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Our Bodies can Think

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:15:51 GMT

Helene Su is a member of Ownzone in Stroud and she teaches somatic movement and dance. Su has recently written a concise and beautifully illustrated e-book explaining Somatics and how it can benefit everyone.

If you would like to download this free e-book, please do so here .

EFT for anger

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:00:46 GMT

'To get livid’, ' to vent one’s spleen’, ' to see red', 'to have one's blood boil'.

When people describe anger using words, the imagery is normally hot, red and with lots of explosive energy involved – like blowing a fuse, for example. As a qualified EFT tapping therapist, with a background in modern languages, I am fascinated with how we use language to express our feelings.

We all know when we get angry, it is normally fairly obvious, but how many of us have stored anger from years ago somewhere inside of us, yet have not yet managed to deal with it? Anger is often stored in the body – indeed the word ‘livid’ comes from the liver which is seen by acupuncturists and other practitioners of TCM ( traditional Chinese Medicine ) as being intimately linked with anger.

How many of us have blown our top at moments which we later regret?

Unresolved anger is also thought to be responsible for many chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure. EFT is a wonderfully effective way to safely to get our 'angries' out, and actually have a bit of fun doing it at the same time. EFT helps us to quite literally get our issues out of our tissues. I was working with a psychologist client the other day to do just that, and the effect was to immediately lift her depression: "I felt like a wave of depression had lifted. I work as a psychologist and I came across EFT about ten years ago. It's an incredibly powerful technique - highly recommend EFT for physical and emotional issues".

For more information on how to safely release stored anger and other unhelpful thoughts and feelings contact me for a free chat.

Treating Physical Pain with Emotional Freedom Technique

Wed, 03 Mar 2021 11:32:25 GMT

Treating Physical Pain with Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is known as an effective treatment for anxiety and depression and scientific studies acknowledge it as one of the best treatments around for PTSD, but it’s also great for physical pain too. This account dates from when I was doing my training, and the lady was surprised that her tennis elbow pain disappeared within an hour. And it never came back.

"I had suffered from a very painful tennis elbow for many months when Julia suggested I try EFT. At first I was a little sceptical as nothing else had worked, we embarked on our EFT session and during the one hour together, I literally 'felt' the pain shift from the elbow to the lower arm and over the next days it completely disappeared. I am amazed and so pleased as I can now use my arm as I did before, without any pain and discomfort". FNW, mental health nurse

In fact it is so common within EFT for pain to shift during treatment that the term ‘chasing the pain’ is used, where the pain is observed, experienced, acknowledged during treatment in such a way that it is helped to eventually leave the body.

Now of course one session is very fast and it may well need several treatments to treat more long-standing issues as this next case shows.

Another lady diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis had a session with me, because she was unable to work after her hand had swollen up. After one session she was able to move her hand and her fingers. This lady needed a number of treatments to regain the proper use of her hands, but we got there.

Scientific studies show that EFT can and does help physical issues - especially those with an emotional cause.

As demonstrated above - it is not necessary to believe in it for EFT to work. Most people with chronic pain with an emotional cause learn to live with it. Maybe with EFT they can learn again to live without the pain instead!

If you don’t feel any progress is made after two EFT sessions, I’ll give you your money back. No questions asked.

Please do get in contact to learn more or to book a session.

How to have Deeper more Intimate Conversations

wro@idspartners.co.uk (Bill ODell) — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 12:58:48 GMT

You need to take risks to get better conversation

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote of how the anxiety and isolation of the pandemic were impacting everyone in some way. He quoted trauma expert Bonnie Badenoch, who felt one antidote to this stress was a need to have “deep reciprocal attunement (with others) that makes you feel viscerally safe. Columbia professor Martha Welch stressed the need to connect with others by having “vulnerable," deep conversations.

Deep conversations may be an important way to connect with those we care about in these difficult times, but they are always a good idea. They are the foundation of strong intimate relationships—those “we talked all night” conversations when dating, or those seemingly rare but cherished, heartfelt times when you lowered your guard and spoke from your heart with someone you trust. They connect you to the human race, to those important in your life, in some way to yourself.

Good idea, but often easier said than done. Here are some tips for going deeper into your conversations:

Make sure it’s a good time to talk. This is a matter of logistics. It’s hard to have a deep conversation when someone is on their cell phone driving to the grocery store or when they are trying to get their three kids to bed. These times are for quick check-ins—how-you-doing, catch-you-later speed conversations. For those deeper conversations you need time; find out if the other person has some. Simple question: Is this a good time to talk?

Set the tone. Because you’re the one initiating this, you need to be the one to set the tone, the one to let the other person know that you're interested in having more than a how-you-doing check-in. There are two ways of doing this.

One is to set the tone by talking about yourself more deeply than you usually do. You want to move beyond the standard, “I’m good," to more honest statements about how you are really doing—"I’ve been feeling down lately"; "I don’t know about you, but my kids are driving me crazy"; "I had been doing okay until Tom and I had this argument last night." This is about self-disclosure and revealing more of you and your feelings. With this introduction, you are letting the other person know what kind of conversation you want to have, what emotional level you are comfortable talking about. You can then turn the conversation towards them.

The other approach is to ask hard questions at the start: Not the “Doing okay?” but "Have you been having a hard time?" "Have you been feeling depressed or worried?" "Are your kids driving you crazy or struggling?" People only know what is safe to talk about based on what you talk about and what you ask. By drilling down into specific, more emotionally difficult conversations, you are letting the other person know that you are ready to hear what they have to say, that you are ready to go there.

Ask about details. Good therapists do this instinctively. They try to move from broad statements ("I’ve been feeling anxious") to the details: What about, what thoughts have you had, how do you talk to yourself? You don’t need to be a therapist and try to deconstruct the other person’s psychology, but you want to ask about details (about an argument they had or about how the kids are driving them crazy) because emotions ride on content. Broad questions yield broad, bland emotions; detailed questions stir deeper, more poignant feelings. And expressing these deeper emotions and having them accepted glues people together.

Give space between emotions. And when these emotions arise, you only need to acknowledge them ("That must have been hurtful; that sounds so frustrating") and then stop and be silent. This can be hard—our instincts are to repair, to fix, to make it better by saying the right thing right then to calm the waters. Don’t. Take a few deep breaths, allow room for you both to absorb what has been said (or for them to finish ranting or crying).

Slow down, focus on them. In the same vein, you want to slow the conversation overall. Move through the conversation like a turtle, not a jackrabbit. Keep the focus on them, give them the room and attention they need, and resist using their stories as launchpads to talk about your own. Only when they are done is it time to turn the conversation towards you.

Take risks. You know if you are moving into more vulnerable and intimate territory if what you want to say makes you feel uncomfortable, you get those butterflies of anxiety. Intimacy is not about disclosing some big, dark secret, but saying anything that is, for you, difficult to say. Take that risk for yourself, and listen for it in the other person. They may say "I’ve never said this before or thought about this before," or there may be a hesitation or an unfinished sentence and a sigh. Ask them to finish the sentence. Give them space to say what is hard to say.

Use your anxiety as a sign that you are emotionally plowing new ground. Go deeper to connect.

And if you need some help to do this why not get in touch with one of our Therapists

Emotional Freedom Technique Explained

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 10:51:16 GMT

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Meridian Tapping - treating both physical and emotional symptoms

Developed by Stanford University academic Gary Craig and building on the work of other academics in related fields such as Drs Roger Callaghan and George Goodheart, EFT forms part of what is called Energy Psychology in the English speaking world today.

Cutting edge research into how the body stores and processes trauma combines with advanced neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques, and ancient Chinese knowledge of the body’s energy pathways (the meridian system) to produce a gentle conversation based therapy involving tapping on certain points on the upper body, while holding a thought or memory in the mind. EFT is a powerful way of regulating the nervous system, clinically proven in studies to reduce the stress hormone cortisol by between 43% and 47% in under an hour, eliciting a feeling of calm.

EFT has been proven in randomised controlled trials to be especially helpful with Anxiety, Depression, Food Cravings and PTSD.

It is worth checking out the scientific evidence for EFT - there are now over 140 studies including worldwide. Here are just a few of them:-

EFT as a treatment for PTSD

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27889444/

A ‘meta analysis’ of randomised controlled trials on the use of EFT for the treatment of depression

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27843054/

EFT use for physical as well as emotional health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6381429/

EFT can be used across a whole range of other emotional and physical conditions, as it is now widely recognised that many physical ailments have their roots in emotional disturbances. While everyone is different, typically between 4 – 10 treatments are needed to achieve most clients’ goals.

With the support of a Practitioner, EFT can unwind years of stress and trauma stored in the body and mind. It is also scientifically proven to be one of the world’s most effective treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and unusually for treatments for this condition, gains made with EFT are maintained afterwards. It’s also easy to learn and there are many resources out on the web. Integrating tapping into your day, even 5 or 10 minutes of self care, can help you deal with the stresses and strains of modern life, retaining a grander perspective, and helping you to maintain your wellbeing long after treatment with a practitioner ends.

EFT combines very well with yoga and meditation and other therapies based on the body’s meridian system.

Who can benefit?

Anyone who does not have the time or ‘headspace’ to do written homework!

Anyone who prefers to (of course gently and with compassionate support) zero in on the root cause of their emotional and physical symptoms in a targeted way to eliminate the emotional charge/s associated with a thought or memory while keeping the need for discussion to a minimum.

Anyone who would like to keep some painful information private during therapy -as long as you are willing to hold the thought or memory in your mind during the session, while helpful it is not always necessary to disclose the details to the therapist. Incredibly, EFT will still work.

Anyone who wants to take control of their health and well-being in a flexible manner. Once the client’s goals have been achieved with a practitioner, clients commonly continue practicing self care using EFT on themselves occasionally coming back into therapy with a practitioner to take a deep dive into a particular issue.

If you would like to learn more about EFT, please do get in touch .

Wellbeing and the Language of the Body Mind

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 10:41:04 GMT

Body mindfulness can bring valuable insight and healing

Much has been written about the importance of the mind body connection and how significant this is to our wellbeing. The idea that the mind and body are somehow separate entities to be linked can now be more fully understood as inseparable and mutually inter-dependant. Neuroscience supports this notion and much of this understanding has helped to inform and shape how we as therapists work with our clients particularly around early developmental issues and the debilitating effects of trauma.

As a Body Movement Psychotherapist, I spend many hours working with clients and supervisees traversing the bridge between thinking, feeling and sensing states. Sometimes the links and connections are easily made, but in many cases, people find the messages from their bodies confusing and hard to understand. Our bodies can be experienced as separate, disconnected, or even scary, uncharted territory. This is particularly the case when one’s body is experienced as a place of distress and pain. Mostly people feel bereft and disempowered at this disconnection and are in some way trying to repair or reunite parts of themselves that have been misplaced, long forgotten or somehow excommunicated along the way.

It can be hard at the best of times to listen to our bodies in the way we live today, often driving ourselves in impossible ways to do more, achieve more, go further, go faster, look better. Our underlying natural, sustainable pace and drives may be quite hidden from us and out of sync with what we imagine we need to thrive. As humans, we are natural beings after all, and it is worth remembering that we are part of the natural world and the inherent cycles within this. Animals are wonderful teachers in that they move when they must, play and rest when they can, constantly changing energetic gears whilst also conserving energy.

In the context of therapy, the practice of what I will call ‘Body Mindfulness’ within a safe therapeutic relationship can be a good way to explore and link up the different pieces of this puzzle, often bringing valuable insight and healing. This can be done by carefully introducing the language of the body into the conversation. Some ways of doing this are by noticing and/or following sensations, impulses, imagery, working with symbols, storytelling, playing, using sound, dreams, spontaneous movement and engaging in the creative process. It is not always necessary to fully articulate our experiences to know the importance of them, the embodied experience is often enough. Communicating with babies or young children demonstrates this beautifully. It is not necessarily the meaning of the words that is understood, it is all the other aspects involved in the conversation such as the quality of touch, holding, shaping, sound, gesture, movement, gaze, breath, rhythms, the music of the body in the relationship that conveys so much.

At this time of uncertainty when many of our lives have been disrupted because of the current pandemic, it feels even more important to listen and speak with ourselves and others at a deep embodied level. Many people have experienced enormous stress and had survival responses provoked, with an increase in symptoms associated with anxiety, including restlessness, agitation, difficulty sleeping and an inability to focus to name but a few. We can start to address some the impact of this by attending to what we consider to be both our bodies and our minds. So why not take a moment occasionally to just listen, to hear the sounds around you, feel the edges of where the world meets you and where you are in contact with the earth. Breathe. Try to remember what feeds and nourishes you; be it time lying on the floor, taking a warm bath, smelling the beginning of a new season, listening to your favourite song, stroking the dogs ears, watching the sun come up or running down hills with a friend, sometimes the simplest things can be a gateway to reconnection.