Trauma &
Body Psychotherapy
@GlowPraxisBerlin
Was your childhood troubled or traumatic?
Is your stress level off the scale?
Trauma arises from the discrepancy between a threatening situation and an individual’s options for dealing with it. A threatening situation or event becomes traumatic when it evokes such deep feelings of helplessness and vulnerability in the person experiencing it that they permanently question their identity. The “situation or event” can be anything from a traffic accident, psychological manipulation (gaslighting) and wartime experiences to insecure attachment (developmental trauma) in childhood. Depending on the severity of the trauma, how psychologically resilient the affected person is and the support they receive from their social environment, the stress resulting from traumatic experiences can be overcome alone or with professional support.
Developmental trauma can result when, for whatever reason, the primary caregiver (mother) is not able to consistently create a feeling of being safe and secure for the infant. Due to the lack of adequate attention, the baby feels the stress of being physically and emotionally unwelcome and alone. A cycle of unresolved stress emerges – the person who can calm the baby and provide safety is unavailable. The body handles the stress automatically in the same way it handles a threat, and learns to interpret all agitating situations as stress in the future.
The body triggers a complex set of neurobiological and physical reactions in order to deal with stress and trauma, which is why simply knowing what caused the trauma is not enough to heal it. Whenever possible, the biodynamic body therapist works directly on the body, first guiding exercises to activate the affected nerves and then using massage or other techniques involving touch and movement to gradually relax the muscles and release the stress. When trauma is connected to negative physical experiences, working directly with the body is not productive. Instead, the therapist works to calm down the nervous system and gradually involves the body. “Healing” trauma means acquiring a certain amount of distance to the experience in order to restore vibrancy. Success is based on establishing a space of security and trust in which the traumatized person can relax and begin the healing process by making meaningful contact with the body therapist.
Appointments are available
Book a 60-minute biodynamic body psychotherapy session in Berlin-Mitte. Biodynamic psychotherapy is available in GlowPraxisBerlin, an oasis of calm in the big city, on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 pm – inquire about other times.
Follow-up psychotherapy appointments also available via Zoom, but of course without massage!
