colorado location page says the practice specializes in working with high-achieving women ages 16 and up, including entrepreneurs, executives, and women in demanding fields.

Where is the Lone Tree office located?

The contact page lists the office at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

Does Alli Christie Counseling only offer intensives?

The homepage says the practice primarily offers intensive healing experiences, while also keeping limited availability for some ongoing sessions in a more traditional format.

Does the practice offer online sessions?

Yes. The Colorado location page says online sessions are available for people who prefer virtual work or want remote follow-up support after an in-person intensive.

What issues are mentioned on the Colorado page?

The site names trauma, developmental trauma, childhood trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, imposter syndrome, burnout, self-doubt, and phobias among the concerns addressed through intensives.

What therapy approaches are mentioned on the site?

The practice highlights EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE) as the main modalities used in its intensive work.

How can I contact Alli Christie Counseling?

Call tel:+14027658761, visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/, and follow https://www.facebook.com/allichristiecounseling/ and https://www.instagram.com/allichristiecounseling/.

Landmarks Near Lone Tree, CO

Park Meadows — Park Meadows is one of Lone Tree’s best-known destinations and is described by its official site as Colorado’s biggest shopping mall. If you are near Park Meadows, Alli Christie Counseling’s Lone Tree office is a useful local reference point for planning therapy visits.

Lone Tree Arts Center — The Lone Tree Arts Center is a major local arts and culture venue and a recognizable anchor in the city. If you spend time near the arts center, the Lone Tree office gives you a simple nearby point of reference for counseling and intensive therapy services.

I-25 and Lincoln Avenue — The Sky Ridge at Lone Tree Station mobility hub project identifies the I-25 and Lincoln Avenue interchange as a major transit and access point in Lone Tree. If that corridor is part of your regular route, the office location is easy to place within the same local area.

Lone Tree City Center — The city describes Lone Tree City Center as east of I-25 between Lincoln Avenue and RidgeGate Parkway, with a walkable mixed-use focus and light rail access. If you are near City Center or RidgeGate, the office is part of the same broader Lone Tree service geography.

High Note Park and Happy Canyon Trail — The city’s High Note Park page highlights the Happy Canyon Trail connection running under RidgeGate Parkway and linking toward Lincoln Avenue. If you live or work near the RidgeGate trail network, the Lone Tree office is a practical local counseling reference.

Bluffs Regional Park and Trail — Lone Tree’s resident guide identifies Bluffs Regional Park and Trail as a major local trail area with a loop trail and trail connectors. If you use the bluffs or nearby trailheads as your local frame of reference, Alli Christie Counseling remains a clear Lone Tree destination to work from.