THEORETICAL APPROACHES
Mindfulness Practice
Integrating mindfulness practice into therapy can truly enhance the healing process. Jon Kabat-Zinn describes mindfulness as "...open hearted, moment to moment, non-judgmental awareness."
The task of remaining open hearted while in deep emotional pain can be daunting. We develop greater awareness, concentration and insight by simply paying attention to our own experience without judgement. This creates a nourishing environment where we can connect to our inner resources and strengths, bringing compassion to our experience and keeping an open heart even in the face of life's difficulties.
Mindfulness offers an avenue to awakening. Although we may be working with an experience from the past - all healing occurs in the present moment.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a leading edge structured approach to resolving trauma either from our past or a recent event. Sometimes disturbing events become frozen within us and we are unable to process and move beyond the pain of the experience. EMDR enables us to process information more effectively, moving past these blocks and freeing up our enegy and our ability to live fully.
"EMDR is an integrated model that incorporates aspects of pschodynamic, experiential, behavioural, cognitive, body based and systems therapies... EMDR helps trauma survivors reprocess disturbing thoughts and memories, providing safe and stable treatment effects in a short period of time." Francine Shapiro, creator of EMDR
Somatic Transformation
Developed by Dr. Sharon Stanley, Somatic Transformation is a life-span approach to the healing of acute and chronic stress trauma. This creative therapeutic approach elicits the body's innate wisdom and facilitates transformational change. It combines research in the fields of attachment, empathy, brain development, autonomic regulation of the nervous system, trauma studies and ancient practices of healing.
Somatic Transformation builds on the principles of Positive Psychology and insights gleaned from neurobiology to attend to the subtle, right brain injuries of attachment losses. Allan Schore PhD reports that all lasting therapeutic change for people suffering from trauma requires right brain healing strategies.
Click here for more information on Somatic Transformation
Somatic Experiencing® (SE)
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, effective approach to healing trauma. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE recognizes how the body's instinctual survival mechanisms of fight, flight or freeze are activated in response to a trauma. If not allowed to discharge naturally, trauma can become locked in the nervous system. SE utilizes the "felt sense" to access the trauma response. The client is guided in tracking the sensations from all the sense organs. Moving in and out of the trauma state to a healing resourced state, the body's nervous system is gradually regulated.
Dr. Levine acknowledges that traumatic events are not always major incidents. Even a minor auto accident can cause a trauma response.
Who can benefit from Somatic Experiencing? People who have experienced auto accidents (even minor ones), illness, injury, relationship loss, routine invasive medical or dental procedures, witnessing violence, and childhood abuse or neglect.
©2006-2022 Monica Kingsbury
