By Sheila Rubin, LMFT, RDT/BCT

Once I was working with a woman who was feeling very lost in her life. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to start a new job or a new relationship. I asked her what her picture was when she imagined getting a new job, and all she could picture was what happened in her last job: her co-worker and even her supervisor putting her down. I asked her what picture she imagined when she thought about a new relationship and she couldn’t even imagine that; she just kept saying over and over, “The last one wasn’t very good, so there must be something wrong with me.”

One day she came into the session with a dream. In her dream, she was seeing friends from long ago. I asked her how it was to see those friends from long ago.

She said, “There must be something wrong with me because they stopped being my friends.” I said, “It sounds like when you want to move forward, you get these thoughts that there’s something wrong with you.” She said, “Yes,” looking down.

I asked her to draw what it felt like inside when she had that thought. Instead of choosing any of the brightly colored chalk, pencils, or markers, she picked the blackest black and slowly covered the whole page with it. I said, “Wow…. That’s really something. No wonder you can’t move forward.” I asked how it was to draw her picture like that and to have it so black and to fill the whole page. She seemed encouraged by my support and said, “There’s more.” So I asked her to draw the “more.” And then there was a whole other level of black on top of the black.

It was very black, kinda take-your-breath-away black. So I wanted to acknowledge the darkness so she wasn’t alone with it. Then I brought in play. We started playing with this picture of the blackest blackest black. First we positioned it right in front of her, then slowly I moved it until it was all the way on the other side of the room. We began a process of acknowledging this black from the different distances. When it was far away from her, at one point she started to feel a little bit of hope. Then she remembered a tree she used to climb back when she was a tomboy, before she started wearing skirts and having to act “right.”  I had her draw the image of the tree and then I had her feel the sensation inside of her of the tree supporting her, back when she was a tomboy. Slowly we began to work with this symbol of protection. The tree would protect her from the blackness. When she started to have thoughts that there was something wrong with her, she could imagine sitting in the arms of tree and the tree saying to her, “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

A while after that she had another dream that she brought in. This dream was about the boss who had put her down. We worked on symbolism and talked about the different roles in the dream and worked in the Imaginal Realm with the psychodrama technique of surplus reality and Jungian active imagination. Surplus reality is an extension of ordinary reality where we can use imagination to have a conversation with someone as we wish we could or to complete something we wish we had been able to complete. We can call on support from memories, TV, movies or dreams. With my client I suggested bringing in images that might protect and support her. She imagined the boss and then imagined a serpentine monster coming up and wrapping its tentacles around the boss, who was trying to run away. The monster was saying, “Listen to her.” Then we brought her into the picture. She was eventually able to say to her boss, “I wrote those reports but you put your name on them.” And then we brought me into the picture. I named what was going on and said to the boss, “That shamed her.” Then she said, “I felt discredited. I felt like I didn’t exist.” And so I said, “She felt like she didn’t exist and that was shaming to her.” Finally she got to say what she meant to say all the time! Eventually I had her go back into the scene. This time the boss said, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to shame you.”

When later I asked her to do another drawing of how she felt, instead of the blackest blackest black of her original picture, she used all these different colors—orange, blue, yellow—and the image was kind of like a butterfly. I asked her what the butterfly was about and she said, “I’m feeling a lot better today. Lighter.” I told her that the butterfly is a symbol of new direction and transformation and, some people believe, resurrection—coming back to life again. For her it was a powerful symbol because there was movement, color and lightness. Even though the real boss in real life had not apologized, even though the situation hadn’t actually changed in reality, she felt very different inside. Instead of “There’s something wrong with me” she was able to realize there was something right with her. As she healed from the constriction of all-pervasive shame, her life force energy came back to her. And she now was able to go out on job interviews and eventually get a job that she loved. Even though the work with her was just in my office, we were working with her imagination. We were able to work with the shame so that it wasn’t holding her back anymore. She was able to be different in the world.

At one point she asked, “Do I need to call my ex-boss and tell him what an a**hole he was?” I asked her if she needed to do that or if she felt different enough from the work we had done that she didn’t actually need to tell him anything. And she realized she was fine and didn’t need to do it.

The Imaginal Realm is a place where I can gently guide the client if the shame is all-pervasive, when their thoughts or their body is stuck. By leading them through an expressive arts, creative drama therapy artistic process, I can help them find a different role they have inside. In the case of this client, she was stuck with the automatic thought “There’s something wrong with me.” CBT seemed to work in our early sessions but would not correct her automatic thoughts “something’s wrong with me” and core belief about her worthlessness when she was out in the world. When we challenged her automatic thoughts she would try on the new belief of “There’s nothing wrong with me,” but then she’d feel embarrassed because she didn’t actually believe it and didn’t want to admit that. So she hid her shameful thoughts from me during the session—more shame to hide. By working in the Imaginal Realm, we were able to bypass that part of her that was judging her and keeping the shame so stuck. I was working with the introjects in the client’s imagination, which is more effective than working directly with her issues out in the world when there has been all pervasive shame.

Using imagination: This is Winnicott’s “play space,” this is Moreno’s “Tele,” it’s the Jungian Imaginal Realm, Psychodrama’s “surplus reality”… By guiding a client skillfully into it and then out of it back to their life, we can heal their shame in the Imaginal Realm and give them back roles to re-incorporate into their life, including roles that they’ve never had before. This woman eventually chose to becoming a big sister and mentor for kids (tomboys). She found her next job with delight and anticipation and enjoyed her new role of survivor rather than victim.

In dipping into psychodrama I want to acknowledge Jacob Moreno and his wife Zerka Moreno, who created psychodrama. Zerka just passed away recently. Thank you also to Adam Blatner and Eva Leveton and Sylvia Israel from whom I learned directly about psychodrama and surplus reality.

© 2016 Sheila Rubin

This article originally appeared on www.SheilaRubin.com – more information can be found at:  www.HealingShame.com

Hello Friends,

On behalf of one of our students we are passing along an opportunity for members of our community to participate in a research study. Details follow.

Advertisement for Research

Call for Participants in a Research Study: The Somatic Path to Post Traumatic Growth
Contact: Sweigh Emily Spilkin, exs9149@ego.thechicagoschool.edu

Purpose of the Study: Trauma brings us face-to-face with some of the most fundamental questions at the heart of the human journey. It often carries with it emotional pain, nervous system dysregulation, and a grappling for meaning. But trauma also carries the potential for growth, spiritual expansion, and a fuller experience of being human—what is known as Post Traumatic Growth (PTG).

As of now, the primary theory about how PTG develops assumes that PTG is a cognitive process, and that growth occurs as old belief systems are shattered by trauma and new ones form. No research has been done to date on the role that the nervous system plays in the development of PTG.

The purpose of this study is to begin to bridge the gap between positive psychology’s understanding of PTG and somatic psychology’s understanding of trauma. I will do this by interviewing somatic trauma therapists who have gone through a PTG experience to investigate whether or not nervous system regulation plays a role in PTG and if so, what that role is. Although this study focuses on the nervous system the research is interview based and no quantitative measures will be taken.

Eligibility for Participation: Participants must be over 25, somatically-trained trauma psychotherapists, and have undergone a significant growth experience as a result of trauma.

The focus of the interviews will be on the process of personal, emotional, and spiritual growth post-trauma. That said, it is important to note that participants will be asked to briefly discuss their experience with trauma during the interview.

Time Commitment: The study consists of two phases. Phase 1, a Skype screening survey will take approximately 30 minutes. Those who qualify to move on will be invited into Phase 2, a Skype interview that will take approximately 1-1.5 hours. Directly after the interview, participants will be invited to participate in a 10-20 minute debriefing conversation to integrate their experience in the study. Within a few weeks after the interview they will be contacted and given the opportunity to review their data (approximately 1 hours). The total estimated time for Phase 2 of the research is approximately 2-3 hours.

Location of the Research: Online

Name and Contact information: To participate in the study or if you have any questions, please email Sweigh Emily Spilkin, at exs9149@ego.thechicagoschool.edu with your name, where you are from, and the best way to contact you. I will then be in touch to ask you a few questions and to set up the preliminary screening interview. If you have any questions, you are also invited to call me at 720-771-4778.

Thank you for considering volunteering for this important research, and the opportunity to bridge the worlds of somatic and positive psychology and develop a more comprehensive theory about Post Traumatic Growth.

Often I notice that in the back and forth of the day to day, we can lose ourselves in one thing after another. Sometimes when we can put a name on to something that’s happening and pause, it can allow us to stop and be in the moment in a more embodied way.

Let me give you a few examples. A couple from my practice told me how one day in the middle of their usual argument about who was going to pick up their daughter, who was going to buy the groceries, etc., instead of escalating the argument, the fellow said to his wife, “I want to thank you for choosing me so long ago.” She was surprised to hear this, because he’d never said it before, and she stopped everything to listen to more. He said that after talking to an old friend from high school, he’d been daydreaming about the past and he’d realized that his life had gotten more on track after their relationship had started, so many years ago. She was surprised and happy that he’d said that. And they paused in their morning routine for a deeper sharing of the amazing life that they had together. In the midst of the stress and the struggle, he said that to her. And she felt touched.

Another couple from my practice, who have been together for about 15 years, had a different issue. She would keep bringing up with him how alone she had felt in raising their children. He couldn’t understand why she kept complaining about the same thing, which had happened so long ago. He couldn’t understand what the problem was. He kept responding by saying, “What’s the problem? I’m here all the time. You’re not alone.” During a session, I had her tell her story and name the deep emotions under her pain, and I had him listen to her detail the emotion of feeling completely alone. He was then able to begin to understand that part of her pain came from his trying to talk her out of her feelings by continuing to tell her that she wasn’t alone. She felt as though it denied her experience and left her feeling unheard and very alone with her pain. By stopping to name the emotions—her shame of not being heard, which left her feeling isolated and alone, and his shame of believing that if she wasn’t happy it was his fault, which made it so that he couldn’t even hear her pain—they were able to hear each other, acknowledge what was going on, and move on from the past.

With another couple who was having difficulty communication. So during a session I had each of them do a “frozen sculpture” based on the dynamic between them, where they each took a posture relating to how they were feeling. Then I had them each give their postures a title. Partner A called her posture “Before the Storm” and Partner B called hers “The Ocean Wave.” When I had Partner B bring her sculpture to life, the other watched in horror, saying, “That’s terrifying! It’s like a huge ocean wave and I’m on the shore as it’s bearing down on me. It feels like I’m going to be washed away! That’s what it feels like when we get into an argument.” Then I had her take on a posture of how she felt in response to that. She curled up in a fetal position like a small child, looking away with a frightened expression. When her partner saw her in that terrified place, she asked, “Is that what happens when I get loud? I only get loud because I think you’re trying to run away from me.” Partner B responded, “I only run away from you because I get scared.” So in the session we worked with that: the ocean wave and the other running away scared. I had them play that out together. We named the parts of their cycle and found it didn’t matter where it started—it turned into a free flowing movement. Then I asked the partner who was the scared child, “What’s a different way this could be? How can we re-choreograph this pattern?” She said, “I wish the wave would stay over there and the ocean would be calm. Then I could come there more easily.” Then they played that out and found a different dance in the back and forth flow between them. She was able to move toward the ocean, and instead of a huge, intense wave forming, the ocean wave got smaller and there was actually a gentle movement back and forth from the dance. I pointed out the beautiful co-creation that was happening between them and had them name what this new dance was. Instead of “Crashing Waves” they called it “Our Ocean Dance.” Then they set a plan for how they could be aware of their dynamic outside of the session. Instead of one feeling the blame and shame of feeling too loud and frightening her partner and the other feeling the shame of being bullied in the “Crashing Waves” dynamic, they were about to do the “Ocean Dance.” Both were included and both participated without watching for their hurt or scared places.

Being able to name something and pause rather than just react in the usual ways can create space for deeper connection. When there is deeper connection there is less need to blame or feel shame. People feel connected and it is a fun connection.

Originally published September 5, 2016 on www.SheilaRubin.com.

Mind and body health are talked about everywhere – in the media, on TV, on the web, among friends…

But even with all this information at our fingertips, why do so many of us continue to live life filled with anxiety, stress, depression, conflictual relationships, compulsive behaviors and all sorts of addictions?

• Is anyone you know, maybe yourself, currently struggling with a physical or emotional problem?
• Do you know how to release unwanted tension and create freely flowing energy in your body?
• Are your relationships filled with anger, frustration, neediness, avoidance or boredom?
• Do you believe that your body, mind and spirit are connected and affect each other?
• Are you curious about what you might learn from a groups of body oriented therapists?
• As a therapist yourself, would you like to expand your knowledge and learn new techniques?

Even if you, yourself, are a healthcare provider – a nurse, teacher, psychotherapist, medical professional, researcher, health and wellness coach – your own body, mind and spirit alignment may be something you have never really spent the time to look at. And you may be surprised at what you will discover if you let down your guard and open your mind to a new way of thinking and being in your body and in the world.

This very special Love Me Touch Me Heal Me Virtual Summit is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from a group of 44 advanced practitioners, highly skilled and experienced therapists, best-selling authors, researchers, teachers and trainers, seminar and webinar leaders who have each spent decades learning and sharing in different ways about healing through body awareness. As you listen to all these top notch professionals sharing their insights, suggestions and strategies for healing and creating a fulfilling life, you may discover a common theme. Hint, hint! The answer is not outside yourself.

As you listen to each speaker’s healing journey, you may become inspired to read some of their writing, get their books or products, join their seminars or training programs, or contact just the right speaker for your own personal healing.

So get ready for an exciting event. You are in for a body sensational treat as you learn the nitty gritty details about how you can enhance your own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well- being.

JOIN The Love Me Touch Me Heal Me Summit

‘Moving Into Meaning’, by Al Pesso, is now available for download as a free PDF e-book, at: http://LifeSherpa.com/2016/08/pesso-chapter/.

Together with his wife, Diane Boyden-Pesso, Albert Pesso was the co-founder of PBSP (Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor), a widely respected interactive technique that helps clients create new memories to compensate for emotional deficits in the past. He was called one of the 3 living masters of body-based psychotherapy and was chosen in 2012 to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award by the U.S. Assoc. for Body Psychotherapy (USABP). Diane Boyden Pesso died on March 4, 2016. Al died soon thereafter on May 19, 2016.

‘Moving Into Meaning’ is Al Pesso’s chapter for ‘What Sustains Me’. It is a collaborative book. Each chapter is written by a different author, stands on its own, and is released independently. When all chapters are ready, the book will be published as a regular book as well as an e-book.

The central question in this project is:

What sustains you?

More specifically: What gives you a sense of peace, meaning and purpose in everyday life? What keeps you going when times are tough? What gives you the strength to face moments of crisis or despair?

The book’s topic could be described as an ‘existential quest’ or a ‘spiritual quest’. We are consciously avoiding these phrases because they can be misleading. For instance, ‘spiritual quest’ often conveys the sense of a search for outside resources, beyond the realm of the physical world. Such a definition would exclude experiences that involve inner resources.

Our focus is on describing what we experience, as opposed to the philosophical or religious terms under which these experiences are usually framed. We are not describing a specific path, a ‘right way’ to do things, or a ‘correct’ narrative of how it all works out. To the contrary, we are coming at it from different approaches and belief systems, including agnostic and atheist perspectives.

A key characteristic of this project is that each author is writing in a personal and experiential manner. The key word here is ‘experience’. We hope that, by talking in terms of experiences rather than beliefs, we can find a bridge whereby people who come from different traditions or beliefs can be nourished by each other’s experiences.

What Sustains Me is a project of LifeSherpa, a nonprofit social enterprise that fosters everyday mindfulness as creative interaction with life. You can follow the progress of this project, and our other projects, at http://LifeSherpa.com

Moving Into Meaning, by Al Pesso, can be downloaded at: http://LifeSherpa.com/2016/08/pesso-chapter/

Is Your Cell Phone Getting in the Way of Your Relationship?

I had a client a few years ago who called me very upset because his wife had thrown his Blackberry out the window.

You might be surprised, but attachment injuries can be caused by an electronic device!

Nowadays many kids as well as adults are texting or even talking on their cell phones during dinner, if they even eat dinner together. Often spouses are texting or talking on their phones while they’re trying to have a conversation with each other. There is something almost unnoticed that can happen when one person turns away from their partner or child—and toward the electronic device.

Sue Johnson says that we are wired to connect with each other. The building of a secure base happens when there’s a lot of eye contact and talking about things and checking in and being there for each other. Our nervous system is affected when we feel connected to the people in our lives. Our nervous system is also affected if we think we don’t matter to the people we’re close to. Bolby wrote: “We determine who we are through the eyes of those we love.”

Yes, technology is very helpful in finding a movie, a restaurant, a babysitter—but that same technology can get in the way of an intimate moment or trying to get one’s point across.

With the couple that came in about the flying Blackberry, I gently helped them unpack their emotions. The wife spoke of her frustration with her husband who, when he got home after being at work all day, instead of talking to her first thing, he was still talking to his electronic device. I asked her how she felt and she said she felt like she didn’t matter and didn’t mean anything to him. When she saw him look away from her, she felt invisible. Even though he tried to correct her by saying, “I’m talking to work—I’m trying to arrange things so we can go on our vacation,” she felt dismissed and completely in the shadows. Then, when they got to their vacation, she saw his Blackberry and exploded—by throwing it out the window.

I asked her to tell me more. She said, “I don’t know. I finally had some time with him. We were away by ourselves, we were in the woods, and I just really wanted to be together.” I asked if her throwing his Blackberry out the window was a way to feel more assured that she was going to keep his attention during the trip, and she said yes. She said, “I hate to feel this way. Sometimes I think he loves his Blackberry more than me.” I asked her how lonely it must be to feel like her husband was choosing technology over her. She said it was breaking her heart and she had kept her feelings inside until the moment she couldn’t take it anymore.

Her husband was surprised to hear that she had all these feelings, and he apologized for causing her pain. I asked him if he realized how much she was hurting, and he said he had no idea.

I had them look at each other then and acknowledge the hurt in her eyes. I also wondered if, when she was feeling like she didn’t matter, there was some embarrassment or shame around that. She said that she felt so much shame to be having these intense feelings about how much she hated his phone.

It turns out that he had some feelings of shame as well, that when he would come home and she didn’t greet him, he would feel bad, like he had failed. And so he was not feeling good about himself either. And it almost didn’t matter if he turned to his Blackberry first, so that he could avoid seeing the sad look in her eyes, or if she turned away in order not to feel the rupture. Both of them were disconnected and hurt and not able to talk about any of it, until the flying Blackberry incident brought them into therapy.

As we were together, we developed a new appreciation for his Blackberry as a way for him to stay connected with work yet without it getting in the way of their relationship. Sometimes he would leave it in the car or put it in his desk, and then he’d say to her, “You know, I’m choosing you. My Blackberry is in the car.” And they’d laugh together.

So what about other situations, such as two people watching TV together while one is on their device?

This happens a lot. It used to be that watching TV together was like “parallel play,” where people are not making eye contact but they’re watching the same thing and laughing and making their own comments about the show. So they’re together in a casual, free-flowing way. But now a change is that even though they’re sitting together, one or both are on devices and their attention is turned away from the shared activity. And so the bonding may be less than it could be.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to be aware of what’s going on and to have communication about it. Maybe to say, “I am going to watch the show with you, but I also need to be texting my friend or working or organizing my photos.” It used to be that people were working in separate places in the house, but now they can be working while sitting together, due to our wonderful devices.

All of this can be negotiated and talked about. Maybe you decide not to have any technology at the dinner table. Or you have a cell phone-free zone in the house. Each family is going to be different.

The vital thing is to understand the attachment issue, because if the attention is going to be broken, we need to be aware of how that affects someone and be able to talk about the feelings that come up.

Gershon Kaufman says that shame is the rupture of the interpersonal bridge. Ruptures can be subtle misattunements with attention. So, for example, if you shift eye contact from the other person to your technology, the other person may feel like there’s been a disconnection and feel shame.

So, the flying Blackberry incident was a couple years ago. Now many couples and families I work with have some attachment injury as a result of technology. It’s not the tech itself, it’s the moment of  turning away from relationship that can have one partner feel that they’ve been cut off; it may feel painful or shaming. In the dynamic with my husband, sometimes he hates it when I’m on my cell phone, so I ask him about it first, so he feels included, or I just make calls in my home office so he doesn’t feel excluded. When we were on our recent trip in the mountains, I put it away and I didn’t watch TV or do any cell phone work for about 10 days—and we’re so much closer now!

How is technology handled in your family?

This article originally appeared on www.SheilaRubin.com August 3, 2016.

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A newly published book titled Integrative Pain Management  covers integrative health strategies to address pain.  This book includes a chapter titled “Body Awareness and Pain” by Cynthia Price and Wolf Mehling that discusses the role of body/interoceptive awareness for helping people with chronic pain and provides a clinical vignette to demonstrate how to integrate this work into practice.  

This is in honor of Eugene Gendlin receiving USABP’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the USABP conference, in July.

Focusing is not a rigid approach. It encourages therapists to blend in their own personal perspectives and creativity. Throughout his life, Eugene Gendlin has encouraged people to find their own path. So it is a fitting tribute that this page reflects the breadth and depth of the approaches he has inspired. The following are conversations with a number of Focusing-Oriented Therapists.

See:
http://somaticperspectives.com/2016/06/gendlin/

Date: June 24th-25th, 2016

Time: 9-5pm

Location: American Mountaineering Company, Golden CO

Title: Eating Attachment and Somatic Education Training (EASE)

Fee: group and student fees available

Eating disorders are complex, multi-layered, and pernicious. And yet even the best evidenced-based interventions currently available have limited long-term outcomes. Paradoxically, the body, the very stage where the war is waged is often missing in most eating disorder treatment approaches. In recent years there has been burgeoning evidence in the role of the body in emotional regulation. Drawing from pioneers such as Peter Levine, Pat Ogden, Allan Schore, Bessel Van Der Kolk, and Dan Seigel, and Stephen Porges, the Eating, Attachment and Somatic Education Training (EASE) is designed to bridge the gap between traditional eating disorder therapy and cutting-edge approaches that highlight the crucial role of attachment, the body, and the neurobiological processes that govern affect regulation. This two-day training integrates theory with experiential and didactic opportunities for professionals to expand skills and discover the untapped resource of the body in healing from disordered eating.

Presenters:

Paula Scatoloni, LCSW, CEDS, SEP is a somatic-based psychotherapist and certified IAEDP supervisor. The former Eating Disorder Coordinator at Duke University, Paula has been providing lectures on the etiology and treatment of disordered eating for almost two decades. She also opened the first intensive outpatient program for eating disorders in the nation with Dr. Anita Johnson and provides an in-depth perspective on the role of metaphor as it manifests in the body. Paula is currently in collaboration with researchers in her area to design the first study on the use of Somatic Experiencing with individuals with bulimia nervosa.

Inge Sengelmann, LCSW, SEP, RYT-500 is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Dialectal Behavioral Specialist, and tantric hatha yoga teacher. She was the original clinical team member at the Oliver Pyatt Center and founding member of Miami’s first intensively-trained DBT consultation team. She has taught workshops locally, nationally, and internationally on eating disorders and related concerns. She is the author of It’s Time to EAT: Embody, Awaken, and Transform Our Relationship With Food, Body, and Self.

Contact Inge Sengelmann at ease4eds@gmail.com for more information or visit our website: www.EASE4EDS.com to register.

I am very proud to say that my company, Integral Anatomy Productions, LLC, will have an “Associate Producer” credit on what may be the first genuinely fair treatment in film of the genius of Wilhelm Reich.

Thanks to film producer Kevin Hinchey, also director of the Wilhelm Reich Trust, for working tirelessly to bring this incredibly important project to fruition.

Please consider joining me now as well in contributing whatever you can to the Indiegogo campaign to complete the project, and bring Reich and his essential contributions to health of mind, body and planet into public consciousness.

Follow (and share) this link to see the progress that has been made on the film, and to contribute to this appeal.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wilhelm-reich-documentary-film-project-edit-phase–7/x/13914207#/

The May conversation is with Steven Hoskinson. It is about Organic Intelligence and trauma.

Steven Hoskinson, MA, MAT, is the Founder and Chief Compassion Officer (CCO) of Organic Intelligence® and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Organic Intelligence Outreach Institute. Steve created the Human Empowerment And Resiliency Training (OI HEARTraining®) based on Organic Intelligence, which is a positive psychology, fractal method known for its implicit exposure approach to trauma. Since 1999, Steve has trained thousands of professionals in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in the art of the compassionate treatment of trauma. As Professional Training Faculty for the SE™ Trauma Institute, he has mentored and trained teachers across the globe and is also Adjunct Faculty for JFK University’s Somatic Psychology program.

The conversation is available both as an MP3 and a PDF transcript at:
http://somaticperspectives.com/2016/05/hoskinson/

Dear friends, colleagues, and clients,

I am writing today to announce my retirement as a therapist and teacher. As many of you know, for the past five months I have been battling a series of health challenges including hemothorax, many rounds of pneumonia, congestive heart failure, endocarditis, arrhythmia, blood infections, and multiple myeloma which has compromised my immune system. I have come to realize it is impossible to continue my training schedule under these health conditions and that for the foreseeable future my time would best be spent writing the books and articles that have been on a back burner for years.

I thank you all for your well wishes during this difficult time and look forward to the next rich chapter of my life bringing PBSP theory and practice to the world through my writing rather than in person as a therapist and a teacher.

With the wonderfully talented, dedicated, and well trained cadre of PBSP therapists, supervisors, and trainers that exist, I know that the practice and teaching of PBSP will be secure in their capable hands and carried on to the highest standards for the benefit of the world in the future.

I wish you all happiness, health, well-being, satisfaction, and meaning in your lives.

With love as always,

Al

This list was derived by searching databases containing M.A. and Ph.D. theses. Due to the search
engines used, only theses published in North America and Europe are included. Only English language
theses are included due to all search terms being English language. All theses are listed alphabetically by
author last name. For a complete list of search terms used, refer to appendix. Searches cover 1718-
Present. Related articles range from 1981 to 2013, coming from a multitude of universities. A breakdown
of the top universities producing related theses will be included in the final version.

Dissertation List-Body Psychotherapy-Somatic Praxis DOWNLOAD PDF

Are your clients stressed? Out of touch with what they’re really feeling? Getting stuck in story-telling?

With our Level One Focusing course and Healing Professionals Track, we’ll begin to teach you how the body-based practice of Focusing can help your clients go deeper and achieve greater change.

Focusing encourages people to engage with feelings that come up when they sense inside. With this type of attention, emotions get what they need in order to transform.

We’ll show you how even the most difficult emotions can be sources of positive change and growth.

FIND OUT MORE ON FOCUSING RESOURCES WEBSITE

Not Sure About Focusing Yet? Want a Free Taste of What You’ll Learn?

Let us show you how Focusing can help in as little as one hour. Join us on April 20th from 11:00am to 12:15pm Pacific for a Free* Inner Relationship Focusing Training Program Open House where you can hear about:

• 3 powerful ways to shift emotional states to calm instead of stressed
• How bringing more listening into relationships lets everyone get smarter and kinder
• Why the body is actually wiser than the thinking mind about what really matters
• And if you’re a healing professional, we’ll show you how Focusing can bring your work with clients to a whole new level

You’ll also meet our program faculty. Learn about the content, format and structure of the program. Please feel free to bring your burning questions about Focusing.

Secure Your Spot Today!

*toll charges may apply

Position Title: Core Candidate Assistant Professor
Job Code: FAC01
School: Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology, Naropa University
Program: MA Somatic Counseling
Reports to: Dean, Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology
FLSA Classification: Exempt
Hours per Week: 40
Salary: $46,000

Job Summary: The MA Somatic Counseling (MASC) degree program seeks to fill a full-time core faculty position beginning July 1, 2016. This faculty position teaching a variety of clinical and theoretical courses specific to dance/movement therapy and body psychology as well as general counseling; networking regionally and nationally with other educators and clinicians within the fields of dance therapy and body psychology; and actively engaging as a member of the leadership team guiding the MASC degree program.

Qualified applicants must be able to demonstrate consistent success in negotiating the pedagogical, clinical, research, administrative, and collaborative responsibilities of a faculty appointment within the degree program, within the Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology, and within the structure of the university at large.

Job Duties:

• Teach 20 credits across the course of the academic year (typically 10 each semester), primarily in the MASC degree program, but potentially in other degree programs of the Graduate School of Counseling and Psychology (GSCP) as well.
• Attend and actively participate in all programmatic and school-wide meetings, as well as co-curricular events sponsored by the MASC degree program.
• In concert with the MASC leadership team, develop and conduct plans for assessment, community building, and ongoing curriculum development.
• Participate in the administrative operations, including Admissions Interviews and events, of the MASC degree program.
• Engage in professional development that includes pedagogical approach, contemplative view, and diversity/inclusivity.
• Hold regular office hours and meet with students as needed outside of class time.
• Serve on and actively participate in appointed university committees.
• Understand and adhere to the policies, procedures, and protocols outlined in the Faculty and Employee Handbooks.
• Contribute to the advancement of the counseling, DMT, and BP fields through professional involvement such as conference presentations, original research, publications, etc.
• Complete additional duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Candidates must be board certified as a dance/movement therapist (BC-DMT) through the ADTA.
• A doctoral degree in counseling, psychology, or a related field.
• Candidates must have advanced training in observation and assessment of movement beyond what is required for master’s approved programs.
• Candidates must be licensed or eligible for licensure in the State of Colorado at the professional counselor or equivalent level.
• Demonstrated skill in recognizing and addressing issues related to privilege, oppression, diversity, and inclusivity.
• Candidates must be familiar with historic and contemporary principles and practices of dance/movement therapy and body psychology.
• Candidate must have teaching experience at the graduate level that is informed and enriched by clinical practice.
• Demonstrated ability to work with others in an administrative and leadership capacity is important.
• A basic understanding of the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the impact these have on equity, access, and opportunity.
• Willingness to co-create an inclusive community and actively participate in related professional development, including openness to feedback and ongoing self-examination.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Significant evidence of scholarly work such as professional presentations, publications, and/or a demonstrated interest in research.
• Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to principles of contemplative education.
• Familiarity with the vision and view of Naropa University.
• Experience with transpersonal, contemplative, and/or somatic counseling and psychotherapy practices.
• A basic understanding of the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the impact these have on equity, access, and opportunity in higher education communities.

Applications: Application review continues until position is filled. Qualified candidates should apply online here and include a letter of interest and resume.

Naropa University is actively engaged in creating an inclusive, diverse community and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. In keeping with our diversity initiatives, we encourage applications from persons of historically under-represented groups and those who support diversity.

Increasing Psychotherapy’s Effectiveness

Psychological problems are generally not solved; they are more often resolved. Something in a person has changed. In Bodynamics we are able to access and build these changed states more directly. By using the body, we can help a client establish a new and felt sense of competency in the areas being worked on verbally.

In childhood, non-traumatic developmental disruptions typically occur around the motor, mental, and psychological abilities coming online. The results of these disruptions are imprinted in the mind, the nervous system, and in the related muscles. Usually, the presence of an issue in an adult’s life implies that certain abilities were not learned or accepted at a related developmental age. As a child, the client had to learn protective responses – to give up aspects of themself, or of their relationships. The resulting protective behavior that was once adaptive, is now the source of many contemporary issues.

We generally work verbally with the here and now, on how an issue is appearing in present-day life. Then, from knowing the psychological function of the muscles, we can employ specific muscles to deepen the work and move it forward. Using a muscle will simultaneously do two things: it will evoke the corresponding developmental age and themes; and it will help to build missing abilities from that stage, or release ones that are held back. As these abilities develop and stabilize, often quite rapidly, they can lead to a felt sense of competency in this area. The previously reflexive or sensed need for protective behavior becomes less urgent. This allows people to change lifelong patterns in a liberating way.

Since muscles from a given developmental stage evoke the themes of that stage, we can also build our relationship with the client around these themes. This enables a client to embody new behavior more quickly and more lastingly. Additionally, we have found that meta-processing, i.e., therapist and client together discussing the experience of the new sense of competency, furthers the integration of the developing abilities and brings to awareness nascent competency in other areas. Working toward these changed states is changing our understanding of effective psychotherapy.

© Bodynamic Institute USA, 2015

Online Consultation Group

Friday March 18, 2016

Noon-3pm Eastern time
I am offering a faculty credit consultation group for all levels of SE students. We will focus on complex trauma and syndromes. Register early because the number of participants is limited.
To register click here

Concussions and PTSD Workshop

April 16 and 17 in Kansas City.

The focus of this workshop is to understand the overlap and interplay of post-concussive symptoms and PTSD, how to begin approaching a treatment plan and on treating clients with this history.

For more details click here and scroll down

Please help cover his crushing medical and recovery expenses following his pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and hemothorax that began in Germany. He has been in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities since October 20th. Happily, Al is now firmly on the road to a full recovery at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston’s North End.

http://gogetfunding.com/support-for-al-pessos-medical-recovery-expenses/