Somatic Experiencing defines trauma not primarily by the event, but by the physical reaction to the event.
In a threatening situation, an automatic emergency program runs in the nervous system: fight, flight, paralysis or collapse. Only when the immense energy mobilized by this process is discharged will the danger to the body be over.
If this does not happen, the body remains on alert. The energy of the “survival impulse” then remains bound in the nervous system and a trauma occurs.
If people are accompanied and supported in the right way, they can recover from their traumas and restore their inner balance.
Somatic means related to the body rather than the mind. In this process, however, the mind is not excluded, but brought back into a healthy and balanced relationship with the body.