What is SE™ Physical Therapy??

RECLAIMING SAFETY THROUGH THE BODY: HOW PHYSICAL THERAPY AND SOMATIC EXPERIENCING® WORK TOGETHER

The Value of Traditional Physical Therapy

Traditional physical therapy offers powerful tools for healing. Through targeted exercise, manual therapy, postural retraining, and education, it can restore mobility, reduce pain, and improve function after injury or strain. For many people, these approaches alone are incredibly effective. Physical therapy works with the tangible—muscles, joints, connective tissue, and movement patterns—and it’s a vital part of recovery.

But in some cases, especially when progress plateaus or symptoms persist without a clear structural cause, something deeper in the body’s physiology may be contributing beneath the surface.

As a physical therapist, I’ve always believed the body carries deep intelligence. Chronic pain, tension, and physical limitations are rarely “just physical.” They are often signals that a protective mechanism within the nervous system is still online.

One of the frameworks I use to gently access this layer is Somatic Experiencing® (SE™)—a body-based approach that complements physical therapy when symptoms are influenced by the nervous system as much as by the musculoskeletal system.

When the Body’s Defenses Get Stuck

The autonomic nervous system (ANS)—our built-in threat detector—guides us in moments of danger. It mobilizes us to escape (flight) or defend (fight). But if circumstances are overwhelming or we cannot respond effectively, the body may freeze or shut down to protect us.

Sometimes those protective responses don’t fully resolve.
When the nervous system doesn’t complete its natural cycle, the underlying activation can show up physically: chronic tension, persistent pain, bracing patterns, difficulty breathing, digestive changes, and more.

These are not “in your head.”
They are physiological states playing out in real tissues.

Where Physical Therapy Meets Nervous System Awareness

This is where my dual lens—as a physical therapist and Somatic Experiencing® practitioner (SEP)—can make a meaningful difference.

In our work together, we don’t just stretch, strengthen, or mobilize tissue. We also observe the subtleties of posture, breath, micro-movements, and areas of the body that feel guarded or hard to access. We look at the places where movement wants to happen but is inhibited by old protective patterns.

Sometimes the most effective intervention is not doing more, but supporting the precise movement or coordination effort the body was trying to make—but never completed.

A shoulder that won’t release may be holding a protective contraction pattern from an old fall.
A ribcage that stays tight may reflect a breathing pattern shaped by years of high output or vigilance.
We meet these patterns with precision and pacing, allowing the nervous system to unwind them safely.

Bridging Structure and Physiology

This integrated work is not about choosing between physical or nervous-system origins of pain—it’s about understanding how they influence one another. My physical therapy assessment identifies when structural issues like joint restriction or muscular imbalance are part of the picture. At the same time, I’m trained to notice when the nervous system is maintaining a pattern that the tissue alone can’t resolve.

Many people come in feeling confused, having been told their pain is “just stress” or “mental,” when what they’re experiencing is a very real physiological state. My role is to help make sense of it. Sometimes the body needs a targeted manual technique. Other times it needs to experience enough safety and clarity for the movement pattern to reorganize. Often, it needs both.

Together, we follow what your system needs—in the right order, at the right pace.

Movement as a Language of Healing

Through this combined approach, we’re not simply treating a symptom. We’re helping your whole system—muscles, fascia, breath, and nervous system—come back into coherence.

Somatic Experiencing® doesn’t force change; it creates conditions where movement becomes easier, breathing becomes fuller, and tension patterns can reorganize.

In this process, your body isn’t treated as fragile or broken—but as inherently wise and capable.
Our work together supports the body in completing what it couldn’t before, restoring both stability and ease.