SOMATIC EXPERIENCING®

with Paula Josa-Jones, MA, CMA, MSMET, SEP, TTEAM

Thought cannot solve any human problem, for thought itself is the problem.
Krishnamurti

 Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied in for healing trauma and other stress disorders. 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. The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. It offers a framework to assess where a person is stuck in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. SE provides effective skills appropriate to a variety of healing professions including mental health, medicine, physical and occupational therapies, bodywork, addiction treatment, first response, education, and others.

The Science:
Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person's ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict.

How It Works:
The Somatic Experiencing® approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

Somatic Experiencing® is for:
  • Those who want a more conscious and compassionate relationship with themselves.
  • Individuals recovering from injury, physical or emotional trauma, including developmental trauma.
  • Individuals recovering from addiction.

    Paula's work with clients also integrates:
    Authentic Movement is a contemplative, mystical movement practice that nourishes creativity and imagination, and a deeper sensing of body and psyche.

    Touch Work is a powerful way of bringing greater feeling and organization to the body and regulation to the nervous system. I am trained in Connective Tissue Technique (CTT), Tellington TTouch and Somatic Experiencing® Touch. For the past forty years, I have integrated touch modalities into my teaching and private practice. I have been profoundly influenced by my work with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Kathy Kain and Linda Tellington-Jones. Decisions about how to work with touch are made in response to the client's specific needs and concerns.

    Somatic Practice - Kathy Kain's professional development and training in touch and trauma recovery. I have been studying Kathy's Somatic Skills, Somatics of Emotions and Somatics of Complex Emotions over the past four years, and consider her perspectives to be an essential and clarifying aspect of my trauma-informed somatic work. I currently assist with her Somatic Skills Online trainings.

    Embodied Equine Experiencing may be appropriate for those wishing to discover the powerful, integrative presence of horses. Paula's book, Our Horses, Ourselves: Discovering the Common Body is a guide to deepening communication and understanding through the healing presence of horses.

    Directory Listing: TraumaHealing.org

    Directory Listing: Co-Regulating Touch

    I am offering virtual and in-person sessions at this time, and observing COVID precautions.
    For more information, contact me