Can Somatic Experiencing be done Online?

Short answer: Yes, it just depends on what is right for You

Note: The information provided in this post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a replacement for professional medical or therapeutic support. The below information may not apply to everyone, through no fault of their own, but hopefully it adds value to those who find it relevant.

Longer answer: It truly depends on what your nervous system needs and what works for you. But to say it plainly, a lot of Somatic Experiencing can be done remotely. The practitioner is simply there to help inquire into your sensations, and guide you into pendulating from the activation to the more grounded sensations to help you mobilize the current energy that is coming up, as you build capacity to experience more. They may also advise you in certain somatic grounding or movement exercises to help you in case you are going into hyper- or hypo-arousal states. All of this can be done over a virtual call.

Touch work, however, can be very important for someone’s healing process. When someone has never had a baseline of safety in their nervous system, the felt sense of touch from a practitioner can provide that support and help nurture that safety for someone. This can be helpful also for someone who didn’t have proper coregulation when they were younger, such as preverbal trauma. However, you may be surprised how much can still regulate and move on its own through just somatic tracking, nurturing resilience, and building capacity - regardless of your trauma.

I even once found a practitioner who was doing “touch work” remotely online. They did speak to it potentially sounding quite “woo-woo”, but that it was surprisingly effective when watching how their clients would react to the support from a location across the world. Maybe that one is the power of the placebo, who knows!

Overall, I work with clients primarily online, and I have certainly seen the progress as they learn how to regulate themselves and mobilize the trauma energy. There is no question that Somatic Experiencing can be a very effective modality when done online.