Somatic Experiencing vs STAIR
A side-by-side comparison: mechanism, evidence, the conditions each treats, philosophical roots, and where they actually disagree clinically.
At a glance
Somatic Experiencing
- Tradition
- Somatic
- Founder
- Peter Levine (1997)
- Evidence
- RCT-supported
- Focus
- Somatic + Experiential
- Format
- Individual
- Duration
- Medium-term
STAIR
- Tradition
- Cognitive-Behavioral
- Founder
- Marylene Cloitre (2002)
- Evidence
- Guideline-recommended
- Focus
- Skill + Processing
- Format
- Individual
- Duration
- Short (16)
How they work
Somatic Experiencing
Core mechanism: Titrated pendulation between activation and resource states completes truncated survival responses trapped in the body
Ontology: Incomplete defensive responses (fight/flight/freeze) remain bound in the nervous system as undischarged survival energy
STAIR
Core mechanism: Phase 1 builds emotion regulation and interpersonal skills; Phase 2 uses modified narrative exposure with these new capacities
Ontology: Complex trauma disrupts both affect regulation and interpersonal functioning; skills needed before narrative processing
Conditions treated
2 shared · 4 Somatic Experiencing-only · 0 STAIR-only
Both treat
Only Somatic Experiencing
What each assumes — and misses
Somatic Experiencing
Philosophical roots: Reich/Lowen (body holds defense — Levine studied with both); Merleau-Ponty (lived body); Darwin (survival instincts); ethology (Tinbergen, Lorenz — animal defensive responses); James-Lange (emotion as bodily process)
Blind spots: Risk of over-physiologizing psychological meaning; limited manualization makes research difficult; can be vague in application
Therapeutic voice: Where in your body do you feel that right now? Just notice, without trying to change it.
STAIR
Philosophical roots: Herman (phase-oriented treatment); Cloitre (skills before exposure); developmental psychopathology; attachment theory
Blind spots: Two-phase structure lengthens treatment; Phase 1 skills focus may feel slow for clients ready to process
Therapeutic voice: Let's practice naming what you're feeling with more precision — not just 'bad,' but specifically what kind of bad.
Choosing between them
Somatic Experiencing (Somatic) and STAIR (Cognitive-Behavioral) come from different traditions, which means they assume different things about what a person is, what causes suffering, and what the therapeutic relationship is for. The choice between them is often less about "which works better" and more about which set of assumptions fits the client and the therapist.
For deeper coverage: see the full Somatic Experiencing and STAIR pages, or use the interactive comparison tool to add more modalities to this comparison.