Somatic Psychotherapy Today

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

SPT Magazine Volume 10, Number 2 is now live

We're pleased to share purposeful and useful insights, information, and clinical applications. Our contributors include: Genovino Ferri, Ronan M. Kisch, Darrell Sanchez, Sherry Genga, Yifan Zhang and Nancy Eichhorn.

Take a Tool and Run with Dr. Heather Corwin

TR 16: In this June 2020 “Take a Tool and Run!”, we explore the green space healing tool of dandelions, a tool to engage the breath, to explore the outdoors. Breath work has long been recognized as a self-soothing and emotional regulation tool. As anxiety blossoms in our communities for a variety of reasons including unemployment, civil unrest, injustices, and the fears of the pandemic, taking the time to do what we can to take care of ourselves (in spite of moral injury) is important for our clients and ourselves. Blowing the seeds off of dandelions is similar to the exercise of engaging with breath as if to blow out a candle, which is an evidenced based skill taught to people of all ages to regulate emotions (Smith, 2005). Right now, many of my clients are literally and metaphorically holding their breath – and so am I. Finding dandelions to blow engages me with nature, my breath, and is visually soothing. These are all areas of healing we can all use right now.

-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.

Ostrolenk speaks with Jan Winhall, MSW, a psychotherapist in private practice and Director of Focusing on Borden (http://www.focusingonborden.com/), a center for teaching focusing and focus-oriented therapy. Jan discusses what brought her to the work that she does, her experience with knowing how to listen, and her use of the Felt Sense, the internal bodily awareness that functions as a connection between the mind and body. She also discusses a Polyvagal informed model for treating addiction (https://somaticpsychotherapytoday.com…) she created and the six keys of her clinician model (https://www.focusingonborden.com/model): addicted, chaos, rigidity, play, integrated, stillness.

Winhall is also the author of Understanding and Treating Addition with a Felt Sense Experience Model and In Emerging Practice In Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Innovative Theory and Applications (https://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Pract…). To learn more about Jan Winhall, visit her website (https://www.focusingtherapy.org/for-c…).

Today’s show is brought to you by Somatic Psychotherapy Today (https://www.somaticpsychotherapytoday…), an online resource for all topics related to body-oriented psychology.

BODY MIND SPIRIT

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.

Cognitive complexity, COVID-19, and embodied cognition on #ORadio

Michael Ostrolenk speaks with Dr. Dee Joy Coulter, a nationally recognized neuroscience educator known for her unique ability to present complex ideas in clear and humorous ways that are useful for her audiences. Dr. Coulter discusses COVID-19 and the cognitive complexity that would be necessary to adequately deal with the pandemic.

Relational Implicit: Conversations on Psychotherapy

Eric Wolterstorff: Society under sustained stress June 3, 2020
In this conversation, Eric Wolterstorff draws on a systems approach to describe how the pandemic has elicited a “stress chain reaction.” He sees a parallel with the model mapped by Murray Bowen in the context of family dynamics. He also talks about how to dampen the chain reaction each time it passes through you. See […]
Relational Implicit
Basic assumptions about what we do and why we do it May 14, 2020
See audio recording at the end of this page. The giant “pause” that we are going through is an opportunity to reflect on what our basic assumptions are as to what we do and why we do it. I am sharing my thoughts with you in the hope that they will stimulate you to formulate […]
Relational Implicit

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 Shattered Oak: Overcoming Domestic Abuse and a Misdiagnosis of Mental Illness

I finished reading The Shattered Oak: Overcoming Domestic Abuse and a Misdiagnosis of Mental Illness and realized I hadn’t drawn a full breath since page one. At some points in the text, I simply stopped breathing. The character’s voice drew me in. Barbara’s first-person voice created an impact. She was distant in moments, disconnected from reality, and then smack dab in the brunt truth of her situation. She sounded emotionally and developmentally stunted; considering the content of her experiences, her tone of voice and language use rang true.

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

In 2018, one block away from my university dorm, a student committed suicide. His head was in a plastic bag when his roommate walked in and found him dead. Rumors were flying around: victim was an Indian. No, he was an African. Wasn’t he Chinese? Rumors guessed about potential death causes, and one important factor was loneliness. Loneliness has become a crucial problem in contemporary societies, and human connection in social settings help us heal both physically and mentally. Such is the theme of the book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.

User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design are Changing the Way We Live,...

I found myself fidgeting and incomplete after only six hours of a power outage at my house yesterday. Needless to say, every day we wake up to our alarms beeping like a virtual mom then head to the espresso maker bringing fresh smells of the day within seconds. Our driver is on his way to pick us up through applications such as Uber. We unconsciously check our phones five times in a minute so we can engage with our friends across the globe with several taps and clicks on the little shining screens. It’s not inaccurate to say that we are all ‘cyborgs’: we are half human, half machine. We are incomplete without technology.

Praxis Daily 180 with Lina Mookerjee

Lina Mookerjee has a degree in Engineering, a postgraduate degree in Management Studies and a MA in Jungian Psychotherapy and Healing. For the past 20 years, she has been a yoga teacher/trainer, educator, psycho-spiritual group facilitator and an integrative psychotherapist working with women in mid-life based. She works from her Nottingham base and via Skype. Her expertise of the unconscious, feminine personal power and spiritual archetypes enriches her client-work including with anger, shame and trauma. She particularly enjoys working with the Kali archetype, by challenging inaccurate interpretations and instead offering a more realistic and healthier paradigm to help women. She is a published author, international speaker/lecturer and regular contributor on BBC Radio.

Hi everyone and welcome to Meditation 43.

During times of change, and particularly during uncertainty, we can often feel disconnected from the ground and our own bodies. Staying as present as is possible is key to help you effectively manage the fluctuations as they occur. I like to think of it as a bit like becoming a good surfer as you learn to ride and go with the waves of unpredictability.

This practice is to help you get safely back into your own body and be in the present once more. Enjoy x