Psychotherapy Networker 2024.pptx

+ The Embodied Therapist Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT Psychotherapy Networker Washington, DC March 2024  Let’s Arrive +  Learning Objectives 1. You will learn movement techniques to be more fully present and self-...

+ The Embodied Therapist Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT Psychotherapy Networker Washington, DC March 2024  Let’s Arrive +  Learning Objectives 1. You will learn movement techniques to be more fully present and self-aware when working with clients. 2. You will learn to utilize kinesthetic empathy as a means of better understanding and gathering + information about clients. 3. You will explore specific movement and dance-based methods to stay grounded and centered in a session to enhance clinical outcomes. 4. You will learn about the role of witnessing as taught through the authentic movement model. 5. You will discover how the exercise of ‘mirroring’ enhances your ability to be with your clients. + Confucius Say: I hear and I forget … I see and I remember … I do and I understand.  Words to inspire us … ◦“Thebody never lies” – Martha Graham ◦“I close my eyes to see”– Paul Gaugin ◦“The body remembers what the mind forgets”– Moreno ◦“Every thought and every perception you have changes the homeostasis of your body” – + Northrop ◦“The body remembers”-- Rothschild ◦“The body keeps the score” -- van der Kolk + So why is this important? “The therapist’s own experiences of embodiment, ability to access unconscious material, and way of being in the body, is part of their sense of self, and plays an important role in the relationship between therapist and patient” (Susan Kleinman, 2004) + “When I am in touch with myself, my feelings, my thoughts, with what I see and hear, I am growing toward becoming a more integrated self. I am more congruent, I am more ‘whole,’ and I am able to make greater contact with the other person” (Virginia Satir, 1987)  What does it mean to be embodied? Definition: + 1. to give form to 2. to make concrete and perceptible 3. to represent in visible form 4. to represent (something) in a clear and obvious way: to be a symbol or example of (something) + Experiential Reflect on this image … How does it make you feel? Put this image ‘in your body’ Create a gesture to hold the image in your body + + A time to make art …. Create a piece of art in response to the experience of ‘embodying’ this image. + And a time to share … + Attunement What does it mean to be attuned? 1. To bring into a harmonious or responsive relationship 2. To make aware or responsive  Attunement Exercise + + Being With … Self and others + "When I look I am seen So I exist" ~ Winnicott + A time to make art …. Create a piece of art in response to the experience of attuning through movement. + And a time to share … Somatic Countertransference Bodily felt responses and + reactions occurring while engaged in the therapeutic process and activities.  Kinesthetic Empathy The embodying of client’s feeling states and movement qualities, by the therapist. It utilizes the kinesthetic, self-perceiving + awareness of the therapist coupled with a bodily felt understanding of the patient’s inner affective states (Dosamantes-Alperson, 1980)  Observe and Feel … What do you see? What is its effect on you? Where in your body do you feel it? What emotions do you imagine the people in the photograph are feeling? Breathe + A time to make art …. Create a piece of art in response to any of these images or to what your body felt in response to viewing them. + And a time to share … Let’s get grounded … They are new too. + Clinical Applications ~How will this new information help to inform my work?  Questions? Comments? Concerns? +  Closing Circle + + Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add Thank you Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT Director, Expressive Therapy Department Senior Dance Therapist Dominion Hospital Falls Church, Virginia, USA Current Chair of NCCATA Past President of the ADTA [email protected]