What is SomatoEmotional Release (SER)?
SomatoEmotional Release is a therapeutic process that helps rid the mind and body of residual effects of past trauma associated with negative experiences. Joint research efforts by Dr. John Upledger and biophysicist Dr. Zvi Karni led to the discovery that the body often retains (rather than dissipates) physical forces, and often the accompanying emotional energy, triggered by physiological, psychological, emotional or spiritual trauma. As the body heals, it can isolate or wall off, this energy into what is called an “energy cyst”. Although a body can initially adapt to the presence of this “energy cyst”, eventually the body weakens or tires of this accommodation and can develop symptoms of pain, dysfunction or emotional stress in response.
The goal of an SER session is a comfortable holistic mind-body approach to dissipate the residual effects of past trauma and negative emotional experiences from the mind, body, and spirit and to gain insight as to how that held trauma is influencing their physical and emotional health. The SomatoEmotional Release process requires sensitivity and expertise on the part of the therapist and a positive attitude and trust from the client. Lorie has had advanced training in CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release and is prepared to help guide you through the process of more deeply understanding and releasing emotional trauma which might include: violent assaults; warfare; sexual, emotional or physical abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), childhood traumas, traumatic relationship issues, divorce, and other more common experiences that have overwhelmed your ability to heal and move on.
What to Expect During a Session
Subtle body work is combined with dialogue to assist the process of release and to increase an awareness of your “inner self.” This work truly accesses and assists the body in healing that very powerful and basic “mind-body connection”, facilitating healing at the source level of the pain or problem. Sometimes, an awareness or association of past trauma may arise during the course of a craniosacral session and the release progresses within the framework of the physical bodywork being done during that session. Or, as larger issues become apparent, several focused sessions might be helpful to fully and safely allow the body to release the effects of the held physical/emotional trauma.
Lorie has been using CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release in her practice since 1995. She has repeatedly seen how the body, on all levels, works toward balance. Healing one's emotions is interwoven with healing in the physical body and as well as the spiritual realm. Emotions are carried throughout the body and manifest in a wide variety of physical symptoms, belief structures, and behavioral patterns. Stress in one's daily life is carried in the physiology of the body. Through working with the body, one can gain awareness, insight, and healing by recognizing that one's "symptoms" are part of a bigger picture. Every being, on some level, has a story that yearns to be told and compassionately heard, not only in the presence of another but most importantly through itself. Learning how to be present to one's own physical body, emotions, thoughts, and spiritual connections in life-supportive ways can have profound effects on one's general health and wellness.
The healing process is a journey that takes us ever deeper into ourselves, sometimes involving discovering old patterns or injuries that we thought were no longer affecting us. While we cannot change the past, we can change the emotional charge and energetic hold the past continues to have on us; how it affects our actions and interpretations of how the world works, enabling us to renegotiate the meaning and release the held energy of the trauma. This inner work approach assists and empowers us to use the trauma as a catalyst, and as a transformative experience. Lorie believes these experiences facilitate the transformation into the true authentic self, capable of fulfilling our soul’s purpose.