Hey guys, I’m new here and feel compelled to share my experiences with this therapy as I’m getting stunning results at the moment! Thanks to ranbow8 for staring this thread - it’s really important.

I’ve been doing SE for 2.5 years now. I was lucky enough to find a great therapist here in Barcelona, Spain, following years of therapy and medications. I haven’t had any therapy for 18 months as my therapist retired, but the process continues in it’s natural way and I have a sense it will reach a point of completion in the not too distant future.

I know one of the mechanisms of SE is the rhythmic regulation/disregulation of the autonomic nervous system by the therapist. This seems to gradually bring the system back into a more regulated state over time, whilst somewhat magically releasing stuck emotional energy bit by bit along the way.

One of the things that appears to be happening at the moment in my body is the reconditioning of the vagus nerve(s). This nerve is connected to nearly all the organs of the body including the heart, lungs and digestive system, and is responsible for relaying messages of ‘you’re safe, it’s ok to rest and digest now’ to the organs. The nerve has a tone associated with it and if this is poor it is at least partially responsible for causing all sorts of problems in this area of the body, which consequently can worsen mental health problems.

Somatic experiencing seems to have unlocked this natural healing process, just as Peter Levine claims. At the moment it’s not always comfortable to do it, but given my history I’m not so surprised that it’s like this. The feeling is coming back into the torso, and of course with that are all the painful sensations that I’ve been hiding from for so long that have led to the body to being in this state! My work now is sit down and ‘get out of the way’. This involves learning to tolerate uncomfortable bodily sensations and breaking the connection between these and the mind. They are after all just normal bodily sensations that are there for a reason, but the mind, as we know, likes to make up all sorts of dramatic stories which are not helpful!

The psychological effects of this process are incredible. Mood has gradually lifted, anxiety/fear/anger have dropped massively and I’m able to observe them in the body when they do arise now which lets them pass. Self-esteem has greatly improved, presence/consciousness has increased such that I have a sense of being ‘here’ which really amplifies the experience of life. Brain fog continues to lift so cognitive functioning has improved also.

At the beginning of the process (Oct 2015), for a long time there was a lot of shaking in the hands and limbs. As it has progressed this has moved inwards, such that now I can feel (and therefore allow it) in the solar plexus, which is the core of my emotional stability. As this area settles and calms over time emotional regulation naturally improves so the emotions are more stable, less intense and most importantly I can observe them now. Previously I would get angry in a fraction of second, but now I can usually feel/see this happening. I can then divert my attention to the emotion in the body and hold it, by accepting it, and it will quickly pass. I think this process is now becoming automatic which is how it should work. My body/mind had forgotten how to do this!

Like many here I have a complex history and have tried many different therapies to heal significant depression, anxiety + IBS symptoms from childhood trauma and later addictions. Years of psychotherapy was necessary and helpful, but I can see now that it was only half the story, hence it’s limited success in my case. Medications have had some short terms benefits but in the long term have made everything far worse and horrible withdrawal experiences have destabilised my nervous system massively - but, the Somatic experiencing seems to be reversing that

I hope this is an inspiration to you guys as SE really can work!