The body-oriented therapeutic approach Somatic Experiencing® (SE) treats post-traumatic symptoms by changing the interoceptive and proprioceptive sensations associated with the traumatic experience. Filling a gap in the landscape of trauma treatments, SE has attracted growing interest in research and therapeutic practice, recently.

It is well documented that comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in chronic pain is associated with a more severe symptom profile with respect to pain, disability and psychological distress. However, very few intervention studies exist targeting both PTSD and pain. The current study is the first randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of the body-oriented trauma approach of Somatic Experiencing (SE) for comorbid PTSD and low back pain. Although the method is well recognized by clinicians and widely used, SE still needs to be tested in a randomized clinical trial in comparison with an active control group.

There have been recent advances in neuroscience that challenge the completeness of a purely cognitive behavioral model—particularly when dealing with the impact of trauma. What we are learning now is that trauma is not just something that impacts our cognition and behaviors alone.

There are several important reasons for giving special attention to the subject of working with anger in the context of an SE session. Here we will set forth just three of those reasons. First, anger is probably the most misunderstood of all human emotions. Traumatized clients often need to be educated about anger and about the taboos that they may have against it. Remember: When utilizing the SE method, we are not just “completing” the interrupted biological patterns that have gotten stuck. We are also re- organizing and restoring the natural fight, flight, and freeze responses. Taboos against anger (conscious or subconscious) may get in the way of restoring the fight response.