Top-down meets
bottom-up.
A holistic integrative
approache.
Somatic Experiencing.
Somatic Experiencing rests on a simple clinical observation: when a body cannot complete its natural response to overwhelm — fight, flight, defence — the unfinished energy stays in the system. It surfaces later as anxiety, tightness, sleep that won't come, reactivity that seems out of proportion to the present moment.
The work is to help the nervous system finish what it began. Not by re-telling the story, but by giving the body the time, the attention, and small enough doses for it to discharge what it has been carrying.
In Dr. Peggy's practice, SE is held by full clinical training. The same psychologist who does the somatic work also takes a comprehensive intake, formulates the case clinically, and co-ordinates with the wider care team where useful.
What we mean
by Physical
Intelligence.
We hold the body's knowing as a Performance Intelligence Quotient (PIQ) — its working capacity to sense, regulate, and return. Not a score on a chart, but a fluency the nervous system learns over time.
Trauma settles in the nervous system, not just the mind. The work moves slowly, carefully, underwritten by thirty years of clinical training.
A nervous-
system view
of distress.
Most of what brings people to this work can be understood as a nervous system stuck outside its window of tolerance. The aim of SE is not to suppress one state or favour another — it is to widen the window, so the system has more room to move.
Hypoarousal — freeze
Numb. Foggy. Disconnected. Fatigue without obvious cause. The body has pulled the plug to protect itself.
Window of tolerance
Settled. Curious. Resourced. Able to think, feel, and connect at the same time. The work, and the home, is here.
Hyperarousal — fight / flight
Wired. Reactive. Anxious. Sleep dysregulated. The body is mobilised, but it can’t quite land.
Conditions
worked with.
Indicative, not exhaustive. The list reflects Dr. Peggy's clinical experience across psychiatric hospital and private practice settings; SE is integrated where it is likely to be useful, and is not the right approach for every concern.
Depression & mood
Including post-natal depression, complex grief, and the flat aftermath of sustained stress.
Anxiety & panic
A nervous system that has not been able to come down. Vigilance, sleep dysregulation, panic.
PTSD & complex trauma
Single-incident shock, post-medical / post-accident, and developmental or relational trauma.
Eating disorders
Including the regulatory and somatic difficulties that often accompany them.
Adjustment disorders
Major life transitions, illness, loss, relocation, and the body's slower way of catching up.
Early psychosis
Supportive clinical work for individuals and families, in co-ordination with psychiatric care.
Tourette's syndrome
Psychological work in tandem with medical management; supportive work for family members.
ASD & ADHD
Adults exploring or living with autism-spectrum or ADHD diagnoses. Strengths-based support.
Learning disorders
Adults navigating the long impact of unrecognised or unsupported learning differences.
Anatomy
of a session.
Slower than you'd expect, in the most useful way. A session is fifty to sixty minutes, seated. The pace is set by what your nervous system can metabolise — never more than a drop of activation at a time.
Orient
We settle into the room and to the present moment. There is no rush to begin.
Resource
We anchor in something the body finds steadying — a memory, an image, a felt sense.
Titrate
We approach the charge in small, measured doses. A drop of activation. A pause. An integration.
Integrate
We close gently, with time for the change to settle. The work continues quietly between sessions.
Dr. Peggy.
A certified Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP) and approved Provider with SE International — having completed the full three-year training through the Advanced level.
She is also a UK HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist (PYL32662), integrating thirty years of clinical training across neuropsychological assessment, mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and Somatic Experiencing.
If something here
resonates, reach out.
Share what you are carrying and Dr. Peggy will reply personally — every enquiry is read and answered by her, within two working days.