Empowering the body:  Somatic awareness and physical action in the treatment of trauma and dissociation

The repetitive traumatic patterns our clients come to us to change are not only psychological but somatic, clearly reflected in posture, energy level, movement, regulation of arousal and other physical attributes. Changing these patterns cannot be accomplished by insight alone. The procedural memory that keeps such behaviors and dissociative patterns in in place must be addressed. A body-oriented approach is indicated that facilitates new actions and addresses dissociative symptoms, including somaticcomponents of traumatic memories (e.g., pain, analgesia, and motor inhibitions) and avoidance-related symptoms such as bodily anesthesia. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy emphasizes practicing new actions and building other somatic resouces to mitigate symptoms and develop a somatic sense of self. In this workshop, somatic interventions that can be integrated into existing clinical skills will be taught and illustrated through excerpts of videotaped therapy sessions and brief experiential exercises.

Conference

English

Pat Ogden

Ogden, P. (2004, September). Empowering the body: Somatic awareness and physical action in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. Presentation at the 9th EMDR International Association Conference, Montreal, QC