VIDEO: Peter Levine's Somatic Tools for Self-Soothing

Often, traumatized clients find that they become dependent on their therapists to help them handle their extreme emotional states. But according to Peter Levine, originator of Somatic Experiencing Therapy, the key to helping clients achieve more autonomy is giving them tools that enable them to better regulate their own body states.

Watch as Levine demonstrates a body awareness technique that includes loud, vibrating deep breaths to help clients minimize anxiety and self-soothe.

Peter A. Levine, PhD, is the originator and developer of Somatic Experiencing and the Director of The Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. He's also the author the author of the best-selling book Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, which has been published in over twenty languages.

“The shutting down, collapsing response in trauma is associated with high vagal activity,” Levine says, referring to the vagus nerve that connects the brainstem with the heart. “This exercise shifts the messages that the gut is sending to the brain. It’s similar to a lighthouse making sounds to guide boats to safe harbor.”

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Topic: Trauma | Anxiety/Depression

Tags: emotion | somatic experiencing | somatic experiencing therapy | TED | therapist | therapists | therapy | trauma treatment | traumatized | traumatized clients