Somatic Experiencing in Amsterdam

Release Stored Stress. Reclaim Inner Calm.

What is "Somatics"?

The word Somatics comes from the Greek 'soma', which means the living body from within. The body as you feel it, not as others see it.


Somatic Experiencing is about reconnecting with this inner experience. It’s not about fixing the body like a machine, but about listening to it as a guide. Our bodies carry implicit memories, emotions, and stored nervous system patterns, that our minds alone can’t always reach.


In therapy, integration happens on the deepest level, when we engage both the mind’s reflections and the body’s signals. Somatic Experiencing contributes through a 'bottom-up process', where bodily awareness facilitates the rediscovery of balance and inner regulation.

A black outline of a circle against a white background, symbolizing nervous system regulation.

Why Somatic Experiencing?

Trauma is not so much about what happened in the past, it’s more about how your body responded as a way to cope and what it might still be holding onto today.
When past stress experiences aren't fully resolved, they can linger in the nervous system and show up as:

Somatic Symptoms of Stored Stress

  • feeling disconnected from yourself or others
  • feeling anxious and overwhelmed quickly
  • negative self- and body image, feeling "bad" or "unworthy" at the core
  • ongoing muscle tension or chronic pain
  • persistent people pleasing, perfectionism, overthinking
  • fatigue, restlessness, or burnout


Combined with NARM, Somatic Experiencing gently supports your body to complete what was left unfinished, so you can feel steadier, clearer, and more alive in the present.


Free Intake Session

What to expect in a Somatic Experiencing Session

Sessions are gentle, slow, and always guided by your pace.
Step by step, I’ll support you in becoming attuned to both the subtle and significant psycho-biological shifts in your body.

As you re-learn the language of your body, you’ll gain deeper access to your implicit memory, the living, though often subconscious, library of your life’s story.

Together, we’ll gently expand your nervous system’s capacity, allowing it to become a steadier and more spacious container. With this growing inner stability, new possibilities unfold: greater resilience, presence, and a deeper connection to yourself.

How Somatic Experiencing can help

  • release survival energy that keeps you stuck in fight, flight, or freeze
  • feel calmer, more grounded, and at ease in your body
  • build resilience and emotional balance
  • reconnect with a sense of clarity, energy, and aliveness
  • support your nervous system after accidents, falls, medical procedures or sudden shock experiences
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  • Benefits of Somatic Experiencing

    People often notice:

    • A calmer, safer relationship with your body and nervous system
    • More confidence, presence and ease in your relationships
    • More self-trust, clarity, and self-compassion
    • A deeper sense of direction in career, identity, and purpose
    • Greater capacity for joy, rest, and authentic connection

  • Core Principles of Somatic Experiencing

    1. Trauma isn’t in the event itself, it’s how the nervous system holds it. 
    2. The body naturally moves toward healing, balance, and completion, when cues of safety can be detected again. 
    3. Regulation is key. We always work within your nervous system’s capacity, also known as your window of tolerance. 
    4. Healing unfolds in small, safe steps. Past events are approached gently and only when enough stability and support are in place. 
    5. As you grow somatic awareness and inner resources, trust, safety, and stability can naturally return. 

When a traumatic event leaves your body stuck in survival mode

In addition to emotional or relational wounds, that stem from multiple, ongoing traumatic experiences, a single traumatic event can leave a strong imprint on the nervous system.
A traumatic event happens when something occurs too suddenly, too intensely, or too overwhelmingly for the body to fully process, for example a car accident, a fall, surgery, a sudden breakup, a medical emergency, an assault, or receiving shocking news.

In these moments, the body mobilizes intense survival energy: fight, flight or freeze.
If this energy cannot naturally complete, it becomes stored in the system as tension, shock, and overwhelm.

Somatic Experiencing® helps the body gently complete these interrupted survival responses, without re-living the trauma or going through the story again. As this bound energy gradually releases, people often reconnect with safety, presence, and a renewed sense of aliveness.

  • Possible Signs of Signs of Unprocessed Traumatic Experiences

    • Feeling easily startled or having a constant sense of unease
    • Difficulty relaxing or falling asleep
    • Emotional numbness or feeling “disconnected” from yourself or your surroundings
    • Flashbacks, intrusive images, or body memories
    • Heightened sensitivity to sound, light, or touch
    • Restless sleep, nightmares, or unexplained exhaustion
    • Chronic muscle tension, trembling, or internal restlessness
    • Fear of losing control or “going crazy”