Somatic Experiencing® Slovenia
Somatic experiencing is a biopsychological method for alleviating and treating trauma and the consequences of traumatic stress.
"Trauma is a fact of life. But it need not be a life sentence. In addition to being healing, trauma can also be transformative with the right guidance and support. Trauma has the potential to become an important force for our psychological, social, and spiritual awakening and development. "
— Dr. Peter Levine, founder of somatic experience
Dr. Levine was working with a patient who had severe anxiety symptoms, but the methods he was using to work with her were not helping. He suggested that she imagine herself running from an imaginary tiger. To his surprise, her legs began to run in place, and then her body began to twitch and shake violently. “The imaginary image of the tiger reawakened her body’s instinctive response,” explains Dr. Peter Levine.
She suddenly remembered a traumatic experience from her childhood, when she was anesthetized with ether during a medical procedure and felt as if she were suffocating. After this terrifying experience, she lost her natural vivacity, adopted a resigned attitude, and years later developed symptoms of anxiety. Her instinctive movements, simulating running, were awakened by the imaginary tiger attack and allowed her nervous system to release the excess mobilized energy that had been stored since the medical procedure.
Since then, the tiger in Somatic Experiencing has been a symbol of the life force trapped during trauma, which can be freed through the body's healing instinctual impulses.