Somatic Experiencing and Women

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Somatic means "of the living body" 

Experiencing refers to an experience you are having in the here and now 

Somatic Experiencing was created by Dr. Peter Levine, as a naturalistic, body-oriented approach to relieving the imprints of trauma or chronic stress, so that a person can feel renewed and balanced. 

Instead of being stuck in an anxious or shut down flight, flight or freeze pattern, you re-learn a route to return to a rhythm of life; still flowing but stable. 

We work with the nervous system which holds our survival physiology responses. 

Somatic Therapy For Women Uniquely: 

Women have our own unique nervous system; meaning that our nervous system is intertwined with our cyclical nature. We experience nervous system regulation differently, as we are in a constant state of change. 

We need tailored responses to our own body's reproductive hormones and stress hormones. 

Our trauma healing and day to day life need nuanced support and responsiveness. 

Our hormone fluctuations create different needs during different phases of our cycle, and wider phases such as reproductive years, pregnancy, perimenopause or post menopause. 

Trauma treatment, which is nervous system based, can be supported with more nuance, as we have more complexity happening in our bodies that effects our experience.   

Unresolved trauma makes perimenopause and menopause more difficult, due to the tangle of reproductive hormones, which effect feel good hormones like dopamine and serotonin.  Cortisol (a stress hormone) then increases, and we we feel even worse, with less ability to regulate. We don't feel like ourselves and don't know why. 

It is common in perimenopause to experience increased anxiety and depression, among many other symptoms. 

Resolving trauma helps us stabilize or physiology, therefore mood, thoughts, relationships and the quality of our lived experience. 

"While trauma is a fact of life, it does not have to be a life sentence." - Dr. Peter Levine