Dear Readers, we remain in the pandemic although there is some light beginning to emerge at the end of a long tunnel.
We have been challenged to deliver our practices online, and specifically more testing for our fields working with the body. However, creativity has been born from the experience, and we are more able to connect with clients from further afield than ever due to online technology. It remains to be discovered how embodied psychotherapies will be delivered in the future. More research is needed on who is best suited to online psychotherapy. The reasons for this have to go beyond convenience and accessibility. Our professions have a uniqueness in seeing a sense of self as being multi-dimensional. Although we have risen to the exigencies of the pandemic and learned much from it, remote psychotherapy can only be based on partial relating. The slide towards technologically mediated relationships risks the dilution of contact in its fullest sense with others and it being normalised. It is another step towards being more disconnected from humanity and the natural world. Our recent special issue on ‘Embodied Psychotherapies in the Digital Age’ (volume 16, issue 1) unpacks many relevant issues to online practice in our fields. Many of the articles are free to access; here is the link https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/TBMD20?utm_source=CPB&utm_medium=cms&utm_campaign=JPG15754
The pandemic has removed the familiar and predictable. At the least, we are stressed and distressed. Some are traumatised and hidden traumas have surfaced. Embodied psychotherapies are at the forefront of what can help. Our first two articles in this issue reflect that and discuss dissociation and trauma.
The first is from Stacy Reuille-Dupont from the USA and entitled ‘Applications of somatic psychology: Movement and body experiences in the treatment of dissociative disorders’. Case studies are presented to address how bringing movement interventions into the treatment room addresses integration of psychological and physical systems. It discusses the foundations of somatic psychology and outlines how somatic processing is important to the integration of insight and reconnection with the client’s sense of self as a whole.
Secondly, Merete Holm-Brantbjerg, a bodynamic psychotherapist based in Denmark shares her article ‘Sitting on the edge of an abyss together. A methodology for working with hypo-arousal as part of trauma therapy’. Hypo-aroused states resulting from unprocessed trauma are less known about and Merete is leading the way in her discussion. She highlights differences between dissociation, hypo-aroused and hyper-aroused states with each requiring different approaches.The article focuses on those with loss of muscle tone and hypo-arousal.
Shifting gear and changing theme our other articles focus on mother–child therapy and embodiment in the post-partum period.
For our third article, we have ‘Parent-child dance and movement therapy: Mothers’ subjective experiences’ by Dalia Kedem and Dafna Regev, from Israel. This report is on a research study employing semi-structured, open-ended interviews with 18 mothers on their experiences in the therapeutic process and the effects of this process on the relationship with their children. There were four themes: (1) the contribution of group to the mother–child relationship; (2) movement as a therapeutic intervention; (3) the mothers’ insights deriving from therapeutic process, and (4) the mothers’ perceptions of the group intervention. It concludes joint movement activity contributes significantly to the relational fabric between mothers and children.
Finally ‘Embodiment during the postpartum period: How bodily experience shapes parent’s understanding’ is from Julia Ayana Zaides, Einat Shuper-Engelhard and Dita Federman, from Israel. In this research study, mothers describe how psycho-physical experiences shape the process of becoming a mother. Employing a qualitative-phenomenological approach, 12 first-time mothers were interviewed. Findings referring to the beginning of motherhood were (1) bodily sensations have powerful and surprising meaning for mothers, (2) physical identification with the infant constitutes a platform for awareness about the infant, and (3) conflicting bodily experiences stimulate difficulty and joy simultaneously. The importance of the mother’s awareness to physical processes and to the connection between them and mental processes is discussed.
Our book review is ‘Intercultural therapy: challenges, insights, and developments’ by Meg Chang.
We look forward to receiving more of your articles.