When patients can’t find words to describe their experience, we can often find clues . . .
. . . in their posture, in the ways they move, and even in the limitations to their movement.
According to Pat Ogden, PhD, when a client has a greater range of movement options – or “movement vocabulary”
– they’ll have more options for responding to life’s stresses.
And that can increase their resilience.
In the video below, Pat describes how she helped a client who had suffered years of abuse begin to expand her movement vocabulary.
Take a look – it’s about 5 minutes.
How have you used body language and movement in your work with clients? Please leave a comment below?
I have a client with whom I work with in this way much like my other clients. The issue I have with the client I am thinking of, everytime her I encourage her to practise this movement she completely collapses. I encourage her to slow this movement right down and use her thinking brain to explain each minute movement but she still completely collapse. Any suggestions would be welcome
Warm wishes Sarah-Jayne
sometimes it is helfpul to work to the point where the pattern cannot go any further in that direction … so in this case, I might invite this client to collapse and keep collapsing ( a more neutral term perhaps is ‘melting’ or she can come up with her own as to what that movement is for her) Anyway we can only go so far into collapse and then we can stay there or move in the other direction. I would play with that – how far can I go into collapse and what arises in my experience here – what does it feel like to move from this place (ever so slightly and slowly)? Do I want to collapse again or do I want to stay or do I want to move out of it into expansion or rise or whatever the name of the opposite of collapse is for your client. That is my suggestion. Hope it makes sense and best wishes
Lisa
But also I had a client who has ocd and complained about her dry skins by just using cold to warm water for washing though. It was supposed to have a relaxing and cooling down effect. The skin was cracking badly.
Hi it is really good that you have found ways to relieve the pain and itchiness. I like how using the hot water can be so much effective. In fact we are very dependent to how the Brain is wired, there is no different ways to say it.
Pretty basic really, I just use the occasional hug or pat when a client’s distress overcomes them to express my empathy. I really liked the idea of pushing pulling grasping yielding etc. and I do get that trauma can be deep seated in the body and in movement. i have a terrible habit of running my hands under increasingly hot water. This is a habitual response to stress, often manifested as atopic itchy lumps on my hands whenever I cut fruit or vegetables. I find that mindfulness can interrupt this behaviour (on a good day), but more interestingly, I notice that once the water gets excessively hot and I stop, I get a corresponding surge of something (neurotransmitters?) in the back of my neck – which is actually the payoff. i wonder if this is in some way associated with stimulation of the vagus…???
Thank you for sharing. It’s all about what hasn’t come to the client’s awareness yet and enabling them to see they have more options and freedom of choice.
Hi, Thanks for sharing this. Its a new technique I learnt today! But, this is possible in face-to-face. Is there anyway in which we can do it when client is taking audio sessions?
I have not worked with body language in this context. I obviously observe all body language throughout the session. But this has certainly go me thinking: When I reflect on women I see who are in abusive situations they are often very still, unanimated and unable to relax into the chair. I now wonder if this is not perpetuating the ‘walking of eggshells’ condition that is so prevalent in abuse and most especially emotional abuse. It makes me consider that they are so used to treading silently and carefully that it enters into every sphere of their lives and even in the safe space of counselling.
Many thanks for this video clip. It is highly relevant and specifically as I hope to do my Masters in the resilience of women who stay in emotionally abusive relationships.
There a book, The Body Has It’s Reasons, Thierry, translated from the French. Similar ideas.
Astounding! Thank you for sharing.
Turning up their palm of the hands so they can be able tu relax their shoulders.
Yes, palms up and then raising the arms so much, that they are away from the body. The higher the better, but starting with small movements is good. This is so relevant, moving your body just a little can change so much! Thank you, Ruth!!
Which is way Sport and Dance is so so therapeutic… for ALL ages
Very good. Thank you for sharing
when I worked with families who had adopted and the adoptees were now teenagers and destructive i would ask the care giver of the teens hobbies. reply”rap and tagging” ( graffiti) so ask him to develop a rap and dance to reflect his feelings….and you develop a rap and dance to reflect your feelings…and strip one of his bedroom walls and let him tag it ….she replied ” what if he swears or writes swear words” . Last week he threatened to kill you, this weeks your worried about swear words that he has already called you ?
Clients sometimes curl up on my therapy floor, reflective of their pre-birth and pre-verbal foetal position, or do hand screams and feet stomping, pillow screaming of cushion bashing, angry writing or slow and soft sensate focused dance and touch. Emotional release techniques.
I can usually tell when they walk in the door how their week or day has been. The jumpy leg movements, the head turning, non eye contact, easily distracted, heavy breathing or very light.
I am a psychosexual therapist, a marriage guidance and relationship therapist and an integrative counsellor.
working with all the senses brings many gifts as the cathartic process cannot always be met by verbal disclosure.
I have worked specifically with men who had received unwanted sexual experiences ( 40% predators are women) who need safety and stabilisation techniques for many many sessions before embarking on disclosures. I have worked with all parties and families in the adoption triad of trauma loss who all have their own experience of the loss of the birth child, their birth child , their birth parents, and i have worked with many many NHS medical staff and police officers who have latent pts and PTSD. + so many couples where sexual and physical abuse was presenting and projected on to the other.
I value your work Pat as I do Peter Levine and Babette Rothschild, van de kolk and Betty J Lifton.
Fight, flight, freeze and fawn have to be worked through the body. Art, music, dance, breathing, meditating and visualisation and energy work in the session or home exercises are all in the mix and no ‘one size fits all’ approach works as these fantastically brave and very complex clients are bringing their unique journeys.
I have learned some more today from you and your contributors.
Thank you
I facilitate Equine Assisted Learning. Body language and movement is the language of the horse who sends and receives communication in a clear and non-judgmental way. The client can practice new ways to use their body language and movement and receive clear feedback of their impact.
Movement has vocabulary.
I also feel, that our body has wisdom and when we move it we move the emotions that are stuck.
I dance with clients, and the heart becomes the rhythm and we find the beat where thoughts have no room to grow and keep us stuck.
This is a moving meditation practice where our victim story becomes a warrior story.
thanks for posting such powerful work.
Rosy
Thank you for your comment. Yes, it can just be so empowering!
These excerpts are excellent!
Thanks. Posture is so important as it feedbacks into our current state.
With children when they are in distress and in a full on fit, screaming or eyes clenched and crying. We say, “Oh, I see you, I see you face looks like this,” and mimic what we see. The child will stop to look at you to see what face you are making, in that moment of connection we take a deep breath and let it out slowly, then tell them, “When you’re ready, you let me know. I will wait.” If you can get the child to focus on you to take that deep breath with you, it helps them relax. It gives them the few seconds they need to calm themselves. Sometimes we have to notice what not only their face looks like, if they spin away from us so we can’t see their face, and notice, “I see your shoulders are tight and your hands are clenched, you seem angry, I wonder if you face looks like this…” breath, you’re safe, breath. You let me know when you’re ready.”
Its a game changer.
I loved this example given by my friend and pen pal Veronica–
Speaking of “posture” of survivors of abuse, and how different therapists approach this to assist with healing… I was in a large bio-energetic therapy group in Amsterdam (Dutch and American therapists alternated leading these groups that could have 40 people sitting on the floor on pillows in a large circle in a huge room. The therapist would be in the middle, and after a long time of physical break down to open our blocked energy to ‘work’, we’d sit down and one person at a time would be ‘worked with’ in the center of the room with the therapist. WATCHED by all the others! It was radical in many ways (I have stories!)… but the posture discussion makes me think of one time (of many) when I was blown away by what the therapist did!
There was a young cellist in the group. She played with the Amsterdam Symphony. Timid as all get out. Plain in dress, hair, no make up, no jewelry, unremarkable dark neutral colors, always looking down. Meek voice. (you get the picture)
The therapist that I adored (American) was a woman about 45 at the time (I was in my mid 30’s), and she was a dynamo! Energetically, as well as in her confidence, strength of character and bold in her dress. Blond hair, always stylish high heels, make up, large bold earrings (hoops this day), tasteful balance of jewelry, not over done in any way, and SO well put together!
The therapist sat in a stuffed chair in the center of the room. This model was kind of taken from what I believe EST was, mixed with what they call bio-energetics… which possibly is want EST defined itself as. Goal.. break down the barriers and get to the “flame” of the person! It was clear the ‘therapist’ had a position of power and control (not my favorite… but at that time in my life, this modality shifted me in so many profound ways!!)
Long story short…. I forgot her name (therapist) .. which is hard to believe… she so wowed me! So many stories I have about that group and the work I did!!
Anyway, the cellist some how became the focus one session (these were like 3+hour sessions). The cellist was not asked to go to the center of the room. She was talked with in her place on her pillow with the rest of us. Then, the therapist got up, and signaled the cellist to follow her out of the room. She did. They were gone for maybe 15 min. No one knew what was going to happen, or was happening.
Then, the door opened and in walked the therapist in the cellist clothes, and the cellist was all dolled up in the therapist’s clothes!!
O M G ! !
Then, the therapist (walking shyly with head down as the cellist did) mopped over to her pillow and the therapist proceeded to mirror the cellist’s style of sitting, character, energetic style.
The cellist was directed to sit in the center of the room, on the therapist’s chair and take on her persona.
I swear, watching her was like watching someone getting a BLOOD TRANSFUSION!
Although ungodly out of her element, she was open to trying this (reason she was in the group after all!) and it was like magic! Color actually came to her cheeks and a smile creeped on her face. The session went on from there, exploring what was evolving for her, the therapist sharing how buried and afraid she felt, and so on.
It was a WOW experience for all!
Sounds awesome thanks for sharing.
Music therapy uses the way the body moves to play an instrument, which will be directly translated into sound. And the therapist responds with music to support or amplify or reflect the quality of the sound, enabling the client to continue to express their movement feeling safe and supported and from that to develop and change
Thanks for posting.
I would love some details on how exactly Pat worked with this client – beyond the theoretical.
Pat Ogden’s posture work, like Peter Levine’s SE, was influenced by their background in Rolfing, an alignment-based modality. Another trauma therapist/Rolfer, Darrell Sanchez, created an effective therapy tool, the Tuning Board, to develop somatic resources related to balance and alignment, such as grounding and centering. This tool, used by many SE practitioners, was the subject of my thesis.
that is very helpfu. I am currently working with a client who was a victim of sexual abuse as well as physical abuse. While I have not met them, she has described several of the 27 diferent personalities she has identified when she splits.
I use “power poses” with unconfident patients and they immediately feel more powerful
I often use my hands to express the discharge process the client is trying to accomplish. It looks a conductor in a symphony – does it make sense to you?
I use LifeForceYoga, developed by Amy Weintraub.
This is not a practice i have used but it reminds me of push hands in tai chi which teaches responding to the energy and movement of the opponent offender by deflecting or pushing as needed which affects the balance and intent of the offender.
I used miroring with children in school. ANd have let universe move me into incredible positions in which much grace and light of different colors flooded into me. ANd sufi spin.
It’s all in the body – but learning the language of one’s own body can be so difficult for people, even therapists (especially those who only work with cognitive therapies – or so it seems). Helping individuals to find breathing space within themselves through body awareness (recognising tightness and tension and learning to reduce this in acceptable stages) has been my preferred method. Becoming comfortable inside one’s own skin – such a difficult task …..
I use gentle music in the frequency range of central C to two octaves above as a background music, because it promotes a natural mammalian healing mental and physical state of reciprocity. Instead of be directive in my communication, I try to be gentle and join in bonding by asking the patient to share their experiences as if they are the narrator and I am learning my perception through their story.
I am interested in hearing some of the choice. I am unable to recgognuce the range that you are sharing here. I usually love Vivaldi violin concerto or symphony. May be I can use these .
Middle C is C4 261.6 hz. C5 is 523.25 hz. C6 is 1046.50. I hope this helps!
This is great. Through breathing and yoga stance.
Yes, as physiotherapists we make this experience on a daily basis. However, it may nit be a topic if discussion in the mainstream of the profession
Fascinating! I’m rather new to the field and have never used this, but I interested in the mind/body connection in trauma clients.