What Somatic Experiencing Actually Is (and Why the Letters After My Name Matter)

I was at a conference recently, and someone introduced themselves as a “Somatic Experiencing” Practitioner. I was so excited that I asked where they were trained, by whom, etc. Then they explained to me that they “just called themselves that” because they took a weekend workshop.

So that you know, the exchange left me a little disappointed

You've probably seen “somatic” attached to just about everything lately:  somatic yoga, somatic breathwork, somatic coaching. The word itself isn't protected. Anyone can use it after a weekend workshop. Somatic Experiencing is different, and that difference is why I trained in it and earned that SEP after my name many years ago.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-oriented approach to trauma developed by Dr. Peter Levine, built from decades of studying stress physiology and observing why animals in the wild face routine life threats without carrying lasting trauma the way humans do. SE works with the autonomic nervous system directly — tracking sensation, movement, and physiological state — rather than working primarily through the trauma narrative.

SEP stands for Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. It's a legally protected designation, not a general description. To earn it, a clinician completes roughly three years of training across six to eight modules, totaling 216 contact hours, spaced deliberately so the material has time to integrate in the practitioner's own body before moving to the next stage. On top of the classroom hours, candidates complete required personal SE sessions and supervised case consultations — because you can't competently guide someone else's nervous system through this work without having felt it move through your own.

That last part is what most people miss when they hear “certified in somatic work.” Someone can complete a single weekend seminar and describe their practice as somatic. An SEP has gone through a multi-year, layered process that includes their own regulation work, not just coursework about regulation.

In practice, this training changes what happens in session. Rather than only talking through what happened to you, we track what's happening in your body right now — the bracing, the held breath, the tension that never got to finish discharging. The goal is to help your nervous system complete what it couldn't complete in the moment the trauma occurred, so it stops running the same protective pattern years later.

If you've done years of talk therapy and understand your trauma clearly but still feel it in your body, this is usually why. Understanding and regulation are two different processes, and SE is built specifically for the second one.

If you are interested in learning more, see Somatic Experiencing, Somatic therapy and contact me. Virtual sessions available across Florida and Connecticut.

Jennifer Goggin is a seasoned licensed therapist (LPC, LMHC, SEP) specializing in anxiety, depression, trauma, and PTSD through a whole-body, integrative approach rooted in Somatic Experiencing. She helps high-achieving adults and trauma survivors move beyond talk therapy to release stress stored in the nervous system and reconnect with a deeper sense of safety, calm, and self-trust. Jennifer offers in-person sessions in Palm Beach, Florida and virtual therapy throughout Florida and Connecticut.