SOMATIC EXPERIENCING
Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to working with trauma and chronic stress, developed by Peter A. Levine. We work to develop body and nervous system awareness - exploring sensations, the felt sense of emotion, and physical impulses. We assist the body in building inner resources, noticing and deliberately expanding into feelings of safety, ease and comfort. We also support the body to release held survival energy, and to complete responses that were previously interrupted, including fight, flight, freeze. Over time, this can help to thaw stuck emotional states, allowing the nervous system to settle into a more embodied and elastic rhythm.
The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. It offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. SE provides effective skills appropriate to a variety of healing professions including mental health, medicine, physical and occupational therapies, bodywork, addiction treatment, first response, education, and others.
We offer individual appointments either alone or in combination with psychological therapy.
martina vaclavova
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Martina is an integrative psychotherapist with over ten years of clinical experience supporting clients with a range of emotional and psychological challenges.
Her interest in the body’s role in healing led her to train as a fully qualified Somatic Experiencing practitioner, enriching her therapeutic approach. She supports clients not only through talking therapy, but also by helping the nervous system process stress and trauma.
Martina’s relational approach recognises each client as unique, with their own capacity for healing. She offers a safe, collaborative space where clients can explore their experiences at their own pace, often developing greater grounding, self-connection, and awareness of the mind–body connection.
birgit becker
Somatic Experiencing Advanced Trainee
Birgit has many years’ experience supporting people in the corporate world with their mental health, helping them connect with their emotional and embodied wisdom to navigate complex situations.
At the Bodart Practice, she offers Somatic Experiencing to support nervous system regulation, resilience, and the ability to explore difficult sensations safely. Her approach is informed by relational Gestalt Therapy and Dynamic Emotional Integration, with a focus on helping clients build greater capacity to cope and connect with themselves.