Touch is essential to our survival. Studies have shown that it is even more important than food; that we may choose to starve if we have to choose between touch and food. I like to think that without sufficient touch, we lose interest in survival.
Touch is how we learn to co-regulate as infants. With co-regulation I mean that we feel calm, secure, peaceful, happy. We can easily imagine an upset infant that calms down in the secure arms of their caretaker.
We don’t just store memories in the hippocampus, the memory part of our brains. Our bodies store memories too. You may for example have heard of Dr Bessel van der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps the Score. Knowing what to do makes little difference when our bodies are convinced otherwise.
We can take advantage of the healing capacity of touch as we work with trauma that has been stored in the body. We make contact with a particular part of our body, and support this part of the body and the larger system it is connected to.
Regulating Touch is an effective modality for working with any stuckness that lives in your body. It is different from physical therapies, and can be a great complement to these. Here, we work on the emotional trauma that may be associated with an injury, an event, or the relationship with a caretaker.
Some of my strengths with Regulating Touch are around Medical and Developmental (attachment) trauma. Medical trauma can arise from any medical procedure or interaction, where we did not feel cared for, listened to, or respected. Developmental trauma can arise as a result of similar emotional neglect.
You will benefit from Regulating Touch sessions with me if you want to:
Let your body tell the story
Work on trauma with little narration
Work on matters that other types of therapy have not resolved
Feel more at home in your body
Resolve attachment issues, eg fear of rejection or abandonment
Struggle with unresolved fatigue or chronic pain
Do your psychotherapy work on a massage table
If you want to learn more about Regulating Touch, you can visit Somatic Practice, which is where I did my training with Dr Kathy Kain. Another site to learn more is Coregulating Touch .