Because we've witnessed the power of trauma healing in water, we see an excellent opportunity for therapists from a wide variety of disciplines to expand and integrate their therapeutic repertoire. Aquatic therapists can get training in effective land-based trauma healing strategies. Talk therapists can learn the basics of aquatic bodywork to discover new ways of working with people in severe trauma. For example, several aquatic bodywork practitioners have sought training in Somatic Experiencing or Energy Psychology to increase the effectiveness of their aquatic bodywork practices. Mental health professionals, nurses and physical therapists have brought their respective skills into the water's warm embrace. Because of this integration, many of those who suffer from Pre-natal trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder have found relief after years of trying other ways to heal their trauma. Diane Tegtmeier and Inika Spence
To round-up the recent series on the potential applications of aquatic bodywork in trauma healing, I am delighted to reproduce here with kind permission an article by aquatic bodyworkers and teachers Diane Tegtmeier and Inika Spence. At the end, you will find links to more about and by these two experienced land-and-water healers.
...........................................................................................................................................................
Trauma Healing and Aquatic Bodywork
Diane Tegtmeier and Inika Spence (copyright reserved)
Of all the benefits we've witnessed in our many years of offering aquatic bodywork, our work with those who suffer from trauma is the most rewarding, confounding and profound. Often our partner doesn't know they've suffered from trauma until the body memory of it surfaces while being held in the safe, nurturing environment of warm spring water. Here's Diane's account of one such session:
Following the release, Renee's body softened. I held her in stillness, fully aware of the space between our hearts and inviting healing light to it. Very slowly I began to guide Renee's body into a wave-like movement, right to left, front to back. She sighs, and her tears flow gently and sweetly. She's calm. Tension arises again later in the session, and we repeat a similar process as each layer of trauma releases, followed by integration and transformation.
As the session ended, it took a while for Renee to come into ordinary consciousness as I brought her to the support of the pool wall. I helped her ground by touching her shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and feet. Once fully back and able to talk, Renee reported that a memory of an abusive childhood experience came to her during the session. Even though she had talked about this incident with her psychotherapist, this was the first time, she said, that she both felt the experience so deeply and was able to release it. More than that, Renee felt a quality of compassion and love all around her in the water such that when she thinks of the incident now, it doesn't create the emotional reaction and fear it once did.
Many experiences like Renee's have shown us the power of aquatic bodywork in helping someone heal from trauma. Whether it's a small trauma, like being yelled at or a big trauma like severe abuse, the healing space that is created by the warm water, the aquatic therapist and the person whose trauma is ready to be healed, aquatic bodywork can be just what's needed. In this article we'll briefly describe what trauma is, some of its symptoms and the common elements shared by effective treatment strategies. Then we'll look at how aquatic bodywork naturally incorporates those elements and describe the skills aquatic bodyworkers need to facilitate healing from trauma.
What is Trauma?
Peter Levine, the author of Waking the Tiger (and creator of the Somatic Experience approach to healing trauma) simply summarizes trauma as, 'Too much, too fast' to which we would add 'not enough' as in severe neglect, especially in infancy. Trauma ('wound' in Greek) is generally defined as any deeply distressing or disturbing experience, which often leads to emotional shock and/or physical injury. Experiences such as torture, natural disasters, war, physical and sexual abuse, surgery, severe neglect or accidents (including witnessing these events) can cause severe Trauma (big T). These can result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a prolonged state of Trauma, for weeks and years following the traumatic event. All of us have experienced trauma (small t) as we encounter life's physical and emotional bumps and bruises, the effects of which can still linger long past the event itself, especially if we didn't have the support we needed to heal from the trauma at the time it occurred. The degree of trauma follows a continuum from simple and mild to severe and complex, all of which can be healed. Trauma affects the nervous system, the emotions, thoughts and energy field of its survivors, all of which interact to create its characteristic symptoms.
Symptoms of Trauma
Because the limbic system of the brain and the autonomic nervous system become hyperaroused in trauma, a memory of the trauma can evoke a similar hyperarousal in the person. They may become hypervigilant, startle at the slightest touch and/or simply become numb or frozen in the presence of an event that triggers a memory of trauma. Conversely, in a situation like Renee's, tension held by trauma comes into the person's awareness when they experience a safe space. The body seems to know when conditions are right for healing. Once triggered, however, the nervous system responds in its conditioned way. With Renee, her belly tightened up and she drew into a protective posture. Other symptoms (described by Feinstein) that may not show up in a bodywork session, but are observed or reported by survivors of trauma include:
While many of us experience some of these symptoms some of the time, for someone with PTSD, they are a part of daily life. We often find trauma hidden in the chronic pain or illness, depression and/or relationship problems our clients bring to aquatic bodywork sessions. Like with Renee, it's rare that our healing partners come with the intention to heal trauma; it just shows up in the session, sometimes for the first time.
- fear and avoidance of cues reminiscent of the original trauma
- flashback memories (triggered by people, places, things, sounds, smells or thoughts)
- anxiety/depression/emotional numbness
- panic attacks
- dissociation
- restlessness
- uncharacteristic irritability or outbursts of anger
- problems focusing or concentrating
- feeling isolated, disconnected and 'different' from others
- insomnia, excessive sleep, nightmares
- excessive use of alcohol or drugs
- conditioned neurologic response to internal and external triggers
Treatment of Trauma
Throughout our history, humans have tried everything from drumming circles to electric shock therapy to free our brothers and sisters from the life-diminishing effects of trauma in our lives. From our collective training and study of trauma studies, we've identified those elements that are common to the most effective approaches to healing trauma. In order to be effective in healing trauma a therapeutic practice must:
- bring a traumatic memory into awareness,
- calm the nervous system,
- reduce hyperarousal, and
- reprogram the nervous, emotional and energy systems toward health.
What Makes Aquatic Bodywork Effective?
As mentioned earlier, warm water creates a safe, comforting and nurturing environment in which a traumatic memory often comes into consciousness in a natural, unforced way. Since water also holds and magnifies the energy of the healing partners' intentions, those intentions become more potent in water. Compassion, when transmitted by the practitioner, literally bathes the entire body of the receiver.
The emotional and spiritual development of the practitioner is especially important in aquatic bodywork because the person is physically held within the energy field of the practitioner's heart. Here, the receiver's energy field can entrain with the coherent waves of the practitioner's heart field, which research tells us radiates several feet outward and profoundly influences those nearby
Gentle movement through water engages the parasympathetic nervous system for overall calming of the activated sympathetic nervous system. Multidirectional movement allows full release of the energy of trauma from the body. The brain can achieve greater balance with bilateral movement as the body is waved right to left, left to right, through the water. While not researched, this effect may be similar to that achieved in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reorganization (EMDR) trauma healing practices.
Depending on the training of the practitioner, aquatic bodywork enhances and integrates the therapeutic advantages of the acupuncture meridian and subtle energy therapies shown so effective in healing trauma. The water allows for easy stretching of the acupuncture meridians. Acupuncture and subtle energy points can be readily accessed, on both the front and back of the body, to facilitate release and transformation of traumatic energy patterns. Color and sound healing, effective energetic interventions, gain potency when brought into water. In Healing Dance, one form of aquatic bodywork, the body is moved through sacred geometric forms such as the spiral and infinity symbol. A body/soul held in the grips of trauma recognizes these inherently healing energy patterns as it seeks to re-organize itself toward health. We've often seen our partners spontaneously move their bodies into these geometric patterns when given the space to do so and come out of the movement into a calm and peaceful state of being—another layer of trauma transformed.
Finally, aquatic bodywork treats trauma in present time where it is — in the body tissues and energy field. The Presence of the practitioner in warm water creates the conditions needed for in-the-moment release and transformation of trauma, not re-traumatization. To do this, much is required of the practitioner.
The Aquatic Bodywork Practitioner and Trauma
Those well trained in the various aquatic modalities (Watsu, Waterdance, Healing Dance, etc.) are already prepared to offer much of what we've described as the effective elements of healing trauma in water. They use good body mechanics, support their partners safely in the water and hold them in compassionate presence. Many practitioners are helping clients heal from trauma and may not even know it has happened as their client walks blissfully away from the pool.
However, when it comes to working skillfully with someone going through an intense hyperarousal from trauma, most of even the best-trained therapists feel ill prepared to meet the challenge. Also, when people are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), more training in the neurology, psychology and energetics of trauma is needed to support someone in treatment over a longer time period. It's advisable for aquatic bodyworkers to work collaboratively with mental health and medical professionals in treating severe PTSD.
The water invites flow and integration with a number of other effective modalities In healing trauma. In Diane's work with Renee, for example, she drew upon her social work education and experience, Hakomi and energy healing training to co-create sessions that specifically met Renee's needs. With other clients she may also incorporate energy psychology strategies. Inika brings her Somatic Experiencing and Cranio-Sacral training into the trauma healing sessions. The heart of the practitioner and her willingness to consciously work on healing her own trauma shapes the foundation of the work, however. It's also essential that the practitioner be able to stay centered in the eye of an emotional storm, to contain her own feelings of fear or a need to rescue, all of which takes more training and practice than the basic aquatic modality training. A person in trauma needs a practitioner who can 'ride the rapids' with them, as Ron Kurtz, the founder of Hakomi therapy says. The practitioner needs to have developed the skills to facilitate the release and transformation of the traumatic pattern without acting on a need to change anything. Even though silence pervades most aquatic bodywork sessions, for serious trauma work, it's essential that an aquatic bodyworker be skilled in therapeutic dialogue (verbal and non-verbal) and an understanding of how to communicate and work with someone in a non-ordinary state of consciousness.
Opportunity for Integrative Therapies
Because we've witnessed the power of trauma healing in water, we see an excellent opportunity for therapists from a wide variety of disciplines to expand and integrate their therapeutic repertoire. Aquatic therapists can get training in effective land-based trauma healing strategies. Talk therapists can learn the basics of aquatic bodywork to discover new ways of working with people in severe trauma. For example, several aquatic bodywork practitioners have sought training in Somatic Experiencing or Energy Psychology to increase the effectiveness of their aquatic bodywork practices. Mental health professionals, nurses and physical therapists have brought their respective skills into the water's warm embrace. Because of this integration, many of those who suffer from Pre-natal trauma, PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder have found relief after years of trying other ways to heal their trauma.
Trauma, both simple and complex, mild and severe is prevalent in our times, and never have there been so many effective options for treatment. We have a wonderful opportunity, by integrating the best of these options to reduce suffering in those so wounded by violence and fear. In so doing, we foster peace. (For references cited see below.)
With thanks to Diane and Inika for sharing their work and art. Sulis
...........................................................................................................................................................
Further reading
- Aquatic bodywork and trauma healing (more about Inika and Diane's work)
- A moving article by Inika Spence 'Somatic Experiencing: Healing Journey' can be found in the Summer 2010 Harbin Quarterly (2.7MB pdf)
- Relationships that Heal: book review (Diane Tegtmeier's book on ethics for bodyworkers, with special reference to aquatics)
References cited in article reprinted above 'Trauma healing and aquatic bodywork' by Diane Tegtmeier and Inika Spence:
[1] Feinstein, David, PHD. Presentation, Energy Psychology in Disaster Relief. at Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology 10th Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM. 2008
[2] Gallo, Fred, PHD. Presentation, at Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology 10th Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM. 2008
________Energy Tapping for Trauma: Rapid Relief from Post-Traumatic Stress Using Energy Psychology. New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Oakland, CA. 2007.
