A comment on body-centered therapy by Peter Levine

"Unspoken Voice" by Peter A. Levine Ph.D.

 I am enjoying Peter Levine’s new book and thought readers and contributors might like this quotation:

“The therapist who is familiar with bodily feelings has a privileged window onto the primal life of the psyche and soul. No amount of talk alone can match this vantage point. Long before the advent of psychiatry, the French philosopher Pascal noted that ”the body has its reasons that reason can not reason.” The Austrian Wittgenstein, in this same tradition, wrote that “the body is the best picture of the mind.” And the Australian F.M. Alexander, around the turn of the nineteenth century, made an extensive study of people’s postures and concluded, “When psychologists speak of the unconscious, it is the body that they are talking about.”

The current lack of the appreciation of the body in psychotherapy caused the analyst Musad Kahn to lament, “I have not come across any paper that discusses the contribution made to our knowledge and experience of a patient from our looking at him or her in their person as a body as against looking at merely the verbal material and affective responses in the analytic situation.”

Somatically oriented therapists provide their clients with carefully paced feedback in the form of invitations to explore their emerging bodily sensations. This feedback is based on the therapists ability to observe and track the postural, gestural, facial (emotional) and psychological shifts throughout a session in order to bring them into a client’s conscious awareness. This allows both client and therapist to uncover unconscious conflicts and traumas that are well beyond the reach of reason.

This from his Peter Levine’s recent book, “In an Unspoken Voice”,(2010). New Atlantic Books. Berkley, CA. pp. 157-158. The quote from Kahn is dated 1994. Four years after Ron Kurtz book, “Body-centered Psychotherapy: the Hakomi Method” was published.

Third and final slide presentation is now up.

I just wanted to announce that the third slide presentation has been added to the slide show page. It covers the entire transition and includes suggestions about things that can be done while working indirectly. There are eighteen slides in the presentation. It will take about ten minutes to absorb. If you are interested in learning this method I recommend that you print out the summaries and paste them on note cards.

Please feel free to comment. I love the feedback.

Dave

Book Review: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz
Book Review by Carol Ladas-Gaskin

We were directed to reading this book by a cryptic email from Ron Kurtz, founder of the Hakomi method. The email was addressed to a long list of students and graduates of Hakomi trainings, people who understand and appreciate Ron’s sense of humor and his unerring recommendations for good reading. It read: “If you don’t read this book, I’m going to kill myself.”

Recommended by Ron Kurtz

Shortly after we read the book, another recommendation arrived from our colleague Rob Bageant, Hakomi therapist, teacher and trainer now working Taiwan. He wrote, “(They) write with a novelist’s sense of structure. My heart aches to hear what these children have experienced; I can hardly read the case studies. And yet, I believe that anyone interested in more deeply understanding what it means to be human should read this book. The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog has a lot of answers. Through hard won experience, Perry and Szalavitz have ferreted out the neurological effects of trauma as well as the practical therapeutic approaches which help heal the wounds.” A client and workshop participant, who has experienced encounters with psychiatrists of a less compassionate persuasion, read the book recently and left a touching phone message conveying how this book has changed her attitude about psychiatrists and psychiatry.

The Boy who was Raised by a Dog is a memoir of a Bruce Perry’s growth and development as a psychiatrist working with children suffering from severe trauma. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. is a senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy. He has served as a consultant to the FBI (concerning the Waco disaster) and is the former chief of psychiatry at Texas Children’s hospital as well as former Vice Chairman for Research in the Dept. of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. His co-author Maia Szalavitz is author of Help at any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids and Recovery Options: The Complete Guide written with Jospeh Volpicelli, M.D., Ph.D. Although the book is written by both Perry and Slalavitz, the stories themselves are written as experiences had by Perry, so the review will speak of him rather than them.

It is rare to find a book so informative and practical and yet inspiring to read. As practitioners of a method, Mindfulness Centered Therapies, based in part on the teachings of Ron Kurtz’ and as clinicians who long ago discovered the healing power of mindfulness, compassionate presence and following the client, we find this book to be an affirmation of all of the principles of our work and the methods we teach. Perry’s life-affirming approach with his respectful, kind, profoundly attentive and innovative, mindful presence embodies the work of our teachers, to mention a few, Carl Rogers, Ron Kurtz, Eugene Gendlin, and Richard Schwartz.

One of Perry’s most important conclusions after years of his clinical work is that “the infant/child is highly susceptible to trauma and stress in the first three years of life. …. The earlier view that children are inherently resilient is false.” Add to this his observation that many times, early childhood trauma is misdiagnosed as ADHD and since many of the diagnostic symptoms are identical, this is of crucial significance. Perry is very innovative and creative in his approach to working with these severely traumatized children and their families and peers. He says: “A sincere, kind act, it seemed to me, could have more therapeutic impact than any artificial, emotionally regulated stance that so often characterizes “therapy.” Fire can warm or consume, water can quench or drown; wind can caress or cut. And so it is with human relationships: we can create and destroy, nurture and terrorize, traumatize and heal each other. Like other teachers, clinicians, and researchers who had inspired me, my teacher encouraged exploration, curiosity and reflection, but most importantly gave me courage to challenge existing beliefs.”

The book is available in paperback and consists of a series of eleven amazing vignettes each describing Perry’s experience and interactions with a severely traumatized child or a group of children. Their back stories range from severe sexual and physical abuse of individual children to survivors of the Waco disaster to the title story about a boy who was literally raised as a dog.

Woven throughout these stories we see the qualities of gentle curiosity, attunement and an attentiveness born of a remarkable sensitivity to non verbal communication and a commitment to non-violence in even the most subtle form. These healing practices provide room for the client, in this case a traumatized child, to be an active agent in the process of healing, free to titrate his or her experience and the pace of the healing. It is clear that Perry has learned to trust his own creativity and the power of relatedness. He seems to have an unerring ability to discover the action, words and atmosphere that are inherently nourishing and healing to the child in the moment. His transparent expression of this process provides a deep teaching for all of us in the healing profession.

He says, regarding choice and self direction,“One of the defining elements of traumatic experience – particularly one that is so traumatic that one dissociates because there is no escape from it – is a complete loss of control and a sense of utter powerlessness. As a result, gaining control is an important aspect of coping with traumatic stress. To develop a self, one must exercise choice and learn from consequences. The process needs to be self directed and the child (client) needs to be in control of the timing.

Perry’s own inner work is evident in these words, “As a therapist, caregiver, parent, friend we need to be clear that in order to calm a child (client), you must first calm yourself.” Although, he cautions, that immediate debriefing after a traumatic event “is often intrusive, unwanted and may actually be counter-productive. What is needed is presence, appropriate timing (pace), structure not rigidity and nurturance but not forced affection.”

Throughout the book in addition to the stories and the process of working with the children, Perry and Slalavitz share neurological details regarding the brain, memory and association that are the foundation of his therapeutic practice. He has discovered that children become resilient and able to access effective memory as a result of repetitive, moderate, predictable patterns of stress and nurturing and that these patterns make a system stronger and more functionally capable creating “a resilient, flexible stress response capacity.” Systems in the brain that are repeatedly activated will change and the systems that don’t get activated won’t change. Through association, which underlies both language and memory, we weave all of our incoming sensory signals together – sound, sight, touch, scent – to create the whole person. His actual stories of working with these children illustrate the practice of his understanding in real life.

Millions of tiny decisions are made in the life of each person, seemingly irrelevant but often profound choices that determine the entire life direction of a child. Honoring, respecting and acknowledging distressing experiences and strong emotions with a sense of appropriate timing and space creates a profound context for healing. Although these stories are all focused on therapeutic work with children, it is clear in reading the book that the work would be welcomed, by adults, as well, who long to be met with such sensitivity and presence.

Though each of these stories is heartbreaking, Perry and Slavitz write with such compassion they inspire us to bring creativity and courage to our work with all our clients. Not only is this a heart opening and affirming book about the power of relationship, and what is possible in our work as therapists, but it is an inspiration to bring our personhood, creativity and imagination and especially our compassion to clinical work. These stories are almost impossible to put down, and the teaching found within them is priceless.

To close, in Perry’s words, “most therapeutic experiences take place in naturally occurring healthy relationships. Anything that increases the quality and number of healthy relationships in the child’s life is helpful. The experience of safe touch is invaluable if it is freely chosen.”

Quotes from The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. and Maia Szalavitz compiled by Carol Ladas-Gaskin and J. David Cole

Progoff Intensive Journal Article

 “Writing is a way of loving the world.”

Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones,

 “Each person needs then early on to go inside, far enough inside to water the plants, awaken the animals, become friends with the desires and sense what Machado calls “’the living pulse of the spirit.’”

Robert Bly in News of the Universe

 The Progoff Intensive Journal is one of the forms of compassionate, non judging self study that is a useful practice in Mindfulness Centered Therapies. It is not a traditional diary or method of journal keeping but instead a unique tool for self-balancing, creativity and personal growth. By design it is non-analytical, non-judgmental and self empowering and assists in self discovery and integration. Developed by Dr. Ira Progoff, it was the outcome of years of research in the dynamic psychology of creative and spiritual experience in the 1960’s. As Director of the Institute for Research in Depth Psychology at Drew University and  a therapist and workshop leader following his studies with Carl Jung, he studied the lives of creative people with a focus on the common threads, themes and dynamics of creativity and growth. His own clarity and creativity were imminently apparent in his construction of this integrating tool. He was also, in an age of gurus, a refreshingly humble man, a compassionate listener who trusted a deeper process. There is a quality of balance, gentle humor and wholeness immediately apparent in his work.

 The Intensive Journal originally created in 1966 has helped over hundreds of thousands of people explore their own depths and find the inner movement of their lives. The book, At A Journal workshop published in 1975, and revised in 1992 has been hailed as “the best book on psychological self-care.” The processes in the work borrow from Lao Tzu, Buddha, St Augustine, St Francis of Assisi, Dostoevsky, Carl Jung, D.T. Suzuki and Martin Buber. The principles of mindfulness: non judging awareness in the present moment, a quiet spacious atmosphere, a trust in organicity and depth, an awareness of unity and the body’s wisdom in the presence of Self are inherent in its practice.

At the core of this work are the “Dialogues” and the practice of “Journal Feedback.” The intention of the practice is to develop an awareness of the ongoing process of one’s inner life, and, in the presence of compassionate curiosity and awareness, to allow one’s life to move forward. This fosters a natural occurring integration.

 In a workshop setting, the process begins with participants recording personal information about their lives in four dimensions: Life Time, Dialogues, Depth and Meaning. These include life experiences, persons, works, dreams, images, society, the body, events and spiritual experiences. Participants receive a simple three-ring binder with many specific subject dividers to begin the process. One’s life experiences both inner and outer are then easily accessible, and can be re-entered and non-judgmentally explored at any time, clarifying one’s history, and providing a sense of continuity and connection.   

 This atmosphere of the workshop is created by the quality of presence in the journal consultant conveyed by calmness of voice, appropriate timing, gentle introduction of the material, clarity of structure, respect for inner process and depth and the intentional quiet that pervades the workshop. It is non- conversational and provides a quality of privacy, despite the presence of others. Each person is working in their own life. There is no intrusion. Once a client has taken a workshop or the series, therapy proceeds more easily as one has a process for working independently within its structure.

The Life Integration workshop introduces journal feedback which is a non-analytical organic cross-referencing that generates energy and movement. Once a participant has recorded life data in most of the sections of the journal, the key question is: “To what aspect of my life does this entry call my attention, or where in the journal does this lead me?” Wherever we are drawn: to a memory, a moment of transition, a person we haven’t seen in years, an image or a dream, there is a place and a process for working with it. Whatever we write, we read and then record our reaction or response and follow it forward.

All of these notations begin to form a thread, and as they overlap, the internal fabric begins to emerge. We are able to see from a different vantage point and moved by the process from fragmentation and separateness toward seeing the wholeness, order and strength of the life fabric. As a result of this organic, accepting, compassionate curiosity process, a pattern becomes more visible.

This process enlarges the scope of one’s questions outside the boundaries of “problem” and instead accesses that which is transpersonal and connected. It is not that judgment is wrong, for that’s another judgment, there’s just no room for it in the movement forward. Instead of paralysis, there is attention, trust, movement and energy. In this exploration we gradually discover that our life has been going somewhere and that we can understand where it wants to go next.

As in mindfulness and Hakomi, there is no forcing in the journal. If there’s no experience or if there is a resistance or reaction to something, we do our best not to judge and quietly record what is happening. This quality of spaciousness is at the heart of the work; it is a quality of love in its greatest sense. The Intensive Journal is not a substitute for life but rather is about living one’s life attentively. It is not even about writing, nor is any writing experience necessary. Language is the medium through which we understand experience.  As Progoff said, “Every human being has at least one great creative project, a life.”

Joseph Campbell, the world’s foremost authority on mythology said, “The Intensive Journal is one of the greatest inventions of our time.” Anais Nin said, “One cannot help but be amazed by what emerges from this skillful inner journey. All the elements we attribute to the poet, the artist become available to everyone at all levels of society.”

Author: Carol Ladas-Gaskin, an Intensive Journal consultant, certified counselor, Hakomi therapist, teacher and trainer, www.seattlehakomi.com, co-author of Mindfulness Centered Therapies, an integrative approach, www.mindfulnessbooks.com and author of Unfurling, a collection of poems

For more information on the Intensive Journal workshops in the Seattle area, please call 206) 533-9601.

Ed Feuz: Genius of physical transformation

 

About Ed Feuz and his amazing body-centered assessments, releases and exercise programs.

I know six people who have had assessment sessions with this body-centered coach and they have all been deeply impressed with the results of the releases performed in the assessments and in following the individually designed exercise programs that Ed recommends. Ed Feuz and his partner Karen possess deep and detailed knowledge of  anatomy and know how to apply it to relieve distortions bodies accumulate through  lifetimes of being in the world. At 69 years, I feel better, more limber, younger, more alive, and more energetic than I have in at least a decade. In addition Carol and I have come to love the exercises that we do almost every evening. We love them because they make us feel better. What a great reason to love doing something! In addition, I have lost twenty pounds since late August when I had my first assessment and I can see Carol is losing weight as well (she just doesn’t keep track of it). But the weight loss is only a small part of the benefit. We have both experienced ongoing postural improvement. We stand in a more balanced, erect posture; walk differently with more flow and more flexibility  in the hips and lower back; our shoulders and necks are looser, freer, less bound up with tension. 

In addition, after each session we have had with Ed we find some new area of consciousness openning up. It makes very good sense and should not be surprising that  momentous change in the body would be accompanied by alterations in consciousness.  Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that these psychological transformations accompanied by insights have been associated with physical releases experienced in our sessions with Ed. It is very affirming of the value of including the body in healing and personal growth work.

To reach Ed Feuz call him during working hours at 1-250-354-0100. His studio is in Nelson, BC due north of Spokane and about 50 miles over the border. Its a bit of a journey but the town and setting are beautiful and they are even more beautiful after a session with Ed,

Composed by Dave Cole

Movie Recommendation: As it is in Heaven

As it is in Heaven; Swedish film (subtitles) Reviewed by Carol Ladas-Gaskin

Daniel is a successful renowned conductor who suffered a painful childhood, bullied by school mates for his musical interests as a young seven year old. He and his mother leave their village in Northern Sweden. His life as a musician and conductor lead to his distinguished success. Despite his work as a conductor, he tends to be withdrawn and intolerant toward people.  A sudden, unexpected heart attack abruptly ends his career. Without quite knowing why, he returns to the village of his childhood thinking he will rest and retire in the old, abandoned primary school. But, when the parish pastor invites him to listen to the church choir, which practices every Thursday in the parish hall, he reluctantly agrees. He begins to devote himself to them and to his long held desire to open the hearts of people with music.

From the moment he meets with them he begins to invite them to explore their natural voices, encouraging movement and connection and authenticity among them in a remarkably fresh and inspiring way. The choir develops and grows. Everyone is welcome. The members begin to find that discovering their own voice tone and the depth of their voices is affecting their daily life. Personal transformations begin to unfold and Daniel himself begins to open his heart to the people. Though there are many difficulties and struggles, his dream of opening the hearts of the people with music comes true

Film review: Departures

Departures

In this film, Daigo is a devoted cellist who, because of circumstances beyond his control, finds himself without a job. He and his wife return to his home town and in looking for a job, he answers a classified ad entitled “Departures,” which he assumes means work in a travel agency. Much to his consternation and confusion when he arrives at the address, he discovers that it is for a “Nokanshi or “encoffineer” who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry to the next life. Despite the attitudes of those around him including his wife, he takes great pride in his work and begins to perfect his practice of becoming a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Temple Grandin

The film Temple Grandin portrays the life story of an autistic savant. Born in 1947 when autism was treated with a sense of hopelessness by the medical profession, her mother determined that Temple would succeed in her life, insisted on her schooling. The film shows her struggles in such a vivid way that it is possible to grasp her inner world – her feelings and her sensory experiences and even the intricate workings of her mind.  In order to soothe herself during moments of intense anxiety, Temple created a wooden structure to contain and comfort herself – since human touch was deeply troubling and intolerable. During her schooling which was humiliating and nearly unbearable, she began to design and engineer other structures. Remarkably, despite her autism, she was able to speak with depth and passion about her inner life at her graduation ceremony. She loved animals and because of her devotion to cattle, she devised a structure to provide them a calm passageway on their way to slaughter. Though it was clear to her that they would die, she wanted them to experience kindness and respect while they were alive up to the moment of their death. This is a deeply moving and hopeful film.

A person of extraordinary courage and genius, Temple is now a distinguished professor at Colorado State University and a Doctor of Animal Science, as well as a bestselling author and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She is also the inventor of the hug machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons.

Reviewed by Carol Ladas-Gaskin