Dear Somatic Experiencing® Community,
Today I have some exciting news to share! SEI has a new structure, one that can hold the complexity, fragmentation, and even hurt of the past and create more space and support for the entire community – for the first time in SEI history, we now have co-executive directors. It is my honor and privilege to introduce you to my new friend and wonderful colleague, SEI’s new co-executive director, David Young. David comes to SEI with a background in organizational development and a focus on intergenerational and collective trauma healing work. He also comes with so much more. His unique skills are already helping us all to deliver the SE™ experience organizationally as well as in our work with clients. Since David has joined our team, his presence and unique skills and gifts have provided SEI more space to breathe and to settle. He has supported the deep relational healing work the community continues to need. I have seen first-hand how David shows up with heart, humility, compassion, humor, love, and the skills we need right now. It has been an honor to learn from him, connect with his heart and deep care, and to see the potential for ongoing growth and healing for the SE community and SE in the world. Our community exists to embody SE as an expanding healing presence in the world, and David shares that vision and the skills to help bring it to fruition. I look forward to us all getting to know him better, to learning from him, and to working together for this next stage of SE in the world. David is going to introduce himself, and then we will come back together to provide you some updates on where we see SEI and the SE community growing over the next few years.
-Rebecca Stahl
Thank you for the beautiful introduction Rebecca! It’s truly a privilege to be working alongside you.
Hello, dear SE community! It’s with a sense of groundedness, inspiration, and spaciousness that I enter into this new role with Rebecca as Co-Executive Director. I have been a witness to the deep reach of Rebecca’s care over the last seven years and I feel proud to be in service together with her. My background is in business development, systems change, and leadership training. Additionally, I have spent the past 10 years helping organizations and communities heal from collective trauma, fragmentation, and polarization. As Rebecca and I are gently but steadily addressing areas at SEI that are calling for alignment, accountability, and clarity, I can feel how our SE community is both sacred and alive.
Similar to the way that individuals often have undigested childhood trauma, many organizations have their own version of undigested history. Bringing an attitude of compassion, maturity, and precision to these areas of organizational contraction is close to my heart and skillset. Practically, I’m focused around orienting SEI to continue clarifying its organizational culture, marketing strategy, business processes, and quarterly and yearly milestones. Together with the work Rebecca and the team has already done, I see potential for ever deepening alignment around vision, strategy, and fulfillment for our community and the planet we serve. These are just some of the many gifts I see possible coming out of working alongside Rebecca in this role and I am truly humbled and grateful to be here with you all.
-David Young （楊正賢）
We are continuously amazed by the impact and scope of our community and our organizations that have produced thousands of SEPs over 30+ years, all stemming from a collective vision to bring healing to this planet. What a privilege to be part of this work and Peter’s commitment to a more healed world for us and for future generations. Somatic Experiencing has changed our lives. All of us in the SE community, regardless of role, have our SE story. What futures have been made possible simply because our community exists?
And like many healing communities in the world, our community needs healing too. It is not uncommon for groups that focus on trauma work to have their own share of trauma manifesting at various levels of the organization. We at SEI are no different in this respect. As we take time to contemplate and reflect on the state of SEI as an organization and our global community, we are turning towards areas of our historical wounds, fragmentation, and unexpressed longings.
Part of this healing process also involves allowing our vision, mission, and values to drive every aspect of our organizational structure, marketing strategy, and core processes. This includes everything from designing student portals for each participant all the way to bringing compassion, nuance, and excellence to the way we communicate with the various aspects of our community.
In this new phase of co-leadership, we are meeting members of our worldwide SE community to respectfully surface and gently integrate our history of undigested organizational trauma. Through this process, we believe that our living organizational body can feel itself more, feel its own pain, and usher in the straightening of its collective spine.
Practically, this looks like three main areas of focus:
1. Streamlining technology, policy, and business processes at SEI
2. Acknowledging and rebuilding areas of broken trust amongst key community groups
3. Fostering a culture of responsiveness, alignment, and relationality
And actions will speak louder than words.
Obviously, there is so much more we could say. Perhaps we should name how much we enjoy working together and what a privilege it is to continue learning how to better serve you.
See you in the field,
David & Rebecca