Titration

What is titration?

Titration is a principle from somatic experiencing where you process a distressing or overwhelming experience in very small pieces at a time, one drop at a time, so your nervous system does not get flooded. It is one of the core principles of this trauma therapy, alongside pendulation. The name comes from chemistry, where you add a substance drop by drop.

How titration works

Not all at once, but bit by bit. Somatic experiencing works at the edge of the trauma with what Levine calls titration, small doses, instead of seeking out the full intensity in one go. The organization Somatic Experiencing International describes it as slowly, bit by bit, releasing the pent-up fight-or-flight energy, so that someone builds more tolerance for difficult body sensations. That way the body learns it can feel a strong sensation without getting flooded again.

What titration is not

“Then you keep circling endlessly around the trauma.” No. Titration is not avoidance, it is making contact at a pace the body can handle. Small steps that really do move toward the difficult thing, only not so hard that the system slams shut.

What I see of it myself

I’m not a therapist, and real trauma work belongs with an SE therapist, not with me. But I recognize the idea behind it in my work as a gigolo. With women who are tense or who have a difficult history with touch, rushing works against you. Small steps, feeling each time whether it sits right, and moving on only when your body gives way. If you feel it becoming too much, we keep it there. That way it stays yours.

Sources

• SE 101. Somatic Experiencing International. Provides that titration is the slow, bit-by-bit releasing of pent-up fight-or-flight energy, through which someone builds more tolerance for difficult body sensations.

Related terms

• Somatic experiencing. The trauma therapy that titration is a core principle of.
• Fight-or-flight. The response whose energy is released bit by bit through titration.