This two-day Introduction is oriented to participants of diverse backgrounds and will offer skills and tools they can use immediately in their personal and professional lives to support self-regulation and to reduce the symptoms of a dysregulated nervous system. Skills will be built progressively through experiential exercises, demos, and theory to provide a safe toolbox for working with dysregulation. Somatic Experiencing® offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity to heal as well as an intellectual spirit to harness this innate capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually "immune" to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed. Somatic Experiencing is a naturalistic approach to the resolution of post-traumatic stress. It is based on the observation that animals in the wild manage to regulate and neutralize the high levels of stress that they often experience without suffering the long term debilitating affects that humans in similar threatening situations often experience. The workshop will be a combination of theory, lecture and experiential exercises, and will cover the following topicsDefinition of trauma from an SE perspectiveWhat is SE and why is it different from other therapies?
Giselle Genillard, the director of SOSI, will lead this introduction to Somatic Experiencing (SE). Over the two days you will learn the fundamental principles of SE and acquire some tools that you can apply in your personal and professional lives.
The Introduction to Somatic Experiencing(SE) workshop is a pre requisite to anyone who wishes to attend the our 3 year professional training or just for your own personal interest. The Intro is also way of starting everyone off with the same orientation and understanding of the training itself and a place for you to ask more in depth questions.
Giselle is also a Licensed Midwife, a member of the European Association of Body Psychotherapy (EABP), a Somatic Experiencing (SE)® Practitioner, a member of the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI), a Touch-in-Parenting Instructor and founding Secretary of the Board of EASE, the European Association for Somatic Experiencing.
Giselle combines her training as a somatic therapist with the art of midwifery, the core principles of SE, and her widespread cross-cultural experiences. She works internationally, is multilingual, and was a member of trauma outreach teams in South-East India post-tsunami, New Orleans post-Katrina and post-colonial South Africa post-independence.
Giselle brought Peter Levine’s (“Waking the Tiger”) SE trainings to England and France where she teaches workshops related to traumatic stress. Giselle specializes in working with PTSD in early childhood disorders, adolescents, combat and high-stress situations, and international disasters.
In the early 80’s, Giselle became deeply involved with the politics of childbirth and the work of Michel Odent, who became her midwife and mentor. Giselle sought to extend her intimate knowledge of physical healing to a comprehensive and holistic approach to psychological healing. Giselle’s life path has given her direct experience of the physical, emotional, social and political devastations of trauma, and an affirmed commitment to prevent its further proliferation. Her work is focused on bringing forth the transformation that can emerge when trauma is resolved, and the myriad associated benefits to self, society, and the world at large.