SOMATIC EXPERIENCING
Listen to What
Your Body Knows
Somatic Experiencing helps you access your body's natural ability to release what no longer serves you.
Your nervous system knows the way to healing.
Somatic Experiencing is a body-centered approach developed by Dr. Peter Levine, based on the understanding that trauma and stress live in your nervous system, not just your mind.
When overwhelming experiences occur, your body's natural response to threat can get stuck, leaving you in patterns of activation or shutdown long after danger has passed. This approach focuses on sensation, helping you track moment-to-moment awareness of what's happening in your body, gradually helping your system complete what it couldn't before.
Dancing Dialogue's Approach to Somatic Experiencing
At Dancing Dialogue, we integrate Somatic Experiencing principles with dance/movement therapy, creating a comprehensive body-centered approach.
Our Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Jennifer Sterling, brings specialized training in working with the nervous system's patterns of activation and shutdown.
Sessions focus on building your capacity to be present with sensation without becoming overwhelmed. We work with the smallest shifts: a change in breath, a release of tension, a tremor or movement impulse that wants to happen. These might seem subtle, but they represent your nervous system beginning to discharge stored activation.
We pay close attention to what's called titration: working with small amounts at a time, never overwhelming your system. If material comes up that feels too intense, we know how to help you find resources, ways to come back to feeling safe and present. Building your window of tolerance is as important as processing what's held.
Through movement and dance, we can support the body's natural impulses to complete defensive responses. If your system wanted to run but couldn't, we create safe ways for that energy to move. If you needed to push away but froze instead, we explore what it feels like to reclaim that capacity. Always gently, always at your pace, always with respect for your body's wisdom.
Somatic Experiencing integrates beautifully with other modalities. It can complement EMDR, enhance mindfulness practices, and deepen the work of traditional talk therapy. The key is that we're working with the foundation: your nervous system's capacity to regulate and your body's ability to feel safe.
Your body's wisdom guides the way.
We're here to walk beside you.
Signs You Might Benefit from Somatic Experiencing
✔ Often in a state of high alert, scanning for danger even when safe
✔ Certain situations trigger body responses that feel disproportionate
✔ Sudden surges of activation: heart racing, sweating, needing to escape with no actual threat
✔ Experiencing shutdown, numbness, going through life disconnected from body
✔ Body feels wound tight, ready for action that never comes
✔ Holding breath, clenching jaw, tightening shoulders without realizing it
✔ Physical symptoms without clear medical causes: chronic pain, digestive issues, tension that won't release
✔ Body reacts before mind understands why
✔ Painfully aware of sensation but overwhelmed by it
✔ Feeling disconnected from body, living in your head
Learn About Our Specialists
The Dancing Dialogue team brings together Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapists, Licensed Creative Arts Therapists, and specialists in EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and trauma-informed care.
What sets us apart is our body-mind connection approach: while others speak of mind-body, we recognize your body holds wisdom that guides healing.
We serve clients from infancy through older adulthood, blending talk therapy with embodied approaches that reach what words alone cannot express. Dance therapy here doesn't require dance as you might imagine; it's about felt experience and the subtle movements connecting your body to your inner world. Whatever brings you to therapy, you'll find specialized expertise and compassionate presence on our team.
Frequently Asked Questions About Somatic Experiencing
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Sessions focus on present-moment sensation. Your therapist helps you develop awareness of what's happening in your body, tracking sensations, noticing impulses, following the body's wisdom. We might work with small movements, breath, or simple awareness. It's gentle and always at your pace.
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No. Somatic Experiencing works with what's held in your body, not with narrative or memory. While a story may emerge naturally, it's not required. Your body can heal without you having to recount what happened.
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Traditional therapy focuses primarily on thoughts and emotions through talking. Somatic Experiencing works with sensation, movement impulses, and nervous system patterns. It addresses trauma and stress at the level where they're actually held: in your body.
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Not exercises in the traditional sense. We work with awareness, subtle movements, and natural impulses rather than prescribed exercises. Sometimes therapy involves barely moving at all, just tracking sensation. Other times, larger movements might want to happen. Your body leads.
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Often, yes. When pain has a stress or trauma component, working with the nervous system can create significant relief. Even when pain has a clear physical cause, addressing nervous system patterns can change how you experience and cope with it.
Ready to Access Your Body's Wisdom?
Healing happens when you listen to what your body knows!