Dear J.
I am also doing body work with a body/massage therapist who works with survivors
of trauma. I am also DID and split...and we are focusing on learning where feelings
are in my body, safe touch, nurturing, etc. She was specially trained for this
program from a woman named Pat Ogden, Ph.D.....at a center in Boulder, CO. It
is called SensoriMotorPsychotherapyInstitute and they have a web site...with
the same name...Here is the link:
http://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/about.html
My body therapist works very closely with my primary therapist, so they are
both aware of what is going on with me...and the kinds of reactions I am experiencing.
I felt this work was needed as I had much body pain....and body reactions to
things...and each alter had his or her own reactions too....we work very much
in the present....and it took a long time to establish safety and good boundaries.
We can now allow safe touch....and some basic massage. We have not split further
due to this highly specialized work....each of the bigs and littles has it place....and
what is integrated has stayed that way. My body therapist is a joy in my life...she
is the feminine I never got before....and is exactly what I needed. I hope you
can pass on this information to the person who asked the question....there is
a referral system at the institute.
best regards,
vicki et al et al
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Hi J.:
I'd like to recommend a super book on the topic of body memories. It's by Babette
Rothschild, & it's
called "The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma & Trauma
Treatment." That sounds like a stuffy professionally-oriented book, but
I didn't find it overly technical. It has lots of case study examples and gives
some clear suggestions for therapists so they don't "over trigger"
their clients while trying to help them. I'm sure it's available on Amazon,
or you could order it from your bookstore. It's published by W.W.Norton
Collette
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Dear J:
http://www.seishindo.org/language.html is a web site that talks about somatic feelings and what they were meant to do in our system.
I'm very co-conscious of my many selves and view the word integration as a step in therapy. Most of the people/members of my groups are what we call co-conscious and some of them were integrated in therapy but came searching for answers just like you did when something triggered a somatic memory/feeling. It just doesn't go away as simply as closing the book on that chapter of therapy. Many are afraid to admit to family members that this is happening again because they don't want to let them down and feel like a failure and a fraud to both singletons and multiples alike. Don't worry though you are among many who have had the same experience. A year or so ago now I went in search of some answers to the Somatic form of dissociation when I was experiencing something that again I found its roots in childhood. It was a hard fact to face even for me that my childhood would still present me with "lessons". Know that you are not alone and from this link above you can learn some of the good things that come out of somatic memories once you get past this initial shock. Good luck and I'll be watching for you.
Lady J