Somatic Experience (SE) attempts to promote awareness and release physical tension that remains in the aftermath of trauma. The work is aimed at relieving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems by focusing on the client's perceived body sensations/ somatic experiences. Trauma therapist Peter A. Levine created Somatic Experience.

Over the years, I have integrated some of the SE principles into my dance and movement work. I aim to facilitate my clients/students toward finding a felt sense of their resources in their body and movement expression. When this is established, we move to challenges, which can arouse stress. Strengthened by the felt resources, the client/student can discharge tension and stress in the body. Often this evokes new, fresh movement material, breaks the client/student out of old habits, and leads them onto new pathways in the their nervous system.
Peter A. Levine defines "resources" as anything that helps the client's autonomic nervous system return to a regulated state. This might be the memory of someone close to them, a physical item that might ground them in the present moment, or other supportive elements that minimize distress. In the face of arousal, "discharge" is facilitated to allow the client's body to return to a regulated state. Discharge may be in the form of tears, a warm sensation, unconscious movement, the ability to breathe easily again, or other responses which demonstrate the autonomic nervous system returning to its baseline. The intention of this process is to reinforce the client's inherent capacity to self-regulate.

Central to the SE therapy is to use the concept of "pendulation,” the movement between regulation and disregulation. I use pendulation with dancers, movers, and athletes to release tension from injuries and shock which have occurred in their stage work or practice. I help the client/student to move to a state where he or she is disregulated (i.e. is aroused or frozen, demonstrated by physical symptoms such as pain or numbness), and then I interactively help them to return to a state of regulation. The goal is to allow the client/student to resolve the physical and mental difficulties caused by the trauma, and thereby be able to respond appropriately to everyday situations. In addition, in the case of stage performers and athletes, I help them to release the impact of the injury so they can recover efficiently and resume their practice as soon as possible after the shock.