Aquatic Healing for Trauma

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Comment by Sulis (Sara Firman) on August 2, 2009 at 8:22am

A discussion in Aquatic Bodyworkers Group that references trauma work.

Comment by Sulis (Sara Firman) on July 23, 2009 at 7:22am

And, of course, when someone is willing to open up a discussion question as Sunus has done, it is not so much about her personal practice (though she has set a very good example here) but about gathering and sharing information which is thought-provoking and useful to many of us.

Also, as Diane says, knowing what we need to know more about is a first step and then for some aspects we will need to go into it in more depth in a training, face-to-face conference, or more private group.

The first is on the way from Diane and Inika, the second two options can be developed as an online option as we grow here or perhaps in connection with that training. What do you all think?

Comment by Diane Tegtmeier on July 22, 2009 at 10:46am

I've always known you to take yourself to your learning and growing edge, Sunus. Through it all, your presence and heart shine through.

Comment by Susan (Sunus) Kovacs on July 22, 2009 at 10:32am

Thank you everyone for caring about me and respecting the work I do. I am waking up to my responsibilities of a "Watsu Therapist", and duties of an instructor of Aquatic Massage. I deepen my training with reading Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, and opening myself to discussions like this and sharing what I learn with my students and peers. Again thank you and Namaste'

Comment by Diane Tegtmeier on July 21, 2009 at 9:32pm

Thanks for pointing out the distinction between "release" and integration, Christian. It is sooo common among bodyworkers in general and clients to push for the release as the goal when emotion is triggered. Folks get lost or stuck in the emotional or traumatic process when the therapist doesn't track and support them into integrative and transformational process. While on a cosmic scale it's "all good," it behooves us as water workers to be able to respond with skill and avoid overcharging an already hyper-aroused nervous system. This subject is complex and I'm not sure, Sulis, if I can responsibly go much beyond this in a discussion with the time I have available.

Comment by Susan (Sunus) Kovacs on July 21, 2009 at 9:06pm

Thank you for all your comments. My Heart has always been in the right place, and I believe in the intelligence of the water. Or as Christian stated; "the power of the water", and with "awareness and Love" is All good.

Comment by Sulis (Sara Firman) on July 21, 2009 at 9:05pm

Great discussions happening! We might think of moving to the Discussion vs Comment section where we'd be better able to follow the 'string' of thoughts in order. What that would mean is identifying a topic for your Discussion and starting one off above - see the Start Discussion tab. Main thing though is to stay in the flow ...

Comment by Christian Muller on July 21, 2009 at 8:30pm

Thank you Diane for beginning to clear the waters on this murky subject of therapy and water work. As someone who has trained in Somatic Psychotherapy with the Hakomi Method and taken Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing, trauma resolution training, as well as doing aquatic bodywork, the subject is very interesting. I used to work with a lot of chronic pain patients, most of whom had a high degree of PTSD associated symptoms. The power of the water work to tone down states of hyper-arousal and bring the nervous system back into a balanced state, I think is profound. One of the most valuable lessons I learned from Peter Levine is the concept of having the client resourced, in a connected and energetically present state prior to uncovering any emotional or traumatic material. Sometimes it just arises on its own, and when this happens to me in a session these days, I know that the healing is not in the "release" of charged material, but in the integration a deeper state of being (connected, relational, resourced). Sometimes the client needs this to be pointed out and have their experience slowed down so they can be present with the nuance of energetic sensations. This is because because they are losing this connection to the deeper state by repeating a traumatic pattern or believe that the healing will take place by releasing the energetic charge. From my observation, the healing occurs when the "charge" is taken to a deeper and broader place with awareness and love. This requires the same connection to depth in me as the client, and water is the perfect container for the revelation of life and the dissolution of any held pattern.

More to follow....

Comment by Diane Tegtmeier on July 21, 2009 at 7:43pm

Sunus, you really hit a cord with your hesitance to define yourself in terms of what you're not. Aquatic therapy can be very psychologically therapeutic: relaxation, emotional release, increased feelings of trust, transformation of painful memories, evocation of insight. Psychotherapy does all of this too, but the difference is not just that one therapy involves talking and the other involves floating and touching. Boundaries between professions are falling away as our awareness of the inseparability of of body, mind and spirit grows. There's an organization of "body-centered psychotherapists" who welcome members who are professionally trained psychotherapists as well as somatic therapists. So, to the extent we offer services that facilitate healing on physical, mental and emotional levels, we are, in fact "therapists", but not the kind that are trained in psychotherapy (unless, of course we're both). The colloquial term "therapist" has come to refer to psychotherapists, and I think that's what Sunus' friend was referring to. The social work profession had to struggle for decades to be recognized as performing psychotherapy in the face of the strong boundary defining APA. I expect that as somatic therapies demonstrate effectiveness with psychological healing, the turf battles may get tougher until the boundares finally give way like the levies on the rivers. The key issue here is learning how and when to say something to your client that reassures, comforts, supports and facilitates healing. None of these requires knowledge of key psychological theories or analysis, but does require some training and experience. It's rare in our culture that children or adults are trained to communicate authentically and compassionately. Our tendency is to use language to stifle communication: "now, now there, honey, stop crying and you'll feel better," overanalyze: "where do you think that feeling came from?" or rush to fix: "if you just would .... everything would be better." How often do we hear people say they don't know what to say to someone whose relative just died? So in the situations that Laura and Sunus describe where someone is blown away by their own emotional response to a session, it's important to acknowledge and normalize the experience with your client. For example, "These sessions can sometimes bring up painful memories or emotions. It seems like this was a difficult one for you." Leave plenty of time to allow your client to respond (or not). I call this letting something sit in interspace, the energetic highway between you. From there, depending on what they say, you can continue to help them bring greater awareness to what they are experiencing in the present moment, without judging or analyzing where they are in any way. If someone has had a big process in your session, it's important to acknowledge it compassionately lest they go away thinking they made you uncomfortable. The more centered and calm you can be with their feelingsthe more comfortable they will be. In general, my rule is don't push an emotional process toward greater expression, don't try to stop it from happening, and don't run away (emotionally or verbally). Ron Kurtz, in his wonderful book on Body-Centered Psychotherapy calls this "riding the rapids" with someone. He and Greg Johannsen have another great book on these things called "Grace Unfolding." So, until you can get these books and mine and take our classes, this can give you an idea about how you can be a healing presence through dialogue without doing psychotherapy without a license. If a client has repeated episodes that seem not to be resolved in the water sessions, of course, a psychotherapy consult is advised.I suggest you get to know a few in your area, so that your referral can be an informed one.

Comment by Sulis (Sara Firman) on July 21, 2009 at 11:01am

You bring up something that I've been thinking about alot Sunus - who is a therapist? Clinically trained folk following clinically defined protocols are tending to claim that this term only applies to them. There has been a big discussion about this recently on the e-list for ATRI (Aquatic Therapy and Rehabilitation). This is related to legal (varying from state to state) and medical billing issues as far as I can determine.

I've just written a post which I will be putting up on my blog soon that opens up the question of clinical and alternative (both therapeutic in intent) aquatic practices.

Whether you use that disclaimer or not depends mostly on who you are working for and in what setting. If you share a facility with clinical staff under a clinical umbrella then that is something to discuss with your employer. If you don't, then that's another discussion that I'd like to open up, tricky as it is.

I think Diane is a great person to involve in this discussion. Last March I had a highly therapeutic session with her at Harbin Hot Springs (a spa-leisure setting), the introduction to which (explaining what she did and how the session would go) was exemplary as far as alternative aquatic (therapeutic) practices are concerned.

My body has always been very and often dramatically responsive to this work and in my own practice I have worked with many people who also underwent these kinds of spontaneous reactions. I have experienced a few practitioners whose interventions did not leave me feeling safe and many whose work was extraordinarily supportive and effective.

I'm very excited that we may now be able to gather together, share information about some of these relatively undocumented and researched findings, and develop safe and effective ways of working with them. All this is a good prelude to the training that Diane and Inika have been working on.

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