Retelling the Stories of Our Lives: Everyday Narrative Therapy to Draw Inspiration and Transform Experience

Denborough, David (2014). Retelling the Stories of Our Lives: Everyday Narrative Therapy to Draw Inspiration and Transform Experience. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-393-70815-8. 310 pages.

Reviewed by: Nataliya Rubinchik, Hunter College

Too often we let our experiences and circumstances define us rather than making them just a small part of who we are. David Denborough wrote Retelling the Stories of Our Lives: Everyday Narrative Therapy to Draw Inspiration and Transformation Experience as a way for readers to look back at the trauma and injustice they have experienced in their lives and to rewrite the meaning of these events in their story.

Negative events from our lives haunt us and define us unless we choose to rewrite our story. We have to learn to separate the good of who we are from the bad that circumstances outside of our control causes us to become. Denborough includes activities for the reader as well as examples from his cases to clearly show the reader what he or she should be doing.

Denborough divides his book into steps to help the reader go through a hopefully successful narrative therapy while he or she reads through the book. It is important for readers to understand from the beginning that the problem is the problem, and externalizing is the first step to overcoming it. It is also important to find the find someone or something that will be supportive of our journey whether it is an imaginary friend, someone we are close with, or just the pages of this book. It is similarly important to decide who is vital to our lives. Once we have identified all of these parts of our lives, we can begin to put them together into a story of our lives.

Retelling the Stories of Our Lives: Everyday Narrative Therapy to Draw Inspiration and Transformation Experience is written in an organized and easy-to-follow way which makes it easy for readers who wish to learn to retell their stories to feel comfortable doing the activities. It is written to be a guide for both individuals and larger groups of people who want to work together and help each other through this journey. Denborough gives readers a way to overcome trauma that has held them back for too long and see themselves in a better light.

The idea that partners in committed relationships elicit strong reactions in each other is self evident. That these passions are often overlooked in the therapy room is equally a reality. In this ground-breaking book, you will discover an innovative system for helping couples discover all of who they are.

The Gleasons ask you to reconsider what it means to trust your intuition, make room for strong energies, work with the body, bring sexuality into the therapy room, and to elicit full emotional expression. Here you will learn to welcome the passionate, erotic, chaotic truths that are often kept under wraps in the therapy room. Exceptional Couples: Transformation Through Embodied Couples Work synthesizes modern developmental theories with the wisdom of somatic psychotherapy and reveals how “embodying” is fundamental to helping couples break their patterns of vitality destroying habits of interacting.

The Gleasons invite you on a journey of the highest magnitude where couples can come fully alive. They generously open the door to their practice room, sharing in-depth case examples and effective strategies they’ve developed over the course of their careers. They ask you to come along with them and live in the mystery of yet-to-be discovered places in every relationship.

The Gleasons met in in 1976 in clinical social work graduate school. They have devoted their lives to exploring how couples, including themselves, can have exceptional (beyond the ordinary) relationships.

Brandt, A. (2013). 8 Keys to Eliminating Passive-Aggressiveness. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 184 pages. ISBN: 9780393708462

Reviewed by: Joshua D. Wright, Hunter College of The City University of New York

In 8 Keys to Eliminating Passive-Aggressiveness Andrea Brandt strives to guide readers through practical steps to eliminating passive-aggressive behavior, a surprisingly common response to conflict that is destructive to relationships. Written for a general audience of those who either have identified their own passive-aggressive behavior, or who may be involved in passive-aggressive relationships, Brandt has created a fluid narrative using expertly drafted anecdotes and practical exercises to illuminate concepts.

As a psychotherapist, Brandt describes the origins of passive-aggressive behavior as a suppression of anger due to societal constraints and an outwardly passive response to situations due to perceived anxiety. The eight keys illuminated throughout the book have the goal of revealing hidden anger, teaching the use of body sensation to understand and express true emotion, teaching assertive communication, and guiding people to productive conflict negotiation. According to Brandt, all of this may require “the healing of childhood wounds” (p. xxx).
The key strength of this book is the anecdotal stories throughout each chapter, which describe couples that struggled and overcame relational problems stemming from passive-aggressiveness. Each of the eight keys is elaborated through its own dedicated chapter and consists of practical exercises such as journaling about one’s anger in order to recognize hidden anger or using provided checklists to aid in identifying unmet needs. The accessibility of this style lends to a light reading that is informative without going into unnecessary detail about underlying theory and research.

Despite the lack of demonstrated research support, there is something to gain from perusing its pages. General readers will gain an intimate knowledge of their own behavior and suggestions for eliminating passive-aggressiveness. Likewise, practicing psychotherapists will be exposed to relevant exercises that can be immediately incorporated in the clinical setting.

The final chapter reconnects to the introduction, elaborating on the initial example of passive-aggressiveness and providing a glimpse into how using the eight keys might change a destructive relationship for the better. Ultimately the path Brandt elucidates “[is not] a succession of doors, rooms you can pass through toward some magical destination” (p. 180). Instead she states, “you’ll be moving back and forth among the keys” and eventually realize adjusted relationships with more enabled responses and less reliance on passive-aggression (p. 180).

Annie Brook’s Books
Reviewed by Dawn Bhat, MA, MS, NCC

Birth’s Hidden Legacy: How Surprising Beliefs from Infancy Limit Successful Child and Adult Behavior, Volume 1, and Birth’s Hidden Legacy: Treat Earliest Origins of Shock and Attachment Trauma In Adults, Children, And Infants, Volume 2.

It happens to all of us: birth! Every birth is as different as every body, every mind and every person. How does birth influence personality and shape behavior? Does the uniqueness of the individual stem from early life development in utero and in vivo? Annie Brook, PhD explores prenatal and birth origins of behavior, identity and personality in her latest two-volume book entitled, Birth’s Hidden Legacy. Readers may be therapists seeking to improve their clinical skills, parents hoping to understand their child, and couples planning to bring a new life forward.

Annie Brook, PhD integrates prenatal and perinatal psychology, infant mental health, child development, and somatic psychotherapy in a profoundly captivating way. Sharing her personal perinatal history and her scholarly work, Brook opens readers’ eyes to considering the potential for pregnancy, birth, and neonatal development to have a long-lasting effect. She provides many case examples that represent typical and atypical experiences in development and in treatment.

Supported by perinatal and attachment theories, the cases presented may be considered anecdotal yet are a representation of the range of challenges that may be followed by any given birth. In a similar vein, such issues may be explored in this volume as a means of prevention. These clinical findings are part of a growing field within psychology and psychotherapy that has not been afforded its rightful attention in traditional academic training programs. On the other hand, Brook provides evidence for the application of neuroscience, attachment dynamics, pre and perinatal psychology, and bodymind approaches to treatment, healing and transformation.

Birth’s Hidden Legacy makes important contributions to the growing fields of somatic psychology and prenatal and perinatal psychology. It is a guide for clinicians exploring early life events with their clients from a bodymind perspective. It is an information source for pregnant couples that wish to have an optimal, safe birth experience in modern society that typically includes various medical interventions, some of which are absolutely necessary. Furthermore, Brook provides a synthesis of theory integrated with case examples, which is an artful skill that she developed over the course of three decades in practice. Brook points out that to create a biographical narrative of early precognitive parts of a person’s life is to find lasting change in behavior. As a manual for parents, educators and therapists, this work treats the subtle, non-verbal, body-based material that they affect autonomic nervous system regulation and manifest in overt behavior.

For a complete review of both volumes, we invite you to read our Spring 2014 issue of Somatic Psychotherapy Today, volume 4 number 1, available for free on our website May 15, 2014.

This is to let you know about the new conversation in the “Somatic Perspectives on Psychotherapy” series. This month, it is with Dr. Robert Moss, talking about Clinical Biopsychology.

The “Somatic Perspectives” series is edited by Serge Prengel, LMHC. Every other month, there is a new conversation. Each conversation lasts approximately a half hour. You can listen to it on the website, or download it as an MP3 audio file. You can also read it as a PDF transcript (available on the same page).

Dr. Moss is currently working with the Bon Secours Health System in Greenville, SC. He will be joining the Washington Medical Group in Washington, DC, this fall. He is board certified in clinical psychology (ABPP) and neuropsychology (ABN). He had over 20 years in private practice in addition to academic positions, the last of which was as an Associate Professor. He has published 49 professional articles and presented at a number of papers at local, national, and international conferences. He is the joint editor-in-chief of the new AIMS Neuroscience journal. He is ranked in the top 5% of all scientists on Research Gate.

See: http://www.somaticperspectives.com/2014/05/moss/

If the above doesn’t show up as a link in your email, type the following address in your browser, then click on the link to the conversation of the month:
http://www.SomaticPerspectives.com

Davidson, N. (2013). The Secrets of Lost Cats. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 264 pages. ISBN: 9781250006264

Reviewed by: Dorothy Luczak, Columbia University

The Secrets of Lost Cats is, first and foremost, a memoir. Specifically, it is the memoir of Core Energetics therapist Nancy Davidson through the lens of lost cat posters. The book records moments of her life and her growing interest in missing cats. Dr. Davidson provides a whimsical analytic point of view, with regard to pet loss and pet owners.

The book is comprised of twenty short chapters each preceded by an image of a lost cat poster, titled with a name, usually the pet’s, and tells of the author’s experiences as both a psychotherapist and a person. Some of these posters contain only text, most have photos, while one borders on modern art. However, each poster provides a different frame to the story that follows it. These are stories that speak to a diverse number of issues that might interest the psychotherapist, such as loss, homelessness or change.

One such chapter is titled “Mary,” but Mary isn’t the name of the lost kitten but its supposed owner. Mary is the possible owner because she refers to herself as Homeless Mary and is believed to have imagined the pet. Not only is the reader following the search of a lost pet but that of a human being. As Dr. Davidson sets out to locate Mary in Penn Station, a den of hundreds of thousands of travelers, she is essentially on a wild goose chase. Neither Mary nor the kitten are found, though more is revealed about Dr. Davidson: her life, her approach to psychosocial subjects such as homelessness, and her experiences. She is not unfamiliar with the gritty side of life. As a previous director of a battered women’s shelter, Dr. Davidson has already faced the ugly reality of poverty. There is a sense of the brutal struggles living without stability and the possibility of developing hallucinations and delusions ways to cope.

Another chapter that delves into psychosocial topics is the one titled, “Vancouver Joe.” Here is a situation that spans across generations and oceans. The story about a missing cat that is found from a family of Asian immigrants and their children locked in a neighbor’s garage. When Joe was found locked up in a neighbor’s garage, there was opposition in how to best rescue him. The younger members of the family were in favor of breaking into the garage while the older generation stated that would be a sign of disrespect to their neighbors. This situation brings up subjects such as ethnicity and culture and how they affect family dynamics. There is a different set of values between family members and Dr. Davidson provides a short examination of the topic using the text, Ethnicity and Family Therapy by Monica McGoldrick. Here Dr. Davidson briefly speaks of the difficulties of providing psychological care to those from a different cultural background.

The end of the book has a section devoted to a brief list of resources for anyone who is currently going through pet loss or has found a stray. These are lists of steps that Dr. Davidson has gathered through her journey in studying the lost pet and their owners, pet forums, and personal research. It is a fitting reminder that Dr. Davidson’s goal is not only to record her adventures but also to assist others. The steps are brief, logical, and reflective of the amount of forethought she has put into the subject.

As a psychotherapist, Dr. Davidson’s career clearly influences the way she approaches and reflects about her subject. She pulls from all of her different experiences, as a student of psychology, a family therapist, a couples’ therapist, and as a director of a battered women’s shelter. She is passionate in her discussion and attempts at pet relocation. Dr. Davidson reaches out to her audience from the position of a fellow cat lover and her energy is infectious. The text is simple, warm and personable which opens it to a wide scope of readership.

The Secrets of Lost Cats would be best gifted to anyone with a love of cats or who has recently lost a pet. It would also make a great companion for short trips or spare moments as the book reads like a collection of short stories. For psychotherapists, this text brings an intimate look into the life of a peer, as well as her approach to life. As Dr. Davidson said, “all people are captivated by stories – regardless of the medium” (p. 141).

Deida, D. (1997). The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-59179-257-4. 195 pages.

Deida, D. (2005). Dear Lover: A Woman’s Guide to Men, Sex, and Love’s Deepest Bliss. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-59179-260-4. 176 pages.

Reviewed by: Nataliya Rubinchik,
Hunter College

 

 

 

 

David Deida has written several books for men and women who want a fuller romantic life or who struggle with their current one. Deida’s books are also useful for psychotherapists wishing to advise their clients on how to better their intimate relationships. While all of his books could be read by both genders, each is written with one or the other as the expected audience. This allows the other gender to better understand the thoughts of the gender the book is written for.

Deida believes that every individual has an essence. A masculine essence is the desire from the very core to become successful and liberated from all inner and outer conflicts. A feminine essence is the desire for love and romance above all else. Usually men have a more masculine essence and women have a more feminine one, but that is not always the case. A relationship where the essences balance out would be considered the most successful because the couple is complementing one another and allowing room to grow.

“Stop waiting. Feel everything. Love achingly. Give impeccably. Let go.” Even if something causes immense pain inside, Deida insists that a superior man would be able to deal with the hurt and turn it back into love: open his body and his heart and allow breath and spirituality to enter and cleanse the negativity and turn feelings into truly open love. The same rules apply to women and relationships, in Deida’s perspective. Fear of the unknown and doubt in oneself is always seen by a woman’s acute eye. Fear stops the growth of anything, therefore acknowledging fear and accepting it, pushing just beyond the boundary is what allows self-development. “Both forms of intercourse, sexual and worldly, require sensitivity, spontaneity, and a strong connection to deep truth in order to penetrate chaos and closure in a way that love prevails.”

Deida’s advice for the superior man sounds initially like criticism. He begins each chapter with a challenge. Sometimes the phrasing of his sentences sounds offensive in order to get a reaction from the reader, only to teach a lesson at the end. Sometimes Deida offers an exercise to the reader to allow him to learn more about himself. The purpose of all these challenges is to explain to the reader the differences that come about from making a specific decision. Similarly, every chapter of Dear Lover begins with a short letter from a lover explaining just how much his woman means to him. Through these letters, Deida expresses to his readers what a man should feel when he is with a woman. A woman should not settle for any less than the purest of emotion.

It is not easy to surrender all defenses that are around the heart, especially if they have been building up over many years of betrayal and heartache. Deida understands this and so his mission is to show every woman that she can be loved the way she wants. That men desire the same love that a woman does, and as long as she allows a man in, they can rewrite the years of pain into love and happiness. Letting go of fear is what allows every individual to blossom to his or her full potential. This is why Deida makes it clear that choosing life’s path must be done with an open and fearless heart.

The Way of the Superior Man and Dear Lover are a great read for both men and women, even though reactions will be different depending on the background of the individual. Both books capture the reader from the beginning and allow him or her the chance to view the world from someone else’s eyes. They create a bridge between men and women, one that would allow both genders to understand the thoughts and actions of the other. Both books guide the reader to begin opening him or herself up to the unknown, by offering support and understanding, while also pushing the boundary just a little bit. Deida’s writing feels personal, as if every word he writes is meant “for your eyes only.”

Deida, D. (1997). The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire.
Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-59179-257-4.
195 pages.
Paperback, more by the author given in Resources at the end of the book.

Marks-Tarlow, T. (2008).
Psyche’s Veil. East Sussex: Routledge.
ISBN: 978-0-415-45545-9. 343 pages

Reviewed by: Nataliya Rubinchik,
Hunter College

Most techniques used in clinical psychology are what Terry Marks-Tarlow would consider to be “linear” – cause and effect relationships that usually require logic to find. Marks-Tarlow argues that more often, patients are dealing with problems that are best described by a more intuitive, nonlinear type of psychology. It requires more than just knowledge of concepts and theories; the therapist has to be able to visualize the way those ideas affect personality, development, and behaviors.

This nonlinear concept is based on chaos theory, complexity theory, and fractal geometry. Chaos theory revolves around unpredictability and disorder, exemplified by the “Butterfly Effect.” Complexity theory studies the effects of one behavior on another and how that might result in self-organization. Fractal geometry is a set of instructions that is used to find the never-ending self-similar patterns that eventually begin to resemble chaos.

Her way of viewing the world of psychology revolves around interactions on both a conscious and subconscious level among the self, the world, and others. Fractal thinking on a therapist’s part might allow him or her to see the bigger issue in interactions and relations between self-self, self-other, and self-world. One has to start small and allow the bigger picture to present itself as the pattern is found and replicated over and over. The pattern is seen in behavior and personality. Once the therapist has found it, he or she can trace it back to the beginning.

Each chapter focuses on one specific aspect of nonlinear psychotherapy and its complexities. Marks-Tarlow includes a number of case studies to illustrate her points, explaining how each concept of nonlinearity applies to the patient and that individual case. She keeps her writing very clear and straightforward and includes numerous pictures, graphs and figures as explanations and as a way to illustrate her concepts to readers in an understandable way.

Psyche’s Veil can be understood by professionals in psychology as well as by a more general reader. However, without some prior knowledge, it may seem complicated at first and will take some effort to understand all the concepts. The definitions, explanations and figures that Marks-Tarlow includes help readers along the way. Marks-Tarlow shares her experiences with readers to give us the opportunity to view psychotherapy in a different light that perhaps would be more successful in treatment. Even the darkest and most chaotic of stories has the possibility to end with self-growth and organization.

“Defining the Core Principles & Core Competencies of Somatic Psychotherapy”

Starting in 2014, we are adding a new venue for this project. There will be two teleconferences, each year, featuring a specific topic — a core principle or a core competency. The teleconference format will include a panel discussion among two or three experts in the field, moderated by Serge Prengel. After the panel discussion, there will be a pause during which the moderator will look at questions suggested by the audience via email during the panel. The teleconference will end with a selection of these questions to the panelists.

While the recordings of the teleconferences will be made available to the general public after a delay, USABP members will have a unique opportunity to participate to every stage of this project:
– define which core principles & core approaches will be featured,
– send suggested questions for each specific teleconference before the start of the teleconference,
– attend the teleconference, live,
– email questions during the panel, to be asked at the end of the teleconference.

“Psychotherapy and the body in the age of neuroscience: A series of stimulating conversations about approaches to psychotherapy that pay attention to the body.”

This series features conversations, mostly with clinicians, occasionally featuring leading thinkers in related fields. Stimulating ideas are discussed, as well as clinical examples, in a conversational manner that helps you get a sense of what it’s like to see things through each guest’s eyes.

The conversations are recorded as MP3 files (there are also, occasionally, videos). You can listen to them on the site, or download them to play on any MP3 player. You can also read them as printable PDF transcripts.

USABP members are notified of each new release (general opt-in for notifications in your membership pages).

See all current conversations you can log into the Members Area.

This material is protected by copyright. It may be freely copied, provided its use is solely for educational purposes, not for financial gain or in a commercial setting. It should be properly cited when used in any subsequent written work or other media. Use or redistribution of this material for monetary compensation or individual or organizational financial gain is strictly prohibited. ©USABP 2013. All rights reserved.

This series is edited by Serge Prengel, LMHC. Serge is in private practice in NYC, and wrote several books. He is trained in Focusing, Core Energetics and Somatic Experiencing, and has been deeply influenced by Yvonne Agazarian Systems-Centered approach.

 

Linden, S. B. (Ed.). (2013). The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach through Theater Arts. USA: Trafford Publishing. 511 pages. ISBN: 978-1-4669-7335-0.

Reviewed by: Maria Nomani, Stony Brook University

The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach through Theater Arts, edited by Saphira Barbara Linden, introduces the intriguing application of transpersonal drama therapies to confront physical and mental illness. Her approach centers on the identification of one’s soul and achievement of human consciousness, out of which wholeness is reached and health is regained. Linden has developed the Omega Process as a program of Transpersonal Drama Psychotherapy. It includes twelve steps that allow for healing by accepting the essential Self and ultimately concentrating this self-reflection into lasting interconnectedness. The book goes on to demonstrate the practical use of Transpersonal Drama Psychotherapy by Linden’s students in an immense range of populations and settings. Linden’s fundamental goal through these exemplifications is to solidify drama therapy as a meaningful form of psychotherapy. Additionally, psychotherapists can use this book as a guide to developing an understanding of these techniques, their implementations, and future uses.

A significant portion of the book focuses on the transpersonal aspect of drama therapy, providing details of the traditions which affected this view the most. The influences of Sufism are given special attention, as is the influence of Carl Gustav Jung’s individuation. This proves crucial to the reader’s understanding of Transpersonal Drama Psychotherapy and describes the transformation that occurs within the patient. Linden firmly establishes its potential for universal success by referring to previous cases of drama therapy utilized in the early 1900s, its recent establishment as a field, and its dramatic growth and development since that time.

In the book, Linden’s students establish the effectiveness of Transpersonal Drama Psychotherapy through its success with clients. Its flexibility is detailed through demonstrations with specific cases in private settings, couple sessions, with families and children, in therapy groups, and in larger communities. This adaptability allows psychotherapists to take Transpersonal Drama Psychotherapy in a variety of directions, as suited to their own concentrations or to the needs of individual patients.

The methodology utilized by Linden’s Transpersonal Drama Psychology is an interesting new domain in which psychotherapists can attempt novel therapeutic approaches when aiding traumatized patients. The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach through Theater Arts provides a comprehensive overview of this topic and numerous applications of drama psychotherapy, each serving to authenticate the success of drama therapy. Thus, this book is a reliable guide to the distinctions of Transformational Drama Psychotherapy for its readers and decisively recognizes drama therapy as a valuable form of psychotherapy.

Somatic Perspectives on Psychotherapy

“Psychotherapy and the body in the age of neuroscience: A series of stimulating conversations about approaches to psychotherapy that pay attention to the body.”

This is a series of monthly conversations, mostly with clinicians, occasionally featuring leading thinkers in related fields. Stimulating ideas are discussed, as well as clinical examples, in a conversational manner that helps you get a sense of what it’s like to see things through each guest’s eyes.
The conversations are recorded as mp3 files. You can either listen to them on the site, or download them to play on any mp3 player. We also provide printable transcripts (generally available with a delay of a few weeks after the audio release).
USABP members are notified monthly of each new release.
All past conversations are archived on the site, in audio form, and most with a PDF transcript.
This material is protected by copyright. It may be freely copied, provided its use is solely for educational purposes, not for financial gain or in a commercial setting. It should be properly cited when used in any subsequent written work or other media. Use or redistribution of this material for monetary compensation or individual or organizational financial gain is strictly prohibited. ©USABP 2008-2011. All rights reserved.
Serge Prengel, LMHC has an integrative, experiential approach to therapy. He is in private practice in NYC. He wrote a book, several e-books, and has led workshops in a variety of settings. He hosts USABPs Somatic Perspectives conversation series. His training includes certifications in Focusing, Core Energetics and Somatic Experiencing.

Filling the Holes-in-Roles of the Past With the Right People at the Right Time

A way to open the door to happiness in the present
By Albert Pesso

Received 19 August 2012, received in revised form June 2013, accepted July 2013

Abstract
First I will briefly review how we establish the foundation for building a happy life using Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP) procedures that provide a new, symbolic memory/experience of the satisfaction of maturational needs as if they had happened in the actual past. Then I’ll describe how we go about filling in the Holes-in-Roles in the past, using new, powerful, PBSP concepts and procedures that unlock the hidden neurological psychological doors in our minds and bodies that block our receptivity to happiness and the sweet satisfactions of life.

International Body Psychotherapy Journal The Art and Science of Somatic Praxis volume 12, number 2, fall 2013 pp 63-87 ISSN 2169-4745 Printing ISSN 2168-1279 Online © Author and USABP/EABP. Reprints and permissions secretariat@eabp.org

Aristotle, among other fundamental thinkers, believed that it is in our nature to seek and enjoy happiness. My own reading and clinical experience has lead me to believe we are hard-wired to anticipate happiness. If the expectation of happiness is so natural, then why does happiness elude so many people so much of the time?

We come into this world as infants, primed to expect and experience a pleasurable, satisfying life, full of meaning and a sense of connectedness to others (Bowlby, 1969). That is why, when life fails to provide that innately anticipated outcome, we are deeply disappointed and feel cheated out of a fundamental right. So do we give up that longing for satisfaction of those deepest desires and hopes? Not very easily. Though we may have endured a lifetime of unhappiness, we are under the never-ending pressure from our remembered, needy, inner-child- self to complete and satisfy our maturational needs, which serve as the necessary foundation for the experience of happiness. Without that foundation in place, we may ceaselessly knock on the metaphorical doors of all with whom we are in contact — friends, mates and teachers — in search of a reassuring, “Yes!” to our unspoken question, “Are you that someone who will finally give me what I desperately needed back then and despairingly feel I still need now?” Too often, we doubt we will get what we long for, no matter how much people genuinely care for us in the present moment.

What can make the present feel that awful?

It is a biological/neurological as well as psychological fact that the memory of frustration of basic needs during our developing years, i.e., the past, fundamentally colors our experience of life now in the present (Edelman, 2000).

Since it is our memories of a deficit-ridden or traumatic past that are running (or ruining) our experience of the present, what if there were a way to create a better past without having to invent and climb into a time machine? We, the founders of Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor PBSP, Al Pesso and Diane Boyden, found a much simpler solution. We have learned how to access those brain-based memory banks using precise micro-tracking techniques so that the client, assisted by the therapist, can construct positive, maturational need-satisfying virtual memories to offset the negative experiences of the past, endlessly waiting for their completion and consequent relief.

Following the micro-tracking process, we externalize that interior neurological stage in the mind, upon which both memory and imagination play, and have those images of people and events visually represented in the therapy room. This is done in tandem with what is being addressed and thought about, moment-by-moment in the “present”. On the symbolic simulated stage that we have evoked in the therapy room, we carefully and precisely organize— with the full participation and control of the client—new, healing, alternative, need-satisfying events, as if they had happened at earlier times and in other places. We accomplish this with the additional help of role-played, “Ideal” human figures—parents, grandparents, etc. who, had they been in the client’s actual life, would have been capable of providing him or her with those developmentally necessary interactions.

In this ritual arena, clients can emotionally re-live a new past, one now organized to be full of pleasure, satisfaction, meaning and connectedness. Just as real memories influence and effectively run peoples’ experience of the present and future (Damasio, 1999; Edelman, 2003), so do these new symbolic/artificial memories. With these new, positive memories firmly implanted in body and mind and masterfully linked with the real, negative, long-term memories of the past, clients can experience and respond to the present with far more success, hope and happiness than was available before.

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE!

Full-Spectrum Therapy

By Stella Resnick and Nancy Eichhorn

Full-Spectrum Therapy (FST) combines cognitive-behavioral and somatic-experiential approaches, draws from attachment neuroscience, neuroplasticity, sexology, and the positive psychology of flourishing, and offers clients a new world view to adopt—to see problems as opportunities to evolve.

To Stella Resnick, founder of the “full-spectrum” approach to both psychotherapy and sex therapy (FSST), our “issues” become valuable incentives—they challenge us to mobilize our inner resources and to grow. With a reframing of a client’s concerns into a more positive, evolutionary perspective comes the ability to create constructive goals. The aim is not just to ease the pain or discomfort of a present dilemma but to heal from old wounds, examine limiting and often intergenerational patterns of thought and distress, and embrace a new way of doing things.

“That’s the cognitive part of the therapy and setting goals is the behavioral. Now, how do we get there? That’s the somatic-experiential part,” said Stella, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Beverly Hills, CA, who specializes in relationship and sexual enrichment. “That’s where  clients learn through an internal tracking process how to be present in the body, breathing deeply, and drawing insight from the images and memories stirred up.”

Stella says that it’s the experiential processing that mediates between the cognitive—both the old and new way of thinking—and the desired behavioral outcomes that animate the healing process. She considers the tasks of FST as shuttling between the cognitive realm of understanding and the somatic realm of focused attention on physical and emotional sensations, visceral perceptions, and motoric urges.

Stella’s current work grew out of her early Gestalt training first with Fritz Perls and later with Laura Perls and many others. “I’ve been putting this together all my life,” Stella said. “Much of it’s been driven by my own personal distress in relationships. I started with Gestalt work. Then I got into bioenergetics and bodywork. I worked with Charlotte Selver, Virginia Satir, Anna Halprin, Stanley Keleman, John Pierrakos, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Milton Erickson. I practiced Vipassana meditation and studied with Jack Kornfield, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Tartang Tulku Rinpoche.”

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE

A Review of Barnaby B. Barratt ’s
The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy
Christina Bader-Johansson, MSc

Barnaby Barratt’s Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy contains three sections: “Introducing a New Discipline” (5 chapters), “Sources: Ancient and Contemporary” (7 chapters), and “Current Challenges: Possible Futures” (5 chapters). Each chapter starts with a presentation of the themes discussed and theories presented, giving the reader a good overview before delving into the content. Barratt, collecting themes pertinent to the new discipline he calls “Somatic Psychology,” quotes many well-known body psychotherapists and unites aspects of history, philosophy, culture, neurobiology and energy medicine to grasp a broad conclusion for somatic psychology. Barratt’s book takes a wide stance on the theme of psyche and soma, giving an excellent overview of both Western and Eastern attitudes toward therapy. Underlying it all, he pleads for new considerations of what it means to be human and to heal human suffering. His book is also political when considering the implications it could have for really working with spiritual healing of the body. In that light, the values we hold today of high margins of profit and possessions are no longer possible to maintain. More and more disciplines of psychotherapy and psychology are realizing that philosophical, cultural and neurobiological evidence can bridge the eductionistic dichotomy between psyche and soma. Barratt argues that the disciplines are at a crossroads at the present, trying to get away from representations “in the head” about the body. He predicts that psychoanalysis will no longer be much in evidence and cognitive behaviourism no longer credible as a science, and that psychology will become somatic psychology and psychotherapy bodymind therapy.

Barratt defines somatic psychology as follows: “the psychology of the body, the discipline that focuses on our living experience of embodiment as human beings and that recognizes this experience as the foundation and origination of all experiential potential.” As for bodymind therapies, he encapsulates them as: “the healing practice that is grounded in the wisdom of the body and guided by the knowledge and the vision of somatic psychology” (p.21).

He gives an historical survey of the end of the 19th and 20th century as the time in which the male, Western, white, Christian, dominant power structure governs and manipulates the views about the other, considered to be nature, as well as women and people of the third world and people of color. Along these lines, the body is also treated as other to the mind. These polarizations had progressively been seen as the “natural order of things” (p. 25): civilized, indicative of modern values, and well accepted in the spheres of capitalism and globalization.
This has gradually changed as advances in the physical sciences, awarded Nobel prizes, tell about a universe of interdependency (quantum physics: theory of entanglement, relativity of time, particle-wave-duality, the uncertainty relation, correlations rather than causality), where the observed and the observer can no longer be seen as totally separate entities. Already foretold in the Vedic, Buddhist, Taoist and many indigenous teachings in which there are no dichotomies of subject/object, man/nature, or mind/body, nonduality has been confirmed by modern theories of nonlinear dynamic systems and complexity theories. Barratt also honors the Dalai Lama’s exile as a gift to the North American and European world which has further enabled dialogue about Western science and Buddhist thinking.

In this new-to-the-West line of thinking, the quality of a material event is determined before the matter comes into existence. Intention comes before action. This is the context in which the emergence of somatic psychology and bodymind therapies is to be articulated. Barratt gives some vignettes of therapeutic interaction to illustrate this. Ninety percent of what is known about the brain’s functioning has been discovered in the past decade. In the chapter on neuroscience Barratt briefly describes the polyvagal theory, mirror neurons, vascular communication and memory that is encoded in every cell, all of which certainly do their part in offsetting the Cartesian image of a cerebral mind that governs the bodily machine (p. 123). He makes the point that character change — which is invariably a complex and gradual process — involves the somatic expression of a person’s internal conflicts as much as it involves the verbalization of mental representations. Therefore, an approach to treatment that focuses solely on one of the aspects is doomed to be limited in its potential to heal (p.45). In some chapters he exhaustively continues the discourse around the zeitgeist shared by Freud, Rank, Reich, Ferenczi, Balint and others, and puts it in a modern, critical and constructive context, as exemplified by the thoughts of Gallagher in his book, How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005).

The significance of the emergence of somatic psychology is that it establishes, or re-establishes, human experience as the primary subject matter of any inquiry into the psyche and that it acknowledges the primacy of the embodied experience. Barrett mentions philosophers like Habermas, Husserl, Bergson and Merleau-Ponty and their influence on the increasing interest in bodymind therapies. Such diverse disciplines as anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies demonstrate how an increasing interest in the body indicates an important shift towards a broader understanding of the psychology of the body.

Instead of manipulating the body from the outside, Barratt sees healing as an inherently spiritual potential of the bodymind components. Healing the psyche is an ethical and spiritual process which presupposes safety, trust and intimacy. He describes some requisite factors for healing: a) the importance of honoring-by-listening to all aspects of the individual and his or her ecology, b) mobilizing energies by intentionally breathing and moving with awareness, and c) the appreciative connectivity of touching with awareness: touching in the sense of ethical, physical palpation and respectful, emotional engagement. Healing is not the avoidance of pain. Healing is not the avoidance of death. Healing is not a procedure of political or sociocultural adaptation. Healing is inherently a celebration of the liveliness of life itself!

Barratt describes some Western traditions of bodywork, such as osteopathy, chiropractic, massage, dance therapy, and free-form expressionist dance, which liberate the body and stimulate self-expression. He presents some principles or empirical laws that he finds widely applicable to many modalities of bodywork. These principles include:

– The body and the mind interact in and as one unit.
– The structure and function of the body are reciprocally interrelated, as well as the flow of subtle energies.
– The body possesses self-regulatory mechanisms.
– The movement of body fluids is essential to the maintenance of health.
– Movement reflects personality.
– Movement improvisation allows the patient to experiment with new ways of being.
– Dance movement therapy allows for the recapitulation of early destructive object relationships towards more constructive, less fearful iterations in a contemporary relationship.

Barratt then presents the influx of Asian healing disciplines with detailed descriptions of yoga, prana, chi, nadis, meridians, chakras and kundalini. He values the teachings of the Tibetan tradition in the diaspora after 1949 and in particular the work by D.T. Suzuki and his lectures at Columbia University. It is well known that Jung, Fromm, Watts and Merton were influenced by Suzuki, Barratt informs us. He concludes with a brief description of shamanic practices and transpersonal psychologies. In shamanic soul-travels, dissociated parts of our personality are emotionally contacted and brought back to the embodied being.

The Eastern religions all include yoga teachings as a pathway to spiritual growth and increased awareness. Currently, Western science is being challenged to acknowledge that our embodiment is not merely physical. It also has a “supra-physical” double in that there is an “astral body” or subtle energy body which yogic science has known about for millennia (p. 107).

Barratt has a deep knowledge of healthy sexuality and sexual therapy, which he presents in the chapter “The inherent Sexuality of Being Human”. He points out that very little has been done within the study of phenomenological sexuality and he criticizes modern books on body psychotherapy for completely avoiding the subject. Instead, sexuality is mentioned in its deteriorated forms, such as abuse, incest and other traumatizing experiences of sexuality. He describes the Western culture of embodiment in three alienated and optimized “products”: the media ideal, the medical ideal, and the economic ideal, all of which need to be critically discussed and deconstructed. He champions a bodily path to spiritual awakening which includes a playful, joyful experience of sexuality freed from social oppression.

In the chapter “Oppression and Momentum of Liberation”, Barratt discusses the issue of identity in a universe of non-linear dynamic interdependence. Indeed, nothing less than global cultural change is required for human beings to evolve on this planet, he argues. This is still a challenge to mainstream psychology and medicine. The question is in what way the discipline of somatic psychology could have a vital role in the elaboration of the psychology of liberation and thus contribute to radical political and economic transformation in the world. Are we aware of the immense impact we could have?

This book is a must for all body psychotherapists. Reviews of it so far have been outstanding, but the dense 234 pages of content admittedly are not easy to digest in one go. My suggestion is to read it in the form of a Scandinavian study circle, with one person presenting one chapter and the group reflecting and discussing it in depth, then another person presenting the next chapter and the group again reflecting.
I highly recommend this book!

BIOGRAPHIES

Barnaby B. Barratt PhD, DHS is a practicing psychoanalytic healer and teacher, internationally recognized for his contributions to psychodynamic philosophy, theory and practice, as well as for his work as a sexuality educator, sex therapist, somatic psychologist, and practitioner of Tantric meditation. In addition to his 35-year career as a psychotherapist, he has a distinguished history of teaching in higher education, teaching at such institutions as Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. Currently practicing in South Africa, Dr. Barratt was most recently Provost (Chief Academic Officer) and Professor of Psychology at Northcentral University.

Dr. Barratt is the author of eight books: Psychic Reality and Psychoanalytic Knowing (1984), Psychoanalysis and the Postmodern Impulse (1993), The Way of the ‘BodyPrayerPath’ (2004), Sexual Health and Erotic Freedom (2005), Ten Keys to Successful Sexual Partnering (2005), What is Tantric Practice? (2006), Liberating Eros (2009), and The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy (2010). Additionally, he has published over seventy professional and scientific articles, reviews and book chapters. He is currently working on a book about the nature of freedom. Email: BBBarratt@Earthlink.net

Christina Bader-Johansson, MSc, is a psychotherapist (ASP), body psychotherapist (EABP) and President of the Swiss National Association of the EABP (CH-EABP). She is the author of Movement and Interaction (Studentlitteratur 2012) which is currently only available in Swedish.
Email: bader.johansson@bluewin.ch

Holzel was hoping to see a noticeable difference in the brains of participants…

…did the brains of the MBSR group look different after their participation in the program? After just eight weeks of the mindfulness program, the MBSR group showed increases in gray matter in clusters of several regions of the brain – the left hippocampus, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and the cerebellum.

Each of these areas is associated with a function that is known to be improved through mindfulness practices. For example, the hippocampus and cerebellum help to regulate emotion, and the TPJ is involved in social cognition.

Meanwhile, losing too much gray matter or damaging some of these areas can lead to psychopathology. But in areas like the hippocampus, volume loss is reversible – i.e., if mindfulness leads to an increase in gray matter in the hippocampus, there is a possibility that it could help with conditions such as depression or PTSD which are associated with reduced volume of the hippocampus.

Due to the design, there are some limitations to this study. Because a wait-list control design was used, we can’t say for sure that the content of the mindfulness exercises were what caused these changes in the brain. The effects could have resulted from other aspects of the program such as group social interaction, stress education, or stretching exercises. The hippocampus has been shown to be affected by exercise, and repeated activation of a brain region is also known to increase gray matter.

And another important thing to consider…
…the subjects in this study weren’t randomly assigned. They were a group of people who had enrolled in an MBSR course, and they were either physician- or self-referred to the program, in search of stress-reduction.
Despite these limitations, this research suggests that engaging in mindfulness meditation may be one way to change your brain structure to improve mental function.

To learn more about this study, you can find it in volume 91 of Psychiatry Research. Have you found mindfulness to be helpful to your patients?

Psychotherapist Bill O’Hanlon has created a useful package (book, audios, videos, and worksheets which he recommends completing noting that they are not there for filler) based on his own track record—more than 30 books and over 60 articles or book chapters published (with his materials translated into 16 languages), as well as coaching over 100 books into “existence”, leading workshops and book-writing boot camps—to guide psychotherapists through “their inner resistance and fears, as well as dealing with the real world barriers to launching their books into the world.” He clearly has the skill and the know-how to write this book, and his presentation style feels familiar, connective as if he’s sitting beside you sharing his stories so you can share yours.

Becoming a Published Therapist: A Step by Step Guide to Writing Your Book
Written by Bill O’Hanlon
Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn

I am a writer, an editor, and a teacher. It is more than simply what I do, it is part of my inner experience. I was born with an innate curiosity to find my way on the blank expanse of a page. From a place of wonder, I come to a sense of knowing as I honor this drive to discover what I didn’t know I knew, to understand the facets of my inner world as they spiral through stories, embodied in consciousness and all its layers of presence and accessibility. Words fall into place guided by sensations; my body, archiving tales waiting to be exhaled, speaks its own language that I have learned to hear.

And over the years I have come to know that one of my greatest passions in this writer’s life is to support others as they discover themselves through their own textual travels. Working with writers for the magazine as well as for other publications (scholarly peer-reviewed journals, chapters in books and complete manuscripts) and facilitating writing workshops means I am constantly on the hunt for handouts and books to augment what I know and to extend what I don’t. I learn from every book I read, every article and blog I encounter. The books lining my shelves on writing and publishing date back to the late 1970s, and while the basic skills necessary to write remain the same, technology has dramatically changed the world of publishing with self-publishing, e-publishing, social feeds, blogs, and websites.

I know that we all want to be heard. We want other people to hear our thoughts and feelings, our ideas and creations—the plethora of online writing sites is testimony.  And writers, in particular, want and quite honestly need an audience. Yet, fear often holds wannabe authors in check. There’s a sense of wanting to write an article, a book, wanting to share this incredible information, these uniquely personal ideas but progress is stymied fearing rejection or miscommunications. I have often heard writers say, “they didn’t get what I mean,” as if their readers would respond to the text exactly as they intended. It’s hard to accept that readers interpret what is written based on their own background experiences, their own current situations; even something as basic as being tired or hungry will impact how the text lands on someone. Yet, there remains this desire to move out and reach a larger audience than our clients or family or friends. There are professional needs that also fuel our desire to write—we want to establish ourselves as recognized experts in our field, we want to gain greater visibility to help grow our clinical practice, we want to make a positive contribution to the world. And it doesn’t hurt to develop some supplemental income, too.

Well there is a new book on the market to add to your writer’s shelf that both addresses the fears and offers a precise, step-by-step guide for both writing and publishing your book (or article): Becoming a Published Therapist: A Step by Step Guide to Writing Your Book.

Psychotherapist Bill O’Hanlon has created a useful package (book, audios, videos, and worksheets which he recommends completing noting that they are not there for filler) based on his own track record—more than 30 books and over 60 articles or book chapters published (with his materials translated into 16 languages), as well as coaching over 100 books into “existence”, leading workshops and book-writing boot camps—to guide psychotherapists through “their inner resistance and fears, as well as dealing with the real world barriers to launching their books into the world.” His most recent books from W. W. Norton are: Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma, Change 101: A Practical Guide to Creating Change in Life or Therapy, and A Guide to Trance Land: A Practical Handbook of Ericksonian and Solution-Oriented Hypnosis. He clearly has the skill and the know-how to write this book, and his presentation style feels familiar, connective as if he’s sitting beside you sharing his stories so you can share yours.

Bill’s background as both a therapist and a published writer affords him an insider’s view into the inner and outer work of writing and publishing. And, in putting together this book, admirably in my mind, Bill adheres to the content—he does what he tells his readers to do. For instance, he talks about the imperative need for focus, that writers must find their own unique voice, slant, style on a particular topic and leave their readers with one provocative thought at the end of the book. Despite the fact that numerous books and magazines offer writers guidance, this is the first book targeting therapists written by a therapist, that addresses both writing, from conception to completion, and then on to publication, including creating your platform and reaching out to agents and traditional publishers. Bill offers his unique approach to writing beginning with his own self-perceived inadequacies then moves into what he calls the four energies of writing: blissed, blessed, pissed and dissed, that he says motivates people to write. We are privy to his journey as he offers direct instruction with a light touch, a bit of humor to make a seemingly overwhelming process fun. There’s a sense of a cheer leader here as he lets readers know, “you can do it, too!”

The book contents include: Introduction: Stop Me Before I write Again! Chapter 1: Why would a Therapist want to Write a Book? Chapter 2: Getting Clear on Your Topic and Direction: Problem, Promise, Population, Positioning and Program. Chapter 3: The Proposal: Never Write a Book Before You Sell It. Chapter 4: How a Busy Therapist Can Write a Book, Overcoming Busyness, Barriers and Avoidance. Chapter 5: If You Build it, They May Not Come: Carving a Platform to Help Sell Your Book. Chapter 6: Planning: Well Begun Is Half Done. Chapter 7: The 10 Ps to Getting you Book Written and Published. Appendix: Ten Pieces of Advice from a Nonfiction Editor by Deborah Malmud, Bill’s Editor at Norton. She is also the Vice President of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, and the editorial director of Norton Professional Books. Deborah offers her prospective to psychotherapists detailing mistakes often made along with advice to increase the likelihood of getting your writing noticed. The book ends with “Resources for Writers” including a few books on writing proposals and writing in general, and websites for help with technical matters and self-publishing sites.

Near the end of the book, Bill summarizes “The 10 Ps of Getting Your Book Written and Published” that he detailed in the book.
Passion: What energizes you: Blissed, Blessed, Pissed Dissed?
Problem: What problem does the book address?
Promise: What promise does the book make to address this issue? What benefits will come from following this process?
Population: Who will buy this book?
Program: What are you offering that is unique, how does your approach differ from what is already out there?
Platform: Who are you and why are you qualified to write this book? What audience do you already have and how are you sharing your work?
Position: What niche does this book fill? What is your compelling slant?
Proposal: This is your sales tool, the rationale and summary of the book.
Polish: Bill suggests that you write the book first and then worry with editing. Don’t let perfection get in the way of making it happen.
Plan: Make a writing plan that you can stick to, write a plan for every step of the way from writing to contacting agents or researching self publishing options and so forth.
And then he offers an 11th: Persistence . . .  keep at it, he says and remember that book sellers need fresh materials to sell.

As for me, I’ve dog-eared pages to guide my progress into publishing the magazine. Quite honestly, I started this magazine because of my passion for writing, for sharing other people’s stories, and for body psychotherapy. I started little actual publication know-how, just a background in writing and editing. I rather jumped in and just did it. Reading Bill’s book has motivated me to reach out, step by step, to embrace a larger audience, to employ a larger marketing stance. The content has given me ways to methodically consider all that I need to do to continuing nurturing this publication as it expands.