All sessions are responsive to you as the client, based on your own unique nervous-system and what you want to focus on/what your goals are. Some people wish to work with specific events and situations in their past, while others wish to bring whatever in their lives is feeling most present for them, including ongoing situations.  

Each session is usually 50-60 minutes long, although a first session will be slightly longer in order for us to first discuss any relevant information. There are a few fundamental principles which I’ll outline below and try to give a sense of what a first session might include for you.

 In SE we always work in a titrated way. This means we only work with the smallest amount of what feels challenging, stressful or traumatic at any one time. This helps prevent overwhelm or re-traumatisation and means we’re ideally working with an amount of activation that your body can fully metabolise and digest so that it’s no longer stored in your body.

 A typical first session might include:

• Beginning with some settling, allowing your body to arrive in the physical and relational space and for you to start bringing your attention and awareness to it.

• From there we’ll move to resourcing. Resource enables us to begin building a stable foundation to work with challenging situations. It supports us to create a larger capacity, so that when we start to work with that titrated amount of what has been stressful or traumatic then it’s like dropping it into a large pot of water, as oppose to a small one that might easily get filled to capacity and overflow.

•  Throughout this both you and I will be starting to track your body, starting to pay attention to your felt sense, since it is through sensation that our bodies communicate with us. For some people this can be like learning a new skill.

•  I’ll be noticing physiological signs and shifts in your body which I’ll reflect back to you including: posture; movement; breathing patterns; changes in skin colour; how you use your eyes; signs of tension, bracing, relaxation and expansion.

•  At times I’ll also ask you what you’re noticing and experiencing in order to understand more about your nervous-system and to support you to develop more awareness of your own body.

• Carrying the principle of titration throughout, I’ll support you to move between feelings of activation with what feels pleasant and good. Supporting you to continuously touch into resource helps keep your capacity larger and reduces the activation in your system.

•  If any emotions arise, I will support you to give space for these to come through. Having a larger capacity means that people begin to experience their emotional states as more manageable and less overwhelming. 

• Based on what I’m noticing, I may also draw your attention to certain things, make suggestions for small movements you might want to make, and encourage you to offer support to parts of your own body with your own hands. As the client, you are always fully in control of what happens and are welcome to decline any suggestions I make.

•  Sometimes movements may organically arise in your body, that were unable to happen at the time. I will encourage and support you to allow these locked-in responses to complete, allowing the stored survival-energy that accompanies these to gently release.

• I will always endeavour for you to finish a session feeling settled and integrated.