Psychosomatic Therapies
Psychosomatic therapies understand and utilize the body-mind connection to process trauma, both big and small. Trauma is created when an interpersonal injury or physical injury has not been processed. Unprocessed traumatic experiences live in the nervous system, standing ready to make sure we are not caught off guard again. The aspect of learning how to stay safe is an important part of survival, however when a traumaic event is unprocessed, this function misinterprets and overacts to situations that are safe.
Hakomi
Hakomi is a mindfulness-centered, experiential psychotherapy. Ron Kurtz, the creator of Hakomi, came from a background of science, physics, mathematics, systems theory, the Tao and Buddhism. Kurtz interweaved these systems to create a lens that sees the roadmap of the inner self and a method to make change. Its philosophy is that you are perfect now and that change is done with the intention to refine your ways of being, not to fix.
Just as a small stone dropped into a still lake can change the face of the entire lake, small shifts in your way of being will bring about significant changes in your quality of life.
The Hakomi process occurs through mindful observation and the knowing that change is possible only when there is a feeling of safety and connection, allowing the nervous system to be at ease and therefore, be flexible. Within this context, you can identify patterns of thinking and how they emerge thru your physical expressions.
I use these methods in my counseling style to help you to release patterns that are life-limiting and to create space for something new…something more authentic to your true self. It is a therapy that quietly reaches into your heart and asks permission to see what is there.
Polyvagal Theory
Polyvagal theory explains how humans are designed to develop the knowing of themselves and relationships through an unconscious system of data collection during interpersonal connections. Stephen W. Porges, the founder of the polyvagal theory, came from a multidiscipliary background that includes ergonomics, exercise physiology, neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, and substance abuse.
The overall role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is to monitor what is presently happening in the body and the external world to determine if this moment is safe or unsafe. Polyvagal theory deepened our understanding of how ANS functions. The older theory divided the ANS into two branches: parasympathetic and sympathetic and understood that one or the other branch would be active at any given time. The polyvagal theory looks at the ANS as divided into three branches which are nested within one another and whose activation overlaps. The polyvagal theory also revealed the connection between emotions and physical functions.
