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Somatic Experiencing®
with Dr. Tiffany McBride

Nervous System Healing • Trauma Resolution • Embodied Safety

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Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a gentle, body-based trauma healing method that helps you release stuck survival energy, reconnect to your body, and restore your natural capacity for safety, presence, and resilience.

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Trauma is not just what happened to you —
it’s what got stuck in your body.

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SE works by guiding you to notice body sensations, micro-shifts, tension patterns, and emotional cues in a slow, resourced, and safe way. As your body learns to complete these survival responses, you begin to feel grounded, clear, and more in control of your internal world.

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Somatic Experiencing helps you:

  • Settle your nervous system

  • Reduce anxiety and hypervigilance

  • Heal chronic tension

  • Release stored trauma from the body

  • Strengthen your capacity to feel without overwhelm

  • Rebuild trust with your own body and intuition

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When combined with Tiffany’s background in EMDR, IFS, expressive arts, and embodied spirituality, SE becomes a powerful pathway to wholeness — clinically sound, deeply intuitive, and transformative.

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Somatic Experiencing is highly effective for:

  • Chronic anxiety and overwhelm

  • Trauma and PTSD

  • Dissociation or “checking out”

  • Emotional flooding

  • Fight/flight/freeze responses

  • Attachment trauma

  • Panic attacks

  • Body-based trauma (medical, birth, relational, childhood)

  • Chronic stress and tension

  • Feeling “stuck,” disconnected, or numb

  • Difficulty setting boundaries

  • Shame and self-protection patterns

  • Difficulty trusting the body

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Schedule a Session with Dr. Tiffany

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If you’re ready to experience Somatic Experiencing, trauma release, and nervous system healing, I invite you to book a consultation.
We’ll explore your goals, your challenges, and what support you need next.
You deserve to feel safe, grounded, and connected to yourself again.

Somatic Experiencing FAQ

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1. What is Somatic Experiencing?

SE is a body-centered therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Peter Levine to help the nervous system renegotiate traumatic stress and restore regulation.
It doesn’t force you to revisit trauma — it helps your body release the leftover energy from it.

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2. How is SE different from talk therapy?

Traditional talk therapy works with thoughts and emotions.
SE works with the body’s physiology.
Instead of reliving traumatic memories, you gently follow body sensations to unwind tension, stuck patterns, and defensive responses.

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3. Do I have to talk about my trauma in detail?

No. SE often works without going into the story at all.
We focus on the body’s response — not the narrative.

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4. What does a session look like?

A session may include:

  • Noticing body sensations

  • Slowing down internal experience

  • Tracking nervous system shifts

  • Completing stuck survival responses

  • Grounding and stabilization

  • Titration (healing in small, safe pieces)

You remain in control, fully aware, and deeply supported.

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5. What if I get overwhelmed?

SE is built on your pace.
We never push your system past its capacity.
We pause, ground, and resettle long before overwhelm occurs.

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6. Can SE help with physical symptoms?

Yes. Many clients notice shifts in:

  • muscle tension

  • digestion

  • headaches

  • chronic pain

  • sleep

  • energy levels

Trauma lives in the body — and releasing it changes the body.

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7. Do you combine SE with other modalities?

Yes — beautifully and safely. Tiffany weaves SE with:

  • EMDR

  • Internal Family Systems

  • Breathwork + grounding

  • Expressive arts

  • Bilateral stimulation

  • Intuitive somatic work (client-led, optional)

  • Nervous system education

This creates a multi-layered, integrative healing process.

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8. Do you accept insurance for SE?

Yes. Somatic Experiencing is available through insurance or private pay for clients in Illinois.

For clients outside Illinois, SE principles can be used in coaching and integrative healing (non-therapy) sessions.

 

Trusted Somatic Experiencing Resources

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  • Somatic Experiencing International — official SE organization

  • Dr. Peter Levine’s work — “Waking the Tiger,” “In an Unspoken Voice”

  • NICABM — trauma-informed somatic trainings

  • The Body Keeps the Score (Van der Kolk) — research on trauma + body

  • Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges) — explains nervous system states

These are the most respected resources in the field of somatic healing.

"I lived my entire life in fight-or-flight without knowing it.
SE helped me slow down enough to feel my own body again. Tiffany guided me gently, never pushing, always supporting.
For the first time ever, I actually know what safety feels like.” S.S. Bloomington, IL
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