SE is based upon the observation that wild prey animals, though threatened routinely, are rarely traumatized. Animals in the wild naturally regulate and discharge the high levels of energy arousal (fight/flight) associated with defensive survival behaviours and chronic stress. This provides animals with a built-in “immunity” to trauma and stress that enables them to return to normal in the aftermath of highly charged life-threatening experiences.

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Humans tend to override instinctual responses with the 'rational' part of their brain, the so-called 'higher' brain. The cognitive elaborations block the autonomic discharge of the nervous system, through shame, guilt or all sorts of analytical justifications. The body stays in its highly charged state and puts a break to it, freezing all the sensation, like that of a car with the brake and the accelerator pushed at the same time. This unexpressed energy stuck in the body causes all sorts of symptoms, like anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, panic attacks, depression, PSTD, and dissociation.

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SE facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of survival energy bound in the body, addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms, which can result in subtle or more intense experiences as the body discharges. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions, so as to not get overwhelmed. 

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