Somatic EXPERIENCING
And Children
Spontaneity
When young children and infants suffer a serious injury or are deeply frightened by an event, they can be traumatized, carrying inside them subtle residual symptoms that may stay with them for a lifetime.
Somatic Expriencing Trauma Resolution of a Paralized Child
After the Tsunami in Japan 2011
Signs of Trauma in Children
If you think your child is affected by trauma, there are some common reactions he/she will display. After a stressful event, parents or teachers may notice symptoms of withdrawal, fearfulness, irritability, excessive shyness, clinging, emotional outbursts, aggression toward other children, hurting animals or other forms of acting out.
Dr. Levine on Somatic Experiencing and Attention Deficit and
Healing Children
There are emotional first aid tools for children such as touch, clapping hands or tapping knees. For kids of most ages, this is helpful in moving them through difficult sensations and feelings. Infants are held in specific ways after a fall or physical trauma.
The key is to do this indirectly, through bodily sensations, verse and image, and story and play.
Dr. Levine on Somatic Experiencing and Bullying
“Somatic Experiencing
helps the child
to gain mastery
over those feelings
and situations that are overwhelming.
Doing this indirectly, through verse and image, story and play, and
bodily sensations;
these are the languages of a child’s experience.”
Dr. Levine, Somatic Experiencing Founder
A Powerful Healing Tool for Children
“Through positive symbols and the elaboration of physical sensations, trauma can be transformed into a positive experience.”
B. Feldman, Somatic Experiencing Trainer
Somatic Experiencing helps children to identify and express the sensations they are experiencing.
In this way, the regain confidence in themselves.
Other indications include
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• avoidance behaviors, nightmares, bedwetting
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• thrashing in bed or difficulty falling asleep
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• phobias (such as the fear of dogs if the child has been bitten)
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• general phobias (phobia about going to school)
Providing children with the sense of power they need to transform trauma into a positive experience.
Dr. Levine, Somatic Experiencing Founder
“Due to their heightened sensitivity, children are able to connect spontaneously to their bodily impulses.”
S. Hoskins, Senior Somatic Experiencing Trainer
By listening to the body’s ‘felt sense’, even a few minutes spent with a child could make the child more resilient to life’s stresses and extreme events.
