Continuous work addresses sources of difficulties that might affect an individual for years. An issue could be resolved in a mild, non-directive manner when all necessary conditions are prepared and all preliminary work is done.
About
The line of work may include sessions of Systemic and Family Constellations, CranioSacral Therapy and Integrative Bodywork, other Body-oriented Methods. Tools that belong to the approaches oriented on work with Stress Regulation and Resolution of Trauma are also in use. The palette of methods is wide, and solutions within each session may vary, though they all follow one common logic.
Like building a new home for an individual soul, in harmony and trust within. When working with trauma, we approach our own individual biography, and also we make steps to reprocess the outcomes of transgenerational trauma: traces of the experiences of our parents or the earlier ancestors. While dealing with manifestations of stress, we seek for the ways to regulate the nervous system back to the optimum and to learn to calm down the unpleasant responses.
A path, not a medicine
Since centuries it is known in traditional schools of healing work: the development of one’s self cannot be forced. A healer won’t take a step for the client. He would focus his attention on accompanying and supporting of the process of change, assisting in calming the responses of the nervous system when it happens to be too much; helping to see more light when it happens to be too dark: to see and follow our path we need to be calm.
Traditional healing work views the movement towards healing as an aspiration of the client’s soul. The practitioner helps to prepare, to support this natural movement. At the same time, changes will not take place until the client is ready. Healthy autonomy of the person being supported along the way is always encouraged.
What issues does this work address?
Physical symptoms: “I’ve had this tension in my back since my parents divorced.”
Inner prohibition or limitation: “I avoid meetings, I feel calm only when I am alone.”
Repetitive patterns: “No matter how hard I try, everything ends the same way”, “Every time I start a new project, this one thing happens”
The desire to take on all the problems: “I help others constantly, and it seems that I no longer have my own life”
Inability to feel safe: “I seem to be the most sensitive among my friends”, “I stopped appearing in such places, and now I limit myself even in what I really love.”
Sensitivity to stress: “The slightest stress deprives me of the ability to concentrate, it can be very difficult to finish the job I started.”
Consequences of acute and complex trauma: “When I start to deal with this issue, I am overcome by inexplicable anger”, “Since it happened, I have hard time convincing myself to drive.”
Lack of pleasure, taste for life: “Motivation is gone, I don’t want anything”, “Even next to my loved one, I would not stop thinking about my problems”
What might a client need for this kind of work?
Openness
The ability to remain calm and present in the face of a wide variety of experiences opens up access to self-exploration and change.
Maturity
There is something about internal maturity in this type of work. Interestingly, maturity has little to do with intellectual development. Only when we are mature enough that we decide to look not only at what is pleasing to us, but also accept dark and difficult experiences as part of our life.
Curiosity
A curious person would allow new things to come into their lives without much expectation and prejudice. Curiosity often requires humility and a good sense of humor – invaluable helpers in internal work.
Reflection
If I cannot look at myself and my experience from the outside, my learning ability is very limited. Acute stress response often forces us to exclude from sight anything that reminds us of the source of the problem.
In therapy, we work with the stress response and develop the ability to see our own current or past experience in calm and full presence. This quality of reflection, the ability to see oneself in the world, fortunately, can be developed.
Illness or malaise from the perspective of a traditional healer or a shaman
The symptoms we find in ourselves often reflect internal structures formed by the body or the ways our body has chosen to cope with a difficulty. Usually – to protect or in an attempt to balance adverse circumstances. Maybe – to remind us about what we, for some reason, prefer not to see. Therefore, elimination of a symptom with the help of potent drugs or surgical intervention does not always heal its source.
Instead, the view on work of the healer or shaman could be compared with finally seeing something that was not previously in the field of attention. Often, one of the causes of the malaise lies in a plane that seems to have no direct connection with the symptom – in the personal history or the history of the family. Sometimes identifying and accepting the underlying situation is sufficient to alleviate or completely eliminate the symptom, or it may be necessary to “re-negotiate” with the causes of the symptom in order to weaken or release it.
From the spiritual point of view, illness or limitation can be caused by our disconnection from our inherent parts. In shamanism and in some religious contexts, the concept of parts of the soul that are lost or remain attached to a particular moment, situation, or person, is widely known. Somehow, when an unexpected news impact us, “something invisible changes.” As part of the work, a healer or a shaman would need to invite those parts that, for some reason, were rejected or left behind, to return, so that they are present at the moment – then, according to the traditional viewpoint, all the conditions are created for the client to feel completely alive. Interestingly enough, some modern science-oriented concepts of health (i.e. Daniel Siegel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology) directly connect a person’s wellbeing with the individual capacity to integrate past and present experiences.
The feeling of safety
When we feel ourselves safe, we are able to reprocess the initial issue. Some people need more time to integrate new experiences, others move faster towards new. We use as much time as needed. ‘Sometimes less is more’ – I heard one practitioner saying.
What to Prepare
For an online session you will need to find a space where you won’t be disturbed by external noise or presence of other people. Stable internet connection is a necessity.
Comfortable, loose clothes are recommended for in-person sessions.
Disclaimer
This work is not intended to replace any kind of medical or psychotherapy treatment. Please note that you need to consult your physician of any disturbing physical symptoms before applying for continuous work with me. In case there are any doubts in the context of emotional or mental problems please consult your specialist in the field of mental health.