What Is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and chronic stress, developed over 45 years by Dr. Peter Levine. The word somatic simply means "of the body" — and that is exactly where SE works. Rather than asking you to talk through painful memories, SE gently guides your attention to physical sensations, allowing the nervous system to process and release what it has been holding.
The foundational insight of SE is that trauma is not what happened to you — it is what happened inside your body in response. When a threat is too overwhelming to fully process, the nervous system's survival energy gets frozen in place. SE gives that energy somewhere to go, completing the response the body was never allowed to finish.
How SE™ Differs From Traditional Therapy
Most therapy asks you to think and talk. SE asks you to notice. Instead of analyzing why you feel anxious or disconnected, you learn to observe the actual sensations — the tightness in your chest, the holding of breath, the impulse to curl inward — and gently, safely, let the body complete what it started. No reliving. No re-traumatization. Just a gradual, guided return to your body's natural capacity for regulation.
The Science: Why Trauma Lives in the Body
Neuroscience research — particularly the work of Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score) and Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory — confirms what SE practitioners have observed for decades: the body's survival systems operate faster and deeper than conscious thought. Healing trauma therefore requires working at that same level. SE is one of the few modalities built entirely around this principle.
What Conditions Does Somatic Therapy Help With?
Because somatic experiencing works at the level of the nervous system — rather than a specific diagnosis — it can support healing across a wide range of experiences.
Trauma and PTSD
SE was originally developed to address trauma. Whether the source is a single overwhelming event, repeated childhood experiences, accidents, medical procedures, or war, SE helps the nervous system metabolize the survival energy that has been frozen in place — reducing flashbacks, hypervigilance, and emotional overwhelm without requiring re-living the original event.
Anxiety and Chronic Stress
Chronic anxiety is often a nervous system stuck in "threat mode" — scanning for danger even when none is present. SE helps expand the nervous system's window of tolerance, so you can move through life's stresses without being overwhelmed by them. Many clients describe a sense of groundedness and ease they hadn't felt in years.
Chronic Pain and Burnout
A dysregulated nervous system often expresses itself as chronic physical pain, fatigue, or the total depletion of burnout. Somatic work addresses the root — the nervous system's persistent alarm state — rather than only the symptom. Many clients notice meaningful shifts in their body's baseline level of comfort and energy.
What Happens in a Somatic Experiencing Session?
If you have never experienced somatic therapy, knowing what to expect can help your nervous system arrive with more ease.
A Typical Session at 32 Degrees Wellness
Sessions are 60 minutes and entirely paced to your nervous system's current capacity. You may be seated comfortably in a chair, standing, or resting on a massage table — whatever feels most supportive. Jessica will check in with you at the beginning of each session before any bodywork or tracking begins. You are always in control of the pace.
You don't need to arrive with a prepared story or specific goal. What unfolds in the session is guided by what your nervous system shows up with that day.
What "Tracking Sensations" Means
Jessica may invite you to notice what you feel in your body — not emotions or thoughts, but raw sensations. Warmth, pressure, tightening, tingling, spaciousness. This isn't meditation, and there's no right answer. You're simply bringing your attention to the body's moment-to-moment experience. From there, the nervous system often knows exactly what to do next.
About Co-Regulating Touch
Some sessions at 32 Degrees Wellness incorporate co-regulating touch — a specialized, trauma-informed use of gentle physical contact. This is always optional, always explained in advance, and entirely led by your consent and comfort.
When Touch Is Used in a Session
Co-regulating touch is used when it genuinely supports the healing process — not as a default or routine. When a regulated nervous system makes safe physical contact with a dysregulated one, the dysregulated system can begin to borrow that calm. This is co-regulation: your nervous system learning safety through contact with another. For clients who have experienced relational or developmental trauma, this can be profoundly healing in ways that talk therapy alone cannot reach.
Safety and Consent
Every use of touch is preceded by clear explanation and explicit agreement. You can modify, pause, or stop at any point, for any reason, without explanation. The therapeutic relationship at 32 Degrees Wellness is built entirely on your sense of safety — nothing happens without it.
Is Somatic Experiencing Right for You?
Signs Your Nervous System May Need Support
- ✓You feel anxious, on-edge, or braced — even when things are 'fine'
- ✓You feel numb, disconnected, or flat — like you're watching life through glass
- ✓You've done years of talk therapy and feel like you've hit a ceiling
- ✓You have chronic pain, tension, or fatigue with no clear medical explanation
- ✓You react to small stresses as if they were emergencies
- ✓You feel disconnected from your body or don't know what you feel
How to Take the First Step
The first step is simply reaching out. There is no intake questionnaire to fill out, no diagnosis required, and no obligation. Jessica offers a welcoming space to ask questions, share what brings you, and decide together whether this work is the right fit for where you are right now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a trauma diagnosis to benefit from somatic therapy?
No. While SE™ is highly effective for diagnosed PTSD, many clients come without a formal diagnosis. If you carry chronic stress, anxiety, physical tension, or a general sense that something is "off" in your body — SE can help.
Is somatic therapy covered by insurance?
Jessica Johnson is currently a private-pay provider. Sessions are $150 and payment is due at the time of your appointment. Many clients find that a course of somatic work, even if not insurance-covered, is among the most impactful investments they have made in their wellbeing.
How long does somatic therapy take?
There is no universal answer — healing is not linear, and each person's nervous system moves at its own pace. Some clients notice meaningful shifts within a handful of sessions. Deeper developmental trauma may benefit from a longer course of care. Jessica will share honest guidance based on what she observes in your sessions.
Can I do somatic therapy while also seeing a talk therapist?
Absolutely — and it is often an excellent combination. SE complements traditional therapy by working at the body level while your therapist supports cognitive processing. Many talk therapists actively encourage their clients to explore somatic work alongside their sessions.