On Thursday, March 16, 2017, the general meeting of the Japan Rolfing Association (JRA) was held at Ōhashi Kaikan in Ikejiri-Ōhashi. Continuing from last year, I attended. What I look forward to every time is the workshop by an overseas Rolfer held in conjunction with the JRA general meeting.
When I first attended in 2016, it was Carol Agneessens and Ray McCall, both of whom had come to Japan for Advanced Rolfer training (see “Attending the 2016 Japan Rolfing Association General Meeting — Knowing the History of Rolfing“). This year, a one-day workshop inviting Lael Keen (hereafter, Lael), an American living in Brazil, was held the day before the general meeting (March 15, 2017).
Lael, who is an Advanced Rolfing instructor (30 years of experience as a Rolfer) and also an instructor of Somatic Experiencing (SE) (20 years of experience in SE), addressed the question: “How can the SE approach to trauma be incorporated into a Rolfing session?” SE is a method developed by Dr. Peter Levine, which approaches trauma by bodily means.
In Rolfing training, Peter Levine’s Waking the Tiger – Healing the Trauma was listed as a required reading.
I read it during the Rolfing training period (during my round-the-world trip), but I was not able to learn about how the knowledge of trauma should be applied to a Rolfing session (see “Body and Mind (1) — The Deep Layers and Trauma“). According to the book:
When animals encounter an enemy, they take two means — to fight (Fight) or to flee (flight) — but it is known that when those two cannot be taken, they take a third means, to freeze (Freeze).
SE views trauma as a state in which a person is caught for a long time by psychological injury, or which has a psychologically negative influence. Usually, trauma tends to focus on searching out “what caused it.”
However, Levine thought that the causal incident is not the problem, but that it is caused by the energy of the shock that arose within the body as a result remaining within the body in a half-finished form. And, similarly to animals, he showed — through actually treating several patients — that trauma is fully cured only by going through a process such as releasing all the energy. What Levine emphasizes is that the resolution of trauma is to call up the bodily sensation felt within that person’s body and to value that viewpoint.
According to Lael, of Rolfing sessions, 50% go well by performing the usual ten sessions, but the remaining 50% require some kind of trauma approach. This is because, even when treatment is performed, whether from being afraid to let go, or from not wanting to let go, or from some external stress, a change occurs inside the body, and it comes into this kind of bodily state.
Lael, while following the above thinking of Levine, explained the basic thinking of “not paying attention to the traumatic event itself, but rather — what kind of influence did it give to the nervous system as a result?” In understanding the nervous system, in addition to the autonomic nervous system mentioned above (the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digest)), the talk also touched on the Social Engagement System (the mechanism by which society is accepted) via the Vagal Nerve, which is involved in freezing (see “Polyvagal Theory (1) — How Does the Vagus Nerve Influence the Autonomic Nervous System?)“). Plenty of exercises were also incorporated, and positive accounts, as well as sharing of trauma experiences by clients, were done in groups of four.
After that, she introduced that the symptoms of trauma consist of two categories: Discharge and catharsis. For example, Discharge is a state of heightened emotion such as flushing, trembling, sweating, and tears; catharsis is such as convulsions. When energy remains within the body in a half-finished form, it is good to release it through Discharge; and care is needed because, once it becomes catharsis, Discharge conversely becomes impossible. What is important, she says, is “slowly” and “while feeling the body.”
For example, when handling a person who has entered catharsis, the eyes are opened, and a voice is offered (here, the switch of Social Engagement is turned ON). Standing up, the ground is felt. Depending on the case, having the person pay attention to and look at “what is the beautiful thing in the room?” is also said to be helpful. By that, an escape from catharsis is ultimately possible, she says.
There were also exercises done in pairs — when there is a person on the left and on the right, what kind of change occurs? — and she explained Hubert Godard’s concept of Space (on Hubert Godard’s Tonic Function and Space, see “Body and Mind (6) — Tonic Function (3): Space“). It was a one-day workshop that passed in a flash. Lael’s personality — a 5th dan in aikido, and unexpectedly able to understand Japanese — was wonderful, and there was much to learn.