Body, breath & consciousness : a somatics anthology : a collection of articles on family systems, self-psychology, the bodynamics model of somatic developmental psychology, shock trauma, and breathwork

430 Pages·2004·2.38 MB·English

by  Levine

Copyright © 2004 by Ian Macnaughton. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for
brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without written
permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327 Cover design by Brad Greene
Berkeley, California 94712
Body, Breath, and Consciousness: A Somatics Anthology is sponsored by the Society for the Study of
Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an
educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to
nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute
literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.
This is issue #65 in the Io series.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further
information, call 800-733-3000 or visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Body, breath, and consciousness : a
somatics anthology / edited by Ian Macnaughton.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394593-3
1. Mind and body therapies. 2. Mind and body. 3. Psychotherapy. I. Macnaughton, Ian, 1938-
RC489.M53C665 2004
616.89’14—dc22
2004007818
v3.1
Permissions
The following articles are reprinted with the permission of Bodynamic
International: The Body Self in Psychotherapy; Ethical Consideration in
Somatic Therapies; Individuation, Mutual Connection and the Body’s
Resources; The Art of Following Structure—Exploring the Roots of the
Bodynamic System; Waking the Body Ego, Parts 1 and 2; The BodyKnot
Model; Caring For Yourself While Caring For Others; The Therapeutic Power
of Peak Experiences; Character Structure and Shock.
Multigenerational Family Therapy is reprinted by permission of the author,
David Freeman.
Sensory Functioning in Psychotherapy is reprinted by permission of the
author, Erving Polster.
Panic, Biology, and Reason: Giving the Body Its Due is reprinted by
permission of the author, Peter Levine.
It Won’t Hurt Forever … Guiding Your Child Through Trauma is reprinted
with permission of the authors, Peter Levine and Maggie Kline.
Using the Bodynamic Shock Trauma Model in the Everyday Practice of
Physiotherapy is reprinted by permission of the author, Barbara Picton.
Acknowledgments
This collection would not have been made without the efforts of a
number of people. I am grateful to all the contributors who allowed their
work to be re-published here, and to the many colleagues, clients, and
friends who have assisted in vital ways, both recently and earlier, to find
concepts and methods for understanding and treating the entire person
in the full contexts of living. A special appreciation goes to Garry Friesen
of designTHIS.net for guiding the development of this book. Richard
Grossinger and Brooke Warner of North Atlantic Books have been
incredibly helpful in reformatting and with timely advice on how to
proceed with the publishing process. Dr. Stuart Miller has been an
invaluable “author coach,” and Sylvia Sandquist’s many hours of word-
processing were important. My mother, and my wife, Barbara, have been
unfailing sources of encouragement and support. Together with our
children, they will find me eternally grateful to rest in such a loving and
passionate family.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Permissions
Introduction
Foreword
Part One: Family Systems & the Body-Mind
Multigenerational Family Therapy
—David Freeman, D.S.W
Expanding the Field of Family Therapy
—Ian Macnaughton, Ph.D.
The Narrative of the Body-Mind—Minding the Body
—Ian Macnaughton, Ph.D.
Part Two: Body-Mind Approaches & Self-Psychology
The Body Self in Psychotherapy: A Psychomotoric Approach
to Developmental Psychology
—Marianne Bentzen, M.A., Erik Jarlnaes, M.A., & Peter
Levine, Ph.D.
Sensory Functioning in Psychotherapy
—Erving Polster, Ph.D.
Ethical Consideration in Somatic Therapies
—Ian Macnaughton, Ph.D., Marianne Bentzen, M.A., & Erik
Jarlnaes, M.A.
Part Three: The Bodynamics Model—Somatic Developmental
Psychology
Individuation, Mutual Connection, and the Body’s
Resources: An Interview with Lisbeth Marcher
—Peter Bernhardt, M.F.T.
The Art of Following Structure—Exploring the Roots of the
Bodynamic System: An Interview with Lisbeth Marcher
—Peter Bernhardt, M.F.T.
Waking the Body Ego, Part 1: Core Concepts and Principles
—Peter Bernhardt, M.F.T., Marianne Bentzen, M.A., & Joel
Isaacs, Ph.D
Waking the Body Ego, Part 2: Psychomotor Development
and Character Structure
—Peter Bernhardt, M.F.T., Marianne Bentzen, M.A., & Joel
Isaacs, Ph.D.
The BodyKnot Model: A Tool for Personal Development,
Communication, and Conflict Resolution
—Erik Jarlnaes, M.A., & Lisbeth Marcher
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others
—Merete Holm Brantbjerg, translated from Danish by Nille J.
Bourne
The Therapeutic Power of Peak Experiences: Embodying
Maslow’s Old Concept
—Erik Jarlnaes, M.A., & Josette van Luytelaar
Psychological Muscle Function Diagrams
Part Four: Trauma—The Bodynamic & Somatic Experiencing®
Approaches
Panic, Biology, and Reason: Giving the Body Its Due
—Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.
Using the Bodynamic Shock Trauma Model in the Everyday
Practice of Physiotherapy
—Barbara Picton, B.S.R., M.Ed. (Cns. Psch.), R.C.C.
It Won’t Hurt Forever … Guiding Your Child Through
Trauma
—Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., & Maggie Kline, M.S., M.F.T.
Character Structure and Shock
—Steen Jørgensen, Cand. Psych., translated by Kathryn
Mahaffy
Part Five: Breathing Interventions
The Bioenergy System: Restoring the Wisdom of the Body
through Reichian Breathing Therapy
—Ian Macnaughton, Ph.D.
Breath and Consciousness: Reconsidering the Viability of
Breathwork in Psychological and Spiritual Interventions in
Human Development
—Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., & Ian Macnaughton, Ph.D.
Afterword
About the Contributors
About the Editor
Introduction
This book is about Body, Breath, and Consciousness. It presents
various pathways to enhance the ease and depth of connection between
us all. Within that capacity lays the forging of a sense of personal
authenticity, an individuation we recognize as our self. The capacity of
such presence allows us to be closely interrelated with others in intimate
ways as well as appropriately connected with groups and the world
community. To be confident in our ability to maintain a solid sense of
self in all those domains of human experience requires a healthy sense of
autonomy, a secure self that neither distances nor unduly reacts to the
challenges of the range of interpersonal contact.
Our sense of self rests in our history, understanding the legacies, the
strengths and losses faced down through our family generations. Here,
rather than stories of family dysfunction, are the seeds, the markers, the
images that can help recover and honor the losses inherent in every
family’s stories, and the overt and sometimes subtle heroism of surviving
nonetheless. It rests in our personal developmental history, how we
individually coped within the family, school, society. From that we
developed our character patterns—our defenses; our best friend in times
of great challenge; our ways to cope when all else fails us. Learning how
to appreciate these limitations as the best we could do in the
circumstances—and with a compassionate heart embrace and learn other
options—is central to the theme of the various clinicians whose work is
presented here. They offer their work as an aid to those travelers who
are interested in pursuing a holistic and multi-integrated approach. Each
author presents a solid theoretical base for individual exploration; they
all address the central unity of the person, whether from a multi-
generational systemic perspective or more specifically focusing on the
relationship of mind and body in biological, psychological, and spiritual
reality.
The understanding of spiritual experience signals an attention to the
underdeveloped parts of ourselves. As we live more at ease within
ourselves, there is a natural unfolding of the richness of internal
experience, without focusing on trying to reach spiritual plateaus. In that