Beyond Sandy Hook: How Somatic Experiencing Can Help Us Heal

The horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, remind us of the terror and uncertainty of trauma.

At the SE® Trauma Institute, we believe that with the right techniques and support, children, adults, and communities can begin to heal the effects of trauma. This page describes how the principles of Somatic Experiencing® (SE®) can be applied and how we can begin the healing process.

What Happens During Trauma?
It is important to understand the naturalness of our responses to traumatic experiences. Biologically, we have only a few ways to respond to overwhelming circumstances:

• We can become hyper-aroused or constricted in our bodies, emotions, and thinking
• We can dissociate, as if we're just not even there
• We can numb ourselves to the point of feeling helpless and hopeless

We are born pre-wired with a process for recovering from these symptoms. Think of an animal in the wild: after surviving an attack, the animal may tremble, but will eventually go back about its business. As humans, we have those same circuits; the problem arises when our bodies cannot complete these natural processes. The incident becomes stuck in our wiring and our body.

Example: At Sandy Hook, children and adults had to hide while listening to terrifying sounds of gunshots. It's likely that impulses to run, to shout, to look to see what was happening— all strong, natural survival impulses— had to be contained or overridden, or were in direct opposition to equally natural survival impulses to hide, to freeze, to look away. These powerful impulses bring the body and nervous system into a terrible state of conflict, as if one foot is full on the gas and the other is on the brakes.

Without the chance to complete these intense physical reactions the body locks them in place, and this is when trauma symptoms can begin to develop.

How Somatic Experiencing® Works and How It Helps:
Maggie Kline, MS, LMFT, SE® Practitioner and faculty member, points to the premise of SE®:

“We believe that trauma is not in the event itself; it lies in the resiliency of the nervous system.  In other words, how quickly does the person who experienced the overwhelm bounce back, if at all?  This means that after the event is over, if the children or adults affected are still registering danger signals in their body, they may easily get stuck in a vicious cycle of fight, flight or freeze, become alternately hyper-vigilant or dissociated and aloof.  Either of these states may cascade into a myriad of symptoms, including sleeplessness, aggression, social problems, academic problems, and eventually, if unresolved, PTSD.”

It is important to understand that for many (especially children) talking about the event and re-living it may actually deepen the trauma and further cement it into the system. Watching or listening to media coverage, especially with graphic images, may have the same imprinting effect.

In Somatic Experiencing®, the Practitioner urges us not to follow the overwhelming and horrifying details of the story but instead to listen and watch for what the body needs to do to move out of the state of shock and distress. (Is a leg restless?  Perhaps there is an unfinished instinct to run.  Are the shoulders tight? Perhaps there is a self-protective instinct to push or fight causing tense muscles that need help to relax and let go, returning to the “pre-event normal.”)

The body wants to self-regulate and return to peace and balance. The SE® Practitioner helps us re-inhabit our bodies, often in tiny steps, allowing our bodies to move at their own pace and complete their natural processes. SE® offers the needed support to regain natural nervous system regulation.

How Do I Learn More about Somatic Experiencing®?
Trauma-Proofing Your Kids by Peter Levine PhD, founder of Somatic Experiencing®, and faculty member Maggie Kline, MS, LMFT, is essential reading for parents, teachers, and caregivers— anyone who hopes to help a child through something like the shooting at Sandy Hook— or any number of other less-dramatic difficulties that children face every day. Peter and Maggie show you how to develop your own calming presence and offer detailed exercises you can use to help children become resilient and confident.

You can also use our site to locate a professional trained in Somatic Experiencing® and find further information about this gentle and profoundly healing work. You can visit us at: www.traumahealing.org.

The Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational and outreach organization dedicated to the worldwide prevention of trauma. The Institute's mission is to provide outstanding professional development programs to train qualified, compassionate, and caring SE® practitioners. The Institute supports outreach to under-served populations and victims of violence, war, and natural disasters.