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RISING WOMEN EXPERT ADVICE...
Why include the body in counselling?
Traditionally, counselling has focused on the mind and employs talk therapy
to resolve issues. Other forms of counselling have also been developed to
include the spirit such as Jungian and transpersonal therapy. Recently, it
is becoming more accepted to work with the body in counselling as research
in trauma has shown excellent results with counselling that includes the
body as well as the mind.
Such counselling practices include EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing), Hakomi, IBP (Integrative Body Psychotherapy), EFT (Emotion
Focused Therapy), Bioenergetics, and many others. All of these counselling
practices hold in common the belief that any event that occurs to us in life
impacts our whole being -physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Humans are seen to be unique energy systems and counselling from a
body-focused perspective will pay detailed attention to human energy.
Feeling and expression are seen to be prime components of healthy
functioning and a body-focused counsellor will use breath and movement as
primary techniques to re-establish the healthy flow of energy in the body.
Many of the dysfunctional patterns that we repeat in our lives cannot be
changed by talk alone. By returning to the site where the injury happened to
the body, real change can occur. If something happens to our energy early in
life, then we develop a poor sense of ourselves which becomes buried under
defensive blocks. If we have had to block our feelings, we block the healthy
flow of energy in our bodies.
Blocks appear as muscular tension in the body. Counsellors who are trained
in a body-focused practice will contact the blocks in the body, relax the
tensions that produced those blocks, and release energy to flow freely,
allowing the stunted self to emerge buried within each of us. With energy
flowing unimpeded, a person can have the sense of well-being in their body
that should have been their natural condition in infancy.
When aliveness in the body is reawakened, one experiences an intensified
sense of authenticity that can be expressed through relationships with
others, leading to higher levels of personal fulfilment and intimacy.
For more advice on different counselling services, contact Sharon
Stopforth, MSW, RSW at Body Psychotherapy at 403.259.3427. Visit
www.bodypsych.ca
to learn more about Sharon’s services.
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