counselling. in shamanism it is believed that when a person is overwhelmed by tragedy his soul will leave his body, a belief which is concordant with our present understanding of dissociation." levine even notes that while developing his "theoretical biophysics doctoral dissertation on accumulated stress, as well as on my body-mind approach to resolving stress and healing trauma" he had a mystical experience where he engaged in a year-long socratic dialogue with an apparition of albert einstein. after reportedly having a "profound" dream peter levine believed he had been "assigned" the task "to protect this ancient knowledge from the celtic stone age temples, and the tibetan tradition, and to bring it to the scientific western way of looking at things....". evidence a 2019 systemic literature review noted that a stronger investment in clinical trials was needed to determine the efficacy of somatic experiencing. a 2021 literature review noted that "se attracts growing interest in clinical application despite the lack of empirical research. yet, the current evidence base is weak and does not (yet) fully accomplish the high standards for clinical effectiveness research."