ABOUT US
We believe healing trauma transforms lives.
To restore the stability and vitality of communities around the world, we train and mobilize healing and helping professionals.
Somatic Experiencing® International (SEI) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the educational and humanitarian home for Somatic Experiencing. We exist to bring education and training to those who can help heal people with trauma, hope to those living with trauma, and awareness of trauma to related professional communities and the general public. We train healing and helping professionals in SE and we mobilize them to volunteer, research, donate, and otherwise support our efforts to address the global crisis of unresolved trauma through access to SE.
WHAT IS SE?
SE resolves symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze, SE helps us release, recover, and become more resilient. The large majority of people worldwide have traumatic experiences in their lifetime, which can have major impacts on their health and well-being. Rates of trauma exposure are estimated to be anywhere from 60-100% in the general population.
WHY SEI?
Through SEI, you can join a uniquely multidisciplinary field that brings together therapists, social workers, researchers, first responders, medical providers, and others into a vibrant community to address this challenge from all sides. We also help those in related professions recognize and understand secondary trauma, an umbrella term for the trauma that results from repeated compassionate engagement with traumatized populations. Our decades-long experience in helping people heal from trauma can help institutions and communities of professionals who may experience secondary trauma.
SEI is a home for all those who hold an expansive view of the human potential for healing and resilience. We’re changing lives with SE. And we’re doing it together, as a community.
Read more about our SE training that leads to becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP™).
Learn more about the story and symbol of the tiger in SE™
OUR CORE VALUES
Support
Foster and nurture hope and empowerment.
Compassion
Lead with empathy and understanding.
Excellence
Deliver quality professional education in a spirit of innovation, creativity and research
Community
Cultivate trust and safety through acceptance, equity, inclusion, and unity.
Vitality
Inspire new possibilities and restore resilience through increased organizational capacity and self‐regulation.
OUR COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVITY
At Somatic Experiencing International, we strive to enrich our deepest selves through multicultural, inclusive, collaborative learning environments. We use SE tools to build a welcoming space, supportive of collective regulation and repair. We hold responsibility to intentionally and actively:
- Seek to understand with cultural humility;
- Practice openness, vulnerability, and courage in uncomfortable moments;
- Remain curious about our opportunities to heal as we unpack and address our unconscious biases and behaviors;
- Embody respect and compassion for others, understanding that individual trauma often arises out of the cycle of intergenerational, systemic, and historical harm;
- Align our actions with our intentions; and,
- Honor the full spectrum of lived experiences, stories, and learning journeys.
We recognize that unresolved personal, intergenerational, and historical trauma create wounding in our community. We remain committed to breaking the cycle of trauma to build an inclusive and resilient organization.
resolving trauma worldwide
SE™ International provides training directly, or through affiliate relationships, in 40 countries around the globe.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Somatic Experiencing® International is under leadership of an engaged and active Board of Directors who—on the basis of their specific knowledge, skill, and experience—make valuable contributions to our current functioning and future development. The Board, with members from both within and outside of the SE™ community, collectively holds responsibility for stewardship of SEI. The Board seeks guidance as necessary from advisors recommended by and including Peter A. Levine, PhD; from a number of committees addressing various aspects of SEI's work; and from expert consultants in a variety of disciplines.
our faculty
Our experienced faculty come from diverse professional backgrounds and teach Somatic Experiencing® on six continents. Our faculty are held to the highest professional and ethical standards and are monitored through regular class evaluations.
our team
Meet the committed team behind the scenes that drives SEI's mission to support trauma resolution and resilience through culturally responsive professional training, research, education and outreach in diverse global communities.
TAKE A DEEPER DIVE
Review annual plans and reports and stay up to date on the latest SEI news.