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Clinical resource

Dr. Peter Levine: Achievements and Contributions

Dr. Peter Levine’s achievements and Somatic Experiencing® contributions to trauma healing, including his research, training work, and clinical impact.

Written by THE BALANCE

Medically reviewed byDr. Sarah Boss, MD
Stone residence with a swimming pool, lawn and palm trees

Quick Summary

  • Peter A. Levine holds doctorates in biophysics and psychology and founded organizations devoted to Somatic Experiencing education and training.
  • He developed Somatic Experiencing, a body-oriented approach intended to support trauma resolution and resilience across therapeutic, medical, educational, and coaching settings.
  • His career includes trauma-related advisory work with NASA and the American Psychological Association, alongside several lifetime achievement awards.

Trauma happens to everyone in different shapes and forms. While events like wars, accidents, and natural disasters are labeled as traumatic by most people, anything can come under this broad term by people’s subjective experience. Regardless of the type of trauma, it can either have a transitory or an ongoing impact on the physical and psychological states of the body. While some people easily overcome these impacts, others can be deeply affected and may start negatively perceiving their environment and themselves. As a result, the brain gets rewired to maladaptive mental and physical responses, forcing the body to get stuck in a never-ending stress response.

If you consider yourself to be stuck in a vicious cycle of trauma, Peter Levine healing trauma programs can benefit you.

Peter A. Levine is a notable figure in psychology and behavioral sciences. His qualifications include a doctorate in Biophysics from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in Psychology from the International University. His ongoing professional achievements are outlined below:

  • Founder and President of the Ergos Institute for Somatic Education, dedicated to Community Outreach and Post-Advanced Somatic Experiencing® Training.
  • Founder and Senior Advisor for the Foundation for Human Enrichment, Lyons, Colorado, also known as Somatic Experiencing® Institute.
  • President and Editorial Director of Ergos Institute Press (An Imprint co-publish with North Atlantic Press), Encinitas, California.
  • Member of the Advisory Board: Trauma and Resiliency Resources – Treatment program for Emergency workers, firefighters, and police involved in WTC/911.

In recognition of his groundbreaking therapeutic works in psychology, Dr. Levine has received:

  • A Lifetime Achievement Award from the Psychotherapy Networker
  • A Lifetime Achievement award from the US Association for Body-Oriented Psychotherapy
  • An honorary award as the Reiss-Davis Chair in Los Angeles
  • A Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh).

He has also served as a stress consultant at NASA in their early space shuttle development programs and was a member of the American Psychological Association task force responsible for handling traumas related to large-scale disasters. At present, he is working as a consultant at the Meadows Addiction and Trauma Treatment Center in Arizona and continues to hold international workshops to teach trauma healing.

Peter A Levin is a proud developer of Somatic Experiencing (SE), a neurobiological and naturalistic way to heal trauma. He has invested more than 50 years of his life in this program that aims to transform lives through healing trauma. The mission of this trauma program is to support resilience and trauma resolution by using culturally responsive professional training, research, education, and outreach in global communities. The program targets the “helpers” or the people directly involved with individuals experiencing trauma and trains them to practice the skill of somatic experiencing.

As a body-oriented therapeutic model, SE is widely applicable in multiple settings, including medicine, teaching, coaching, physical therapy, and psychotherapy.

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Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

According to Dr. Peter Levine, what is trauma and how does it begin?
Dr. Levine believes that trauma can occur in any shape or form. It may occur as acute stress from a perceived life threat or as an end-product of cumulative stress. Regardless of the type of stress generating it, trauma can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with ease and resilience. A wide variety of stressors can potentially lead to trauma, such as accidents, physical or sexual assault, invasive medical procedures, neglect, natural disasters, war, emotional abuse, birth trauma, loss, or corrosive stressors of ongoing conflict and fear.
How does the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute work?
Peter Levine Somatic Experience approach aims to address the root cause of trauma in the clients. This occurs via the completion of self-protective motor responses in addition to releasing the survival energy trapped in the body. Within this institute, a somatic experiencing therapist gently guides the clients to develop increasing tolerance for suppressed emotions and difficult body sensations.
What was the inspiration behind Peter Levine's trauma healing therapy?
Dr. Levine was inspired to learn more about stress and its effects on the animal nervous system when he realized that animals show no signs of trauma despite being under constant threat of death. What he discovered was that trauma is linked with a third survival response (in addition to fight and flight) to a perceived threat i.e. freeze. In simpler words, when fight or flight is not possible, we freeze in a traumatic event, just like animals playing dead to escape danger. While the freezing mechanism does make humans less of a target, the reaction is highly time-sensitive and leads to a colossal energy trap. The massive energy that the body accumulates to prepare for fight or flight has to get out of the system somehow. But it becomes trapped when we choose to freeze instead of utilizing this energy to fight the threat or flee the scene. Somatic Experiencing therapy aims to release this stored energy and turn off the threat alarm that’s causing severe dissociation and dysregulation in the body.
How is somatic therapy different from traditional mental health therapy?
Somatic therapy works on the theory that the mind exists inside the body and does not consider them as separate entities. It hypothesizes that everything individual encounters throughout their life happens in the body. Each of their experiences are processed as information which disseminates to different systems of the body to establish patterns of behavior and thoughts. Hence, to help a client overcome trauma, a somatic therapist uses their body as the access point for healing and uncovering the root of their issue. This therapy serves as an opportunity to listen to what the body has to say about its experience instead of listening to the conscious mind.
What are some famous Peter Levine Books?
Dr. Levine is the proud author of multiple books, including Waking the Tiger Healing Trauma, his bestseller that sold over 250,000 copies and was translated into 24 languages. His other published work includes:
Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program in Restoring the Wisdom of Our Bodies
Sexual Healing: Transforming the Sacred Wound.
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
Trauma through a Child’s Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing
Freedom from Pain: Discover Your Body’s Power to Overcome Physical Pain
Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parent’s Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy, and Resilience
Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Working with Traumatic Memory

Editorial evidence

Evidence & sources

Selected clinical guidelines, peer-reviewed research, and public-health sources used in this article.

01National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Coping With Traumatic Events.View source
02American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Trauma. APA Dictionary of Psychology.View source
03World Health Organization. (2019). International classification of diseases for mortality and morbidity statistics (11th Revision): Post traumatic stress disorder. World Health Organization.View source
View all 10 sourcesShow fewer sources
04National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder. NICE guideline NG116.View source
05Department of Veterans Affairs, & Department of Defense. (2023). VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for the management of posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.View source
06National Center for Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Nbk559129.View source
07National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (n.d.). Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: Whatu2019s in a name? National Institutes of Health.View source
08Shalev, A., Liberzon, I., & Marmar, C. (2017). Post-traumatic stress disorder. New England Journal of Medicine.View source
09World Health Organization. (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress.View source
10MedlinePlus. (n.d.). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). U.S. National Library of Medicine.View source
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Sister topics

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