Somatic Experiencing® (SE)

Somatic Experiencing® is a body-based, trauma-informed approach that supports the nervous system in healing from stress, trauma, and chronic overwhelm. In our practice, Somatic Experiencing sessions are provided exclusively by Dr. Sara Teta, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), who integrates this modality with her background in psychology, attachment-focused care, and relational therapy.

Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine, is grounded in the understanding that trauma is not just what happened, but what the nervous system was unable to process at the time. Rather than focusing solely on cognitive insight or retelling events, this approach gently works with body sensations, nervous system responses, and present-moment awareness to support regulation and integration.

What Somatic Experiencing Looks Like in Our Practice

Sessions are slow, attuned, and collaborative. You will not be asked to relive traumatic experiences or “push through” distress. Instead, we focus on building nervous system capacity, safety, and resilience over time.

Tracking body sensations and internal experiences
Supporting regulation of anxiety, shutdown, or overwhelm
Working with patterns of hypervigilance, freeze, or chronic tension
Gently processing trauma without re-traumatization
Developing a felt sense of safety and grounding

Dr. Sara’s approach is especially relational and integrative, blending somatic work with attachment awareness, developmental context, and emotional processing. Her training in school psychology and trauma-informed care allows her to understand how early environments, chronic stress, and relational experiences shape nervous system patterns across the lifespan.

Who Somatic Experiencing Is For

Somatic Experiencing can be supportive for adults who feel like they’ve been carrying stress, tension, or emotional patterns for a long time, even if they’re not always sure why.

This work may resonate with you if you:

Grew up with emotionally unavailable, unpredictable, or overwhelmed caregivers
Had a parent who struggled with substance use, mental health challenges, or instability
Felt you had to grow up quickly or take care of others as a child
Find it difficult to trust people, even when there isn’t a clear reason not to
Notice chronic people-pleasing or difficulty identifying your own needs
Tend to shut down, collapse, or appease others in moments of conflict
Feel fundamentally different from others, like you missed a social instruction manual
Experience push-pull patterns in relationships, wanting closeness but also feeling overwhelmed by it
Repeatedly find yourself drawn to unavailable or critical partners
Carry a persistent sense of shame, numbness, or disconnection from yourself
Live with chronic tension, fatigue, or nervous system overwhelm

Somatic Experiencing focuses on gently helping the nervous system settle and feel safer, allowing long-standing patterns to shift in ways that feel more sustainable than insight alone.

A Nervous System–Centered Philosophy

As the only Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) in the practice, Dr. Sara provides specialized, body-based trauma work within a warm, attuned therapeutic relationship. Her style is gentle, grounded, and deeply respectful of each client’s pace and protective adaptations.

Rather than pathologizing symptoms, Somatic Experiencing understands responses such as anxiety, shutdown, perfectionism, or hyper-independence as intelligent nervous system adaptations. Therapy focuses on supporting regulation, expanding tolerance for emotional experience, and restoring a sense of internal steadiness.

What Clients Can Expect

Somatic Experiencing sessions often feel different from traditional talk therapy. There may be more pauses, body awareness, and moment-to-moment tracking of shifts in sensation, emotion, and nervous system state. Over time, this work can support:

Increased emotional regulation
Reduced anxiety and trauma reactivity
Greater embodiment and self-trust
Improved capacity for connection and presence
A more resilient and flexible nervous system

This approach is especially beneficial for clients who feel “stuck” in patterns despite insight, or who want a deeper, body-based layer of healing alongside relational and psychological work.

Somatic Experiencing with Dr. Sara is offered as a specialized service within the practice, providing a clinically grounded yet deeply human space for nervous system healing, integration, and long-term resilience.