Nervous System Mapping
The Offering
Take a minute to write an introduction that is short, sweet, and to the point.
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™)
Dr. Peter Levine - developer of Somatic Experiencing®
About SE
SE aims to resolve symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies and nervous systems. Trauma, from an SE lens, is focused on how it shows up in the nervous system and how that dysregulation impacts life. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze, SE helps us release, recover, and become more resilient. It is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied in multiple professions and professional settings—psychotherapy, medicine, coaching, teaching, and physical therapy—for healing trauma and other stress disorders from a nervous system lens within a practitioner’s scope of practice. It is based on a multidisciplinary intersection of physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics and has been clinically applied for more than four decades. It is the life’s work of Dr. Peter A. Levine.
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative.”
The Polyvagal Theory (PVT)
Polyvagal Theory is a way of understanding how our nervous system responds to different situations, like stress, danger or safety. It was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, a neuroscientist and psychologist, in 1994. In simple terms, Polyvagal Theory helps us understand how our body and brain work together to respond to stressors that are a part of everyday life as well as experiences that are more significant, such as trauma.
“We live in a world that has a cognitive bias and assumes that our actions are voluntary. However, state shifts in the neural regulation of the autonomic nervous system are usually not voluntary, although the state shifts have profound impact on behavior. The state shifts occur in a more reflexive manner when we are confronted by specific cues in the environment.”
Dr. Stephen Porges - developer of The Polyvagal Theory.
About PVT