Movement Psychotherapy
An intervention using movement usually helps clients become more aware of how they use or limit their body, breath, rhythm, shape, or space to express or limit emotions, such as feelings of safety or fear in relationship with themselves, others,or their environment. For example, when a person feels safe they usually expand their bodies into space, extend themselves toward others, and breath more deeply. Trauma causes the mind and body to shrink, become rigid and guarded, and constantly scan relationships or the environment for danger. Therefore movement interventions usually focus on understanding unique body triggers, examining and releasing the body trauma, and reshaping the body in order to "ready it" for experiences of renewed trust and hope, which restores feelings of safety and calm to the mind and body. Client are usually taught how to use progressive body scans and breathing work to identify how their body uniquely stores residual trauma or daily stress reactions.
Therapeutic Touch / Self Massage
When a client is open and ready to use touch as an intervention, respectful, consensual and therapeutic touch is used to restore feelings of dignity and safety in the body using save connection with the therapist. Therapeutic Touch / Self Massage can be limited to particular body parts, be done fully clothed, or taught as a self-soothing technique. Clients can decide where or not touch from the therapist is appropriate or learn techniques to self-sooth through loving and gentle self touch. For example, the therapist might teach a client to identify that their unique body expresses stress in their head, as a client begins to notice, that under stress, they usually feel a throbbing sensation in the temples or pain between the eyes. Therapeutic touch would direct the client or therapist (if consensual) to massage the temples on the side of the head or to smooth stress line in the face in order to reshape the body away from its usual stress reaction and induce feelings of relaxation and calm.
Emotional Acupressure (EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique)
Using the principles and body meridians discovered through Chinese acupressure techniques, clients are helped to apply gentle pressure or tapping to specific regions in the body in order to induce release and relaxation. When traumatic experience, disappointments, or patterns of negative thinking become stored in the mind and body, tapping (or applied pressure) on specific body meridians can release trauma, pain, and rigidity in the mind and body. Clients are taught to "install a safe place" into their minds and bodies by identify environments and resources that naturally help them feel calm (i.e. nature scenery, visualization of past successes or happy memories). These "installed" images can provide mental and emotional refuge during times of stress, or clients can learn to use these techniques, daily, as a way of setting their intention to restore self confidence, overcome phobias, combat depressive or anxious thoughts, and develop deeper and safer connections with self and others.
An intervention using movement usually helps clients become more aware of how they use or limit their body, breath, rhythm, shape, or space to express or limit emotions, such as feelings of safety or fear in relationship with themselves, others,or their environment. For example, when a person feels safe they usually expand their bodies into space, extend themselves toward others, and breath more deeply. Trauma causes the mind and body to shrink, become rigid and guarded, and constantly scan relationships or the environment for danger. Therefore movement interventions usually focus on understanding unique body triggers, examining and releasing the body trauma, and reshaping the body in order to "ready it" for experiences of renewed trust and hope, which restores feelings of safety and calm to the mind and body. Client are usually taught how to use progressive body scans and breathing work to identify how their body uniquely stores residual trauma or daily stress reactions.
Therapeutic Touch / Self Massage
When a client is open and ready to use touch as an intervention, respectful, consensual and therapeutic touch is used to restore feelings of dignity and safety in the body using save connection with the therapist. Therapeutic Touch / Self Massage can be limited to particular body parts, be done fully clothed, or taught as a self-soothing technique. Clients can decide where or not touch from the therapist is appropriate or learn techniques to self-sooth through loving and gentle self touch. For example, the therapist might teach a client to identify that their unique body expresses stress in their head, as a client begins to notice, that under stress, they usually feel a throbbing sensation in the temples or pain between the eyes. Therapeutic touch would direct the client or therapist (if consensual) to massage the temples on the side of the head or to smooth stress line in the face in order to reshape the body away from its usual stress reaction and induce feelings of relaxation and calm.
Emotional Acupressure (EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique)
Using the principles and body meridians discovered through Chinese acupressure techniques, clients are helped to apply gentle pressure or tapping to specific regions in the body in order to induce release and relaxation. When traumatic experience, disappointments, or patterns of negative thinking become stored in the mind and body, tapping (or applied pressure) on specific body meridians can release trauma, pain, and rigidity in the mind and body. Clients are taught to "install a safe place" into their minds and bodies by identify environments and resources that naturally help them feel calm (i.e. nature scenery, visualization of past successes or happy memories). These "installed" images can provide mental and emotional refuge during times of stress, or clients can learn to use these techniques, daily, as a way of setting their intention to restore self confidence, overcome phobias, combat depressive or anxious thoughts, and develop deeper and safer connections with self and others.