Improving Outcomes in Somatic Experiencing (SE) through the Science of the
Physiology of Emotions and Principles of Energy Psychology
A workshop with Dr. Raja Selvam, PhD
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is an evidence-based body-oriented method for resolving
trauma symptoms with training programs in nearly three dozen countries around
the world. It was developed by developed by Dr. Peter Levine, PhD, the recipient of
the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy’s lifetime achievement award.
Based on the neurobiology of trauma and using concepts and tools such autonomic
freeze, tracking of body sensations and involuntary movements, resourcing,
discharge, completion of incomplete defensive responses, titration, pendulation,
touch, and regulation, the approach relies on downregulating autonomic and
somatic nervous systems as the primary strategy for resolving physiological as well
as psychological symptoms of trauma. When working with more complex aspects of
trauma such as memory, cognition, emotion, and behavior, the same tools, concepts,
and strategies for working with the body are usually employed.
This singular focus in the SE approach on downregulation of the physiology towards
rest as soon as any aspect of traumatic experience gets intense to prevent retraumatization often compromises its effectiveness in working with more complex
cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of trauma as well as psychosomatic
(psychophysiological) symptoms from trauma. This focus is in part due to the lack in
the SE approach of adequate understanding of the physiology of emotions and other
psychological experiences such as memory, cognition, and behavior; and in part due
the lack of understanding that healing and resilience depend more on global and
stable reorganization of the body and brain physiology and increased capacity for all
aspects of traumatic experience including emotions. In fact, excessive and frequent
regulation of the body can destroy complex experiences of memory, cognition,
emotion, and behavior as they emerge, diminish forces of self-regulation, thwart
global and stable reorganization, and the building of capacity of psychological
aspects of trauma especially emotions, things that are not only important for healing
symptoms in the short term but also for building resilience for the long term so that
a person is less likely to be affected by future traumas or more likely to heal from
them quickly.
Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP) offers therapists practicing Somatic Experiencing
(SE) complementary theories, concepts, and tools for working more effectively with
all aspects of traumatic experience as well as all kinds of traumas (simple versus
complex, shock versus developmental). ISP utilizes the science of the physiology of
emotions and other psychological experiences, a broader model of biology of
regulation, and principles of energy psychology to regulate the brain and body
physiology and at the same time develop a greater capacity for all aspects of
traumatic experience including emotions, foster deeper self-regulation, and
promote global and stable reorganization, for quicker symptom resolution and
greater resilience. In addition, ISP, from Dr. Raja Selvam’s experience of teaching SE
over twenty years in as many countries, offers SE therapists an understanding of
how not to thwart more complex experiences of trauma such as emotions, memory,
and behavior from forming and developing when they use the traditional SE
approach with its emphasis on downregulation of the physiology towards states of
rest and relaxation. ISP can therefore be a valuable complementary training for all
those who practice Somatic Experiencing (SE).
ISP is taught in over a dozen countries around the world and has also been found
effective among tsunami survivors in India and survivors of war, violence, loss, and
displacement in Sri Lanka. In this four-day workshop, you can learn from Dr. Raja
Selvam, PhD the benefits of this approach to your practice of Somatic Experiencing
through theoretical presentations, guided group exercises, live demonstrations, and
daily practice with fellow participants. Those interested can benefit from taking
either the first four-day workshop only or also take two other follow-up workshops
to receive a certificate of completion in Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP)
Bio: Dr. Raja Selvam, PhD is a senior trainer in Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing
(SE) professional trauma trainings and the developer of the Integral Somatic
Psychology (ISP) approach, an advanced training for experienced clinicians for
improving clinical outcomes through greater embodiment of all aspects of
experience such as cognition and emotion and all levels of the psyche including
energy and consciousness. Dr. Selvam’s eclectic approach draws from bodywork
systems of Postural Integration, Biodynamic Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Polarity
Therapy, body psychotherapy systems of Reichian Therapy, Bioenergetics,
Bodynamic Analysis, Jungian and Archetypal psychologies, psychoanalytic schools of
Object Relations and Inter-Subjectivity, Somatic Experiencing® (SE™), Affective
Neuroscience, Quantum Physics, Yoga, and Advaita Vedanta. He teaches in as many
as twenty countries in Asia, Europe, North and South Americas, Africa, and the
Middle East. His website is www.integralsomaticpsychology.com.