ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the autonomic level of mentalization and the compass related to the autonomic sensory level. It describes Peter Levine’s approach, "somatic experiencing", and reviews two therapy cases that he presented at the conference, with his comments and our own reflections from the perspective of the autonomic compass. The autonomic nervous system consists of two branches: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The level of mental organisation is associated with processes in the brainstem, mid-brain structures, and the autonomic nervous system. In addition, the personality is locked into the autonomic sensory level, where one cannot understand one’s own share in events but is limited to primitive projections; other people are perceived as unpredictable, and there is no trust of their intentions. Self-protection strategies from the autonomic and sensory level of organisation play a particularly prominent role in connection with neglect, abuse, and trauma disorders.
