The SIBAM Model: A Simple Way to Understand Trauma
When we go through something difficult (especially something overwhelming or traumatic) we often try to make sense of it by talking about what happened. But trauma doesn't live only in the story. It can show up in our bodies, emotions, behaviours, memories, and the meanings we make from what happened.
Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, developed the SIBAM model as a way of understanding these different parts of our experience. SIBAM stands for Sensation, Image, Behaviour, Affect, and Meaning.
Levine describes it as a way to “track” how people process experiences.
The idea is that a complete experience involves all five of these experiences; when we only have access to 1 or 2 of the parts of the experience, that’s when trauma get’s stored or “trapped”.
The 5 Elements of the SIBAM Model
S — Sensation
What do you notice in your body?
Maybe your chest feels tight. Your stomach drops. Your hands get warm. You feel shaky, heavy, numb, tingly, or restless.
Levine's approach pays particular attention to these physical sensations because, as he describes it, the process moves “from the most primitive” physical sensations toward feelings, perceptions, and thoughts.
I — Image
What images, memories, sounds, smells, or internal pictures come up?
An image might be a vivid memory, a flash of something that happened, the sound of someone's voice, or even a metaphorical image. For example, you might picture a rock sitting on your chest; you know there isn't really a rock on your chest, yet that's the image that comes to mind when you think of your trauma.
B — Behaviour
What is your body doing?
This can include obvious behaviours like running, freezing, withdrawing, or becoming defensive. It can also be much more subtle: clenching your jaw, holding your breath, turning away, making a fist, or suddenly becoming very still.
When it comes to trauma, behaviour can sometimes tell us something important before we have words for it.
A — Affect
What emotion is present?
Fear. Anger. Sadness. Shame. Grief. Relief. Joy.
Affect is the emotional part of the experience. Sometimes we know exactly what we're feeling. Other times, the emotion is buried underneath numbness, disconnection, or a physical sensation we don't yet understand.
M — Meaning
What does this experience mean to you?
This is the story we make about what happened.
“I'm not safe.”“It was my fault.”“I should have done something.”“I can't trust people.”
Meaning can be incredibly powerful. It can help us understand our experiences, but after trauma, the meaning we make can also become shaped by fear, shame, or helplessness.
So, what does this have to do with trauma?
Levine's model suggests that trauma can disrupt the normal connection between these different parts of experience. One part may become extremely intense while another becomes disconnected.
You might know you're safe intellectually, for example, while your body is still responding as though you're in danger.
You might remember something that happened but feel completely numb when you talk about it.
Or you might experience a racing heart and intense fear without understanding what triggered it.
In other words, the experience doesn't always arrive as one neat, coherent story.
Levine describes trauma as creating “fragmentation in the coherence of experience.”
This is one reason that simply telling yourself “I'm fine” doesn't always make your nervous system feel fine.
Using SIBAM to move through a difficult experience
SIBAM gives us a different way to approach difficult experiences. Instead of immediately asking, “Why am I feeling this way?”, we can become curious about the whole experience.
For example:
Sensation: My chest feels tight.
Image: I'm remembering standing in that room.
Behaviour: I notice I'm holding my breath and pulling my shoulders up.
Affect: There's fear here.
Meaning: I'm going to be trapped again.
Rather than forcing ourselves to analyse everything at once, we can gently notice each part.
This is part of what makes the SIBAM model useful in trauma work. The goal isn't to force someone to relive an experience or uncover every detail of a traumatic memory. Instead, a trained therapist can help someone notice what is happening right now, at a pace their nervous system can tolerate.
Levine describes SIBAM as a “bottom-up” approach, moving from the body's experience toward feelings, perceptions, and thoughts.
Sometimes healing involves reconnecting things that have become disconnected. Sometimes it involves separating things that have become fused together—like a present-day sensation automatically becoming “I'm in danger.”
Somatic Experiencing International describes this as working with the over- or under-association between the different elements of SIBAM.
And importantly, you don't have to understand everything before you can begin.
As Levine puts it, “playful curiosity” can be an antidote to trauma.
Instead of “What's wrong with me?”, we can begin with:
“That's interesting. What am I noticing right now?”
That small shift, from judging the experience to becoming curious about it, can create space for something new to happen.
Note: SIBAM is a clinical framework used within Somatic Experiencing. Working therapeutically with trauma and dissociation should be done with an appropriately trained professional.
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