Lunch and Learn: Somatic Experiencing

Hosted by: Suzanne Burger, PsyD

Admission

Virtual Event

held on zoom

This session will provide an introduction to basic concepts of Somatic Experiencing, a psychobiological treatment approach for the treatment of trauma developed in the 1990s by Peter Levine, PhD that originated out of his integration of principles from several disciplines including ethology, stress physiology and neurology. Simply put, practitioners of SE accept the definition of trauma as an event or experience that occurs too fast or too intensely thereby overwhelming an individual’s capacity to respond effectively or process physiologically and/or emotionally. SE is a “bottom up” as opposed to a “ top down” treatment that tracks and supports the body to  complete incomplete protective responses, release excessive fight/flight directed energy, and build capacity to experience a range of sensations and emotions. While originally used largely with patients struggling with PTSD and other sequalae of trauma, SE principles and tools are also increasingly used in supporting a patients with other stress disorders and syndromes. SE views PTSD and other symptoms associated with traumatic experiences as a reflection of the nervous system being “stuck” in fight, flight, freeze or collapse.

Suzanne Burger is a licensed clinical psychologist, with over thirty years of clinical experience working with adults, adolescents, and children. Her  specialties include developmental and complex trauma, couples, and parenting challenges. In addition to being an SEP (Somatic Experiencing Practitioner), she is a regular assistant trainer at SE trainings. She is a Certified Gottman Method couples therapist and an instructor in the model,  and has had extensive training in other couples models including EFT and IFIO. Suzanne supervises in the Couples Program at WCSPP and, in 2012,  published Steering Your Marriage, a self-help book for couples. Suzanne  provides workshops and trainings on topics ranging from parenting to mindfulness to conflict management and, more recently, on self-regulation and co-regulation during Covid. In her private practice, Suzanne integrates SE principles with a strong psychodynamic foundation and her IFS (she is certified in Internal Family Systems therapy) orientation.

This event is not eligible for continuing education credit.

Register Here