I'm doing SE and I personally prefer it to standard forms of talk therapy and CBT. It's not for everyone, but lots of my trauma is very early with no or very little memory of it. I can't speak about it clearly. I'm often trapped in it but it doesn't help a load to have someone question my thinking without the added ability to work more directly with the original trauma....like I know my thoughts or feelings are insane but they will keep repeating if I can't work on the trauma in ways that safely let me access it.
Most of my symptoms are very somatic. I have meltdowns over pain or other physical sensations...so learning how to feel these things without being completely taken over by them is helpful...it's about being able to stay present in my body. It doesn't always work on my own, or when overwhelmed, but I understand it well enough now to not hurt myself (I have ideas that I will if such and such a thing doesn't help, but my steps towards helping myself make much more sense these days). For me, the "tools" have been more applicable to my every day life than what I got in talk therapy, but I'll admit I had good talk therapists and it just wasn't a good fit for me....I can't remember all of my traumas and/or I can't talk, especially when stressed. It helps that my SE therapist doesn't ditch me there and just wait again for me to talk, but keeps asking questions gently about what i'm noticing until I can talk, or finds more sensory-related ways to bring me back.
Obviously your therapist is interested in the somatic approach for you. A good SE therapist will help you work on grounding stuff first and just feeling okay in your body, so it might not be a quick few sessions. Supposedly big one-time traumas can be resolved in a shorter span that complex or multi-traumas where the interplay is confusing. So you might ask about the way you would work with your particular traumas, or if the therapist focuses primarily on somatic approaches. I've heard of some people here going to SE and spending a lot of time talking, which doesn't make sense to me, but every therapist is different. SE should be primarily body-focused, some talking or processing, but lots of verbalizing what you are noticing in your body, so you can experience it but also stay connected to the here-and-now and your therapist.
And you've probably already done it, but you would want to check on insurance if you need it. There aren't many SE therapists in the major clinics at this point. Mine is private practice...she was covered by my last insurance but now that my work changed plans she is not "in-network" and there aren't any other SE therapists I could switch to. We might be able to get some sort of continuance if we can prove that what I need isn't duplicated within my current network, but it's been a lot of added stress...feeling like i'll have to arbitrarily end therapy when my insurance company ends my transition time, even though I'm dealing with a mega load of :poop: right now.
