I've just seen this thread. I love Peter Levine's book and I've had craniosacral therapy, which is a somatic therapy based on the same principles as somatic experiencing (Waking the Tiger is a set text for people training to be craniosacral therapists).
If you're having trouble finding a therapist for SE, it might be worth looking into CST instead. That's what I did, because although I wanted SE having read the book, I couldn't find a suitable therapist in the UK. I found a wonderful craniosacral therapist in London, though, and I can't say how much it helped me. With the craniosacral therapist I saw I didn't have to say anything about what happened - he communicated directly with my central nervous system and so my body was presenting what it was ready to work on at the right time. I didn't even have to think about it consciously. He also helped me with guided meditation and focussing, and now I do things like write journal dialogues with my shoulder, lol.
I've experienced a lot of what Levine talks about as the release of frozen trauma energy - going cold and shaking. For me this was extreme and continued every day for months, but I was so glad to feel that energy leaving me and couldn't believe I'd been holding it in my cells for so long.
I've also experienced what's called unwinding. Levine doesn't talk about it in the book, but my therapist explained that its the body moving itself into a position or action associated with the trauma, in order to process and release it. Again, for me this was dramatic. I think a lot of people might not even experience it at all, but my view is that if you do, it's your body healing itself so even though it was weird (things like my arms moving without me making them) , and could sometimes be distressing in terms of what it represented, again I was glad of it. I could stop it if I wanted to but I didn't want to. I wanted to let my system heal itself. It's exactly as Levine says - the body has this innate natural ability and will heal if we just get out of the way.
I've still needed psychotherapy and to process what happened cognitively, and am still doing that. But I don't know how that would have been possible for me without having somatic therapy to release so much of the ingrained fear and other trauma. I also do a lot of other things like visualisation, meditation and working with archtypes. Somatic therapy has given me a belief in healing that helps me with all of it, and it's also validating. Whenever I've minimised or doubted what happened, I have the "evidence" of how much trauma my body has released and the things that my craniosacral therapist could sense.
A note - when I first read Eugene Glendin's book on focussing and tried it, I found it too powerful and felt it made me vulnerable to flashbacks because I could be focussing on sensations which were emerging from the past trauma. I had to approach it with more care, working on psychic protection and learning it more gradually with help from my CST therapist. This might not be the case for other people, but I thought I'd mention it.
As you can see, I'm a real evangelist for it! Please ask me if you have any questions, or I'd just be happy to hear how you're doing so keep posting. And please be encouraged that my experience of somatic therapy, the felt sense etc is just as Peter Levine describes and is a really wonderful approach to healing trauma.
Hashi
If you're having trouble finding a therapist for SE, it might be worth looking into CST instead. That's what I did, because although I wanted SE having read the book, I couldn't find a suitable therapist in the UK. I found a wonderful craniosacral therapist in London, though, and I can't say how much it helped me. With the craniosacral therapist I saw I didn't have to say anything about what happened - he communicated directly with my central nervous system and so my body was presenting what it was ready to work on at the right time. I didn't even have to think about it consciously. He also helped me with guided meditation and focussing, and now I do things like write journal dialogues with my shoulder, lol.
I've experienced a lot of what Levine talks about as the release of frozen trauma energy - going cold and shaking. For me this was extreme and continued every day for months, but I was so glad to feel that energy leaving me and couldn't believe I'd been holding it in my cells for so long.
I've also experienced what's called unwinding. Levine doesn't talk about it in the book, but my therapist explained that its the body moving itself into a position or action associated with the trauma, in order to process and release it. Again, for me this was dramatic. I think a lot of people might not even experience it at all, but my view is that if you do, it's your body healing itself so even though it was weird (things like my arms moving without me making them) , and could sometimes be distressing in terms of what it represented, again I was glad of it. I could stop it if I wanted to but I didn't want to. I wanted to let my system heal itself. It's exactly as Levine says - the body has this innate natural ability and will heal if we just get out of the way.
I've still needed psychotherapy and to process what happened cognitively, and am still doing that. But I don't know how that would have been possible for me without having somatic therapy to release so much of the ingrained fear and other trauma. I also do a lot of other things like visualisation, meditation and working with archtypes. Somatic therapy has given me a belief in healing that helps me with all of it, and it's also validating. Whenever I've minimised or doubted what happened, I have the "evidence" of how much trauma my body has released and the things that my craniosacral therapist could sense.
A note - when I first read Eugene Glendin's book on focussing and tried it, I found it too powerful and felt it made me vulnerable to flashbacks because I could be focussing on sensations which were emerging from the past trauma. I had to approach it with more care, working on psychic protection and learning it more gradually with help from my CST therapist. This might not be the case for other people, but I thought I'd mention it.
As you can see, I'm a real evangelist for it! Please ask me if you have any questions, or I'd just be happy to hear how you're doing so keep posting. And please be encouraged that my experience of somatic therapy, the felt sense etc is just as Peter Levine describes and is a really wonderful approach to healing trauma.
Hashi
