LAURA VAN RIPER
MIND-BODY PSYCHOTHERAPIST
Contact Laura at
lvrshrink@gmail.com
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING
Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders.
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I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and I completed the three year Somatic Experiencing training program in 2017. Since then, I have helped numerous clients process and release symptoms from chronic stress and trauma. I completed master classes with Peter Levine, and studied with Maureen Gallagher, Nancy Napier and other SE faculty members. I assist with Somatic Experiencing trainings for new practitioners and provide consultations for practitioners in training.
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Like Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, I believe SE is not effective as a stand-alone treatment. Therefore I do not accept clients who want to participate in Somatic Experiencing without engaging in psychotherapy with me.
THE SCIENCE
Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict.
HOW IT WORKS
The Somatic Experiencing approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.