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, movement patterns—and it’s a vital part of recovery. But in some cases, especially when progress plateaus or symptoms persist without a clear cause, something deeper may be contributing beneath the surface.

As a physical therapist, I’ve always believed that the body holds deep intelligence. Chronic pain, tension, and physical limitations are rarely just physical. Often, they are messengers—clues that something in the body’s story hasn’t been fully told.

One powerful framework I use to help clients connect to that story is Somatic Experiencing® (SE™)—a gentle, body-based approach to trauma resolution. SE™ complements physical therapy beautifully, especially when pain or dysfunction is rooted in more than just structure or mechanics. It helps us listen beyond the muscles and joints, and into the nervous system itself.

When the Body’s Defenses Get Stuck

The autonomic nervous system (ANS)—our body’s built-in threat detector—guides us in moments of danger. It mobilizes us to escape (flight) or defend (fight). But sometimes, due to overwhelming or unsafe circumstances, we aren’t able to complete those defensive movements. Instead, the body freezes or shuts down, prioritizing survival.

That’s where things can get stuck.

When the nervous system doesn’t get to complete its natural cycle of response, the energy behind that effort can stay lodged in the body. And this isn’t just emotional—it often shows up as very real physical symptoms: chronic pain, tightness, bracing patterns, digestive issues, and more.

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 manipulate tissue. We listen to your body’s story through posture, breath, micro-movements, and patterns of holding. We track where the body wants to move but feels hesitant… where it’s bracing against a past it never got to push away from.

Sometimes, the healing isn’t in doing more, but in supporting the exact movement or expression the body needed back then—but couldn’t access.

A shoulder that won’t release might be holding the impulse to absorb shock from a fall. A ribcage that won’t expand might reflect a breathing pattern stuck in shallow, upper chest respiration—common in people who have lived in ‘go mode’ for too long. We meet these places with curiosity and care, allowing space for those protective responses to complete—often for the first time.

Bridging Structure and Story

What’s important to know is that this work isn’t about choosing between physical or emotional origins of pain—it’s about understanding how they interact. As a physical therapist, I bring clinical assessment skills that help identify when a structural issue, such as joint restriction or muscular imbalance, is a key part of the picture. At the same time, I’m looking for signs that the nervous system may be playing a role in keeping things “stuck.”

Many people come to me confused, having been told their pain is “all in their head,” even when they can feel something very real happening in their bodies. My job isn’t to dismiss either possibility—it’s to help make sense of what’s happening. Sometimes the body needs a specific manual intervention or movement strategy. Other times, it needs to feel safe enough to let go. Often, it’s both.

Together, we explore what your body needs in the right order, at the right pace. Whether it’s restoring alignment, down-regulating a hypervigilant system, or both, we’re collaborating to find a path forward that honors both structure and story.

Movement as a Language of Healing

Through this integrated approach, we’re not just treating a symptom. We’re inviting your whole system—muscles, fascia, breath, and nervous system—to come back into coherence.

Somatic Experiencing® doesn’t force or “fix”—it invites. It allows your body to discover that it’s safe to move again, to feel again, to rest again.

In this space, we honor your body not as broken, but as wise. Together, we create the conditions for completion, not just recovery.