SomatoEmotional Release
"What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgment and control. Holding space is a key part of what we do in Upledger CranioSacral Therapy: being in neutral, supporting the client’s intuition and inner wisdom, creating a safe space – rather than trying to fix, give advice, judge, or even to know."
Dr. John E. Upledger
What is SomatoEmotional Release Therapy?
SomatoEmotional Release® is a therapeutic manual therapy approach developed by Dr. Upledger, founder of Upledger Institute International.
SER expands on the core principles of CranioSacral Therapy to help rid the body of the residual effects of past trauma and negative emotional experiences. It is a mind-body therapeutic process aimed at helping a person release emotional energy, stress, tension and trauma that may be held within physical tissues.
The idea is that past experiences—especially stress or trauma—can create restrictions in the body that contribute to pain, dysfunction, or emotional distress.
SER uses gentle, hands-on techniques from CranioSacral Therapy to help the body access and process these stored experiences.
By gaining a deeper understanding of the self-healing paradigm at the core of Upledger CranioSacral Therapy, one learns how to support the body to do what it knows how to do best: heal itself.
In SER1, we introduce an unbiased communication method based on curiosity, openness, and imagery that helps therapists to become neutral, non-judgmental facilitators in another person's healing process. Therapists learn to support clients, as clients become more mindful about their own body-mind-spirit and start to access deep, self-healing resources.