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Listening to the Body: A Complementary Approach to Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis is one way of assisting individuals to shift out of their limiting rational processes, move beyond their unconscious defenses and connect with their inner intelligence. Another way of connecting with the unconscious is through the body. The body reflects the contents of the unconscious mind. If we encounter a traumatic event in our life and only process part of it, the remainder of our experience is felt as stress, holding, and pressure in our body. If we act in ways that are incongruent with our deepest values our body will register this lack of integration as discomfort and tension. Due to the instinctual influence of our self-protective
defenses our conscious minds are able to tune out both physical and
psychological pain. However, sooner or later our body will communicate
its
pain to our conscious mind. This pain – sometimes strong,
sometimes only vaguely discomforting – is a potential
doorway to our unconscious mind and to healing. This was the first session for an individual who was suffering from depression that would not shift. In the past she had suffered bouts of depression that had lasted from one to four weeks. This episode had lasted eight weeks. During our session I noticed that whenever she talked about the “stuckness” of her depression, she placed her right hand in the center of her chest and rubbed it back and forth. When I asked her later in the session if she would like to try something experiential to work on her stuckness, she agreed. First I asked her if there
was anywhere
in her body where she experienced the stuckness of her depression.
After some reflection, she placed her right hand in the center
of her chest. I suggested that she stay with the feeling of
stuckness, paying attention to it rather than trying to change
it. After more
silent reflection I asked her what she was aware of. She replied
that the stuckness felt like a brick. I encouraged her to stay
with the sensation of the brick. She did so and soon the brick
was transformed into a plant with tendrils like ivy that were
winding around her chest right up and around her throat. She
said that
it felt like there was something trying to get out and couldn’t.
When I asked her to stay with that image of the ivy and the
feeling of something trying to get out and can’t, she
spontaneously said, “Sadness, it’s sadness… and
tears. I need to cry, to release the grief. I haven’t
truly felt the grief of all of those recent losses.” (Earlier
in the session she had informed me of three major losses she
had suffered in the past
year and a half). She became silent and after a long, deep
period of inner reflection and gentle deepening of her breathing
process
I asked her if she wanted to continue with her inner exploration.
She said no, that she had done enough for one day and she felt
much better knowing what she now knew. As with most therapeutic approaches, it is easier to describe the process than to actualize it. Assisting others to listen to their body/mind in this way requires perceptiveness, skill, sensitivity, patience and an ability to work in a moment – to – moment fashion with the client’s awareness. In my experience as a counsellor this modality is worth learning and bringing to the therapeutic endeavor. It is an approach that empowers the client as it supports them to learn how to follow and trust in their own unique form of body/ mind communication. It also saves the therapist from having to make interpretations and suggestions for the client.
Vancouver & Langley Offices |