The Garden of Love and Loss
By Judith Sarah Schmidt, PhD
Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD
Books come to me at the moment I need them. It may sound strange that a...
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
TAKE A TOOL AND RUN
Take a Tool and Run with Dr. Heather Corwin
TR 19: In this September, 2020 “Take a Tool and Run!”, we explore sensory toys for our young people who are engaging in e-learning and could benefit from support. When sensory tools are “correctly used, such items enable students to manage sensory issues, anxiety, and attention challenges by redirecting their physical and emotional energy into an object” (Biel, 2017, p.12). When sixth graders used stress balls in a study by Stalvey and Brasell (2006), positive impacts existed in areas of writing, peer interactions, attitude and attention. In other words, sometimes having something to hold and feel while learning can be helpful. As there are many frustrations for students, teachers, parents, caregivers, and throughout our communities, having some resources that help you and your family manage this temporary and challenging time can be useful. In this TTR, sensory tools are suggested and demonstrated. You can find some of the toys in this video on Amazon. One link with 36 toys in a set can be found on Amazon for $22. For questions or comments, please reach out to Dr. Heather at DrHeatherCorwin@gmail.com.
-Dr. Heather Corwin www.CorwinCounseling.com. More can be found at www.BodybyHeather.com.
Dr. Heather Corwin’s Take a Tool and Run is a monthly vlog that offers quick and effective tools to share somatic centering practices.
PODCAST WITH MICHAEL OSTROLENK
PODCASTS
Michael Ostrolenk is a licensed psychotherapist who completed his MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology at John F. Kennedy University and did post-graduate studies in somatic psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies . He is certified in Spiral Dynamics and Wade Mindsets. Michael is Head Instructor for SEALFIT’s Unbeatable Mind Academy as well as a personal development coach. Michael is also the host of #ORadio , a podcast which explores individual and social transformation.
Today I speak with Dr. Leslie Ellis, a leading expert in the use of somatic approaches in psychotherapy, in particular for working with dreams, nightmares and the effects of trauma. She is the author of A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy and offers many training opportunities in embodied, experiential dreamwork based on her book.
Dr. Ellis discusses the value of engaging clients in dream work, as it helps point out salient emotional concerns, helps limit biased conscious editing, provides new perspectives on issues, and can serve as a diagnostic tool. Dreams often pick up on things which affect us during the day, even if we are not consciously aware of it. Dr. Ellis details how one could understand key life events through paying attention to trends in dreams and lends theories on how dreams may be predictive of future events. She also discusses indigenous populations’ approaches to dreaming and theories on how the world may be dreaming through us.
To learn more about Dr. Leslie Ellis and her work, visit her website (drleslieellis.com).
We will close out today’s show with one of my favorite singer/song writers Stuart Davis and his song “Fear of Light” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzbIDsRY4…DbD1EYHvc&index=6.
And I’d like to give a shout out to my coach and teacher Amanda Jade Fiorini and a wonderful piece she wrote entitled “Grief as an Ally of Emergence” (www.wildearthmedicine.com/post/grief-a…MLFtRMe0725Q).
Today’s show is brought to you by Somatic Psychotherapy Today (somaticpsychotherapytoday.com/).
BODY MIND SPIRIT
My Stuffed Co-Therapists
In my office I have stuffed animals - a rabbit, a dog, and a bear that sit together on one of my sofas. They represent an alternative somatic psychotherapy. Treatment with them involves talk, but it also involves touch and somatic awareness. Clients usually don’t notice them. However, often in therapy, themes emerge that arise from my clients' repressed bodies. These themes deal with both present and past events and how these clients were treated by their parents. This information is presented to me both quickly and as an affectionless series of stories. I stop my clients. I encourage them to take full slow breaths, to place their feet hips' width apart on the floor. Then I ask them if there is a feeling beneath the story that they are telling me. Often, after the breaths, they come back to the story slower but void of feelings.
At this point I change the focus and ask them if they are drawn to one of my co-therapists — the bear, the dog, or the rabbit—and let them make their choice. After choosing, their fingers may start to caress or grip the co-therapist of their choice.
The Shattered Oak: An Author’s Reflection
My mother’s life was not easy. She dealt with and battled domestic violence, child abuse, suicide, and eventually mental illness. She was affected by and surrounded by the nature of mankind’s cruelty. And yet, she gave my siblings and I her gift of strength. In writing The Shattered Oak, I came to terms with her thought process and experienced her level of bravery and reliance. I finally comprehended her intense strength, courage, and determination by acknowledging her survivor skills and her deep love of faith that provided her comfort that she was never alone.
Using the Original Tuning Board in Somatic Experiencing®
The Tuning Board is a somatic tool that addresses this problem of a non-resilient ability to return to a fluid vertical nervous system. It is increasingly known and used for this purpose in the SE community as well as among other somatic therapy practitioners. A unique balance board device, the Tuning Board gives the individual the task of relating to a comforting constant motion while the spine is in a state of vertical orientation.
The Pandemic, Zoom and Polyvagal Theory
I recently saw a pre-publication version of an editorial by Stephen Porges, “The COVID-19 Pandemic is a Paradoxical Challenge to Our Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective.” In it he says, “The pandemic impacts on our biological imperative to connect.” Polyvagal theory says that as mammals we need to connect to co-regulate. In fact, we use the minimal cues that come from the face and the tone of voice of each other to co-regulate our nervous systems. These cues let us know we are safe. The problem is that during the pandemic, we are being given the imperative that we need to stay away from each other in order to be safe.
A Polyvagal Approach to Covid 19
We are so pleased to be able to share a recorded version of a conversation Deb Dana had recently with Liam O Mahony, Accredited Psychotherapist and Addiction Counsellor and Co-Founder of PCPSI* on a Polyvagal Approach to COVID-19.
The body remembers: Saying #MeToo
It was reassuring hearing the title of Babette Rothschild’s book (Rothschild, 2000) all those years ago, recommended to me by my core process psychotherapist. ‘The body remembers’. Yes, it does, my body, turning towards me, nodding - suddenly engaging - a door opening inside. The body remembers. This body remembers, and what a journey it’s been – so far – in my body stepping through that door and in deepening my understanding of trauma and working with trauma in myself, with clients, with supervisees, and with trainees.
RELATIONAL MINDFULNESS
Relational Mindfulness with Serge Prengel
Embodied Spirituality
In my work, I am accustomed to thinking in terms of embodied experience. That is, mind and body are not separate entities. I think of the mind as an emerging property of the human organism. Where does the notion of spirituality fit with this kind of outlook?
The word "spirituality" refers to "spirit". Traditionally, spirit is seen as immaterial, the opposite of flesh and blood. It is what animates the body, gives it life. In many traditions, it is something that leaves the body after death, and continues to live on its own once disembodied. So, essentially, the word "spirit" evokes the very opposite of "embodiment." There is such a chasm between these two notions that it makes it hard to conceive that they could be integrated. Indeed, if you only contemplate these two propositions as logical statements, you simply cannot find a way to reconcile them.
SPT BOOKSHELF
Book Reviews
The Garden of Love and Loss
By Judith Sarah Schmidt, PhD
Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD
Books come to me at the moment I need them. It may sound strange that a...
Passion & Presence: A Couple’s Guide to Awakened Intimacy and Mindful Sex
One simple sentence says it all: “Great sex is a mind-set, not a skill-set.”
Maci Daye embodies the essence of her new book, Passion & Presence: A Couple’s Guide to Awakened Intimacy and Mindful Sex, in this short statement. Yes, readers receive exercises to practice concepts presented throughout the book, but the crux of success resides in mindfulness including presence, curiosity, and authenticity, and a commitment to one’s self, one’s partner and the relationship.
True Companions: A Book for Everyone About the Relationships That See Us Through
Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn
How can I feel connected to someone I have never met and in turn feel more engaged in my own real-life...