TRE Trauma Release & the Dance of Expansion &Containment: A Trauma-Informed Somatic Healing Approach

women using neurogenic tremors for somatic healing

How TRE Trauma Release Supports Trauma-Informed Somatic Healing

If you’ve tried to heal through your mind but still feel stuck in your body, you’re not alone. Somatic practices like TRE (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises) offer another way in — one that begins with the body’s own language of sensation, safety, and release.

In TRE, containment isn’t about holding back — it’s about creating the conditions your body needs to feel safe enough to let go.Drawing on Richmond Heath’s framing of the three phases of containment — safety, engagement, and expansion — this blog explores how you can begin to recognize and support these stages as you learn to tremor.

What is TRE?

TRE (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises) is a body-based practice developed by Dr. David Berceli to help the nervous system release chronic stress and trauma. It works by activating the body’s natural tremor mechanism, which gently discharges stored tension from the muscles.For those who feel disconnected from their bodies—whether due to trauma, chronic stress, or shutdown—TRE offers a safe, structured way to begin restoring that connection. Rather than relying on effort or control, TRE invites you into a relationship with your body that is rooted in choice, containment, and the body’s own timing.

1. Safety as the First Container: “Held Enough to Begin”

Before anything can move, your body needs to feel held — not in a literal embrace, but in a way that signals “you’re safe enough to soften.” This might mean:- A clear boundary around time and space- Predictability in the process- Grounded presence (your own or from a facilitator)- Permission to stop or rest at any timeSafety isn’t static — it’s dynamic and relational. In your own practice, you might start by simply noticing: Do I feel safe enough right now to begin? “You’re not trying to push through resistance. You’re inviting your body to lean into its own wisdom — and that starts with being held.”

2. Engaging the Edges: “Meeting What Arises”

As your body feels safer, you might begin to explore — to engage with movement, sensation, or emotion. This is where tremors may start or deepen. It’s also where vulnerability can arise.This part of the process is about responsiveness, not intensity. What are you noticing? What’s moving, or what wants to move? Stay with your own pace.“Engagement in TRE isn’t about how much you tremor — it’s about how present you can be with whatever is happening.”

3. Expansion: “The System Wants to Move”

At a certain point, the containment might dissolve — your body might move more freely, organically, spontaneously. You may feel more expression or integration arise.Sometimes expansion looks like big movement. Other times, it’s a quiet stillness. And some days, your system may say, “That’s enough.”True containment includes the freedom to expand — and to pause.

Containment as Compassion

Containment isn’t about control. It’s about care. It’s the ability to stay with what’s happening without being overwhelmed. If you’re exploring TRE for yourself, remember: containment isn’t a step to get through. It’s a cycle that holds you as you heal.

I can remember when all my body wanted to do during tremoring was push my feet up under a heavy table — this brought in the memory of frightful free falling, the complete opposite of being contained. The polarities are at play within us! Yesterday when I worked with a complex group, I could feel in my body that safety mean't different things to every body in the room: some freeing outwardly, some freeing inwardly. Yet at one point, they all synced up in the inward containment together. I suppose then that all nervous systems in the room felt supported. I’ll be interested to see what happens next week, especially to the ones that have shutdown as a regular stress response.

An Invitation to Begin, Together

If something in you feels curious — even if another part feels hesitant — that’s enough to begin. TRE isn’t something to master. It’s something to explore, one tremor, one pause, one breath at a time. You don’t have to do it alone. In fact, this work deepens in the presence of others. When we tremor together in a trauma-informed space, we’re not just releasing old patterns — we’re creating new ones. Ones that say: you’re safe here, you’re not too much, and you don’t have to hold it all on your own.Whether you’re just starting or returning again, may you find a rhythm that meets you. May your nervous system feel supported — by the ground beneath you, and the community around you.

Trauma doesn’t happen in a vacuum — it happens in systems. What you carry may reflect not just personal pain, but the impacts of cultural conditioning, marginalization, and the absence of care where it was most needed.

Want to Explore TRE Gently?

There are a few ways to begin:

Start small with TRE for 3 — a gentle, three-week introduction focused on reconnecting with your body and improving sleep.

Work one-on-one for personalized support at your own pace.

Join the Safe to Feel program — a self-paced, trauma-informed online journey where you can explore somatic healing in community.

Each path honors your nervous system’s rhythm. You don’t need to push — just begin where you are.

In healing

Kendra

References

Heath, R. (n.d.). Three Containments in TRE. Vimeo. [Private Training Resource].

Berceli, D. (2008). The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times. Namaste Publishing.

Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. North Atlantic Books.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, Self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

Emerson, D., & Hopper, E. (2011). Overcoming Trauma through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body. North Atlantic Books.

van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.

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