1. Talk Therapy, Alone, Is Not Always Enough.

I love talk and insight oriented therapy. It's a beautiful thing. And it's not always adequate by itself. After over a decade of practicing as a somatic therapist, I'll admit it. I'm biased. For some of our clients, talk therapy will never be enough. Not in the long term. We're not just intellectual beings. Or emotional beings. Or mindful beings. Or physical beings. We're all of that and more. The most effective therapeutic approaches recognize and exploit this reality fully. Somatic Experiencing (SE) is one such approach.
2. Your Clients Have Been Storing Experiences of All Kinds In Their Bodies Since They Were Born. Maybe Before.

3. Your Clients Need Stabilization And The Ability To Self-Regulate And Self-Soothe In Order To Benefit From The Rest of Their Treatment Program.

Not every client is stable enough for EMDR. Lovely and powerful as EMDR is, not all your clients have enough resource or ego strength in these early days to navigate EMDR. In addition to being a strong stand alone therapy, Somatic Experiencing is great tool for creating resource and resiliency in your clients' nervous systems and prepare them for entering your EMDR program over times.
4. The Desire To Numb Out Is At The Bottom of Many Client Behaviors.
You and your treatment team are working night and day to support your clients in developing a skill based and mindful approach to dealing with these overwhelming emotions. Somatic Experiencing promotes increased self-awareness, increased self regulation, and increased well-being by supporting an individual's ability to gently learn how to be more present to themselves and their somatic sensations. Those sensations are fueling their emotions.
5. The Brain Has a Natural Negative Bias.

Overcoming that natural negative bias is one of the tasks of evolving as a person and creating a happier existence in an overstimulating and chaotic world. Somatic Experiencing, with its focus on sensation, can be a wonderful tool for noticing what is going well with the body, what is neutral, or even great, despite the concurrent presence of pain, discomfort, or anxiety. SE can form a huge learning in being able to be with both, hold both, the good and the bad, the positive and the troubling. Learning how to cultivate an awareness of what is actually okay can be a very stabilizing and encouraging support for recovery of all kinds.
Utilizing a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) As Part of Your Treatment Plan Can Increase Your Clients' Overall Success.
