Psychotherapeutic Body Massage
Sometimes it is hard to link our mind with our body and our body with our mind. So its not difficult to see that when someone has anxiety, depression, or trauma; that if they continue to hold their body in a way that keeps the pain trapped, unreleased, and unhealed, they will continue to carry the damage and be unable to move through the issue. So my sessions invite clients to deal with the causes of pain, not just the symptoms. As a result, there is a basis for lasting change. Respectful and beneficial bodywork can help to move the trapped unreleased, unhealed pain that can often get stuck to complement the journey.
With body work and trauma I will find the appropriate touch for each individual client. Asking for constant feedback, clients can assume ownership of their body within this safe environment and determine their boundaries. What pressure to use and when to touch, when to stop and do absolutely nothing. I have a good understanding of the psychological dynamics involved and I am a member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) so I follow a moral, ethical, and legal framework, which keeps the client safe. It’s the immediacy of touch, the caring and nurturing it conveys, that makes it highly therapeutic and people who have been shut down in their body have reported after bodywork, they were able to regain that connection.
Our being is represented in the physical representation of our body The body we inhabit today is made up of all our experiences, physical, mental and spheric. It's every thing that has ever happened to us, made into solid flesh, which we call us, me, ourselves. Every drama witnessed, experienced and felt becomes indexed, our past experience of everything presented to the world and on display via our body. Its structure, it's posture, every single bit of it is build on our story. What we don’t remember is stored and presented in our bodies as well as our conscious memories. Incomplete feelings, unfinished, that feeling that there is something just not right or that feeling of being stuck.
There is evidence via the body of physical stuckness and physical compression in the tissues. This is manifested through posture and pain in the body. Our body is so amazing it stores sensitive issues so deeply and so cleverly that they can remain unseen and hidden from our conscious selves. Often the reason for this is to wait till we are stronger and ready to address them, but sometimes they stay so locked in that pain and discomfort becomes almost overwhelming, with the call to be heard.
We have an amazing ability to distance ourselves from these events, but our body never forgets. It just waits patiently, giving us the odd clue till in some cases, screams at us in pain for a listening ear, a listening touch and once told with truth the body is free of them forever.
Our body make up of tissues and cells are only one way we present our being to the world, but they are the most truthful and accurate configurations of where we are in our story. Our words may be lacking in truth of how we tell our story but our bodies will never lie, as it always present in the tissues. My invitation is to allow me to listen to the body and bring it out into the open safely, your tissues will never lie, they just don’t know how.
Here is a little more on bodywork:
- Bodymind: Perhaps the most foundational concept of this type of psychotherapeutic body work, the bodymind represents the embodied integration of thoughts, feelings, and physical bodily experiences and sensations. All parts of a person can be accessed at various points in treatment in order to effectively and holistically address concerns.
- Armoring and Character: Armoring is a concept developed by Reich. He believed people developed systems of bodily “armor,” or muscle tension/rigidity, in order to protect themselves from emotional and physical pain. These sets of armor contribute to the development of a person’s “character," according to Reich and his followers, who developed five character types to use during assessment.
- Energy: Energy stored in and released from the body plays an important role in how people carry themselves, experience and heal from pain, and interact with the world. Things like energy flow and release, muscle pulsation and contraction, and energy charge and discharge are all things I pay attention to throughout the treatment.
- Body Memory: I believe memories can actually be stored within the body. My feelings are that because of this, some memories cannot be processed through talk therapy, but that these traumatic memories and problematic tension can often be released through bodywork, sound and other physical techniques.
- Trauma: I believe that the concept of trauma aligns with that of body memory, proposing that traumatic experiences can create energy build-up, or blockages, that lead to physical and mental health concerns.
What will happen in the session:
We will begin with a consultation, gently letting the session unfold to reveal the next step. This could be a combination of talking therapy, intuitive psychotherapeutic body work, which could include reflexology, massage, energy work and Sound therapy. This is not prescriptive so each session is different for each person.
The first session is 90mins (£150) as this allows enough time for consultation and body work. Sessions after can be 60/90mins at a cost of £100/£150
Please note Scania is a qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, Sound therapist and Body worker. I am also a qualified Supervisor and in the process of studying Diploma in Psychosexual and Relationship Psychotherapy (The London Diploma, accredited by Middlesex University)
We can discuss and negotiate your sessions ,needs and energy.
Your treatment will take place in Poole.
You can find out more by calling 07929379918 or contact me
COUNSELLING & LIFE COACHING