Giving Permission to Run/Walk by Gregory Hasek MA/MFT LPC
Over the years I have learned to watch the body language of my clients as they sit in my office. I especially made it a practice if I knew that my client or clients had some form of trauma in their past. I also learned to watch the body language of a couple when they first came into my office for their session. Often times, you can quickly assess what is happening with a couple before saying anything like, "What was your week like?" etc. Both individuals and couples that have trauma in their past don't often realize how their body stores the past trauma and how at times it is attempting to discharge the trauma. This is especially true when there is some form of escalation in the client's level of anxiety. Sometimes a client's body might be telling them to run, fight or freeze and they are not conscious of it. After having training in Somatic Experiencing by Peter Levine, I learned to give them permission to act on what their body was trying to tell them on an unconscious level. I just became the one to verbalize what their unconscious limbic system was trying to tell them.
I want to give an example as to how this would apply to your work as a therapist with a client or client's who present with abortion related trauma in their past. I want you to imagine for a moment that a woman who has had an abortion might be stuck in not being able to act on the message of her limbic system that said to flight or run from the abortion clinic, and the man was not able to act on the message of his limbic system that said to fight to protect his partner and unborn child. If this is true, then as a therapist you need to be aware of how when a client or client's begin to talk about their abortion experience, their body might still be stuck on an unconscious level at that place. So the first thing you need to be thinking is what might that look like in the woman and man's body in your office.
For example when a woman begins to speak of her experience of going to an abortion clinic, her feet may begin to move quickly as she sits before you. As a therapist, a quick intervention might include giving that woman permission to get up and walk or run. Sometimes that means opening the door to your office if possible, so she doesn't feel trapped as she did in the abortion clinic. For the man, as he begins to talk about how impotent he felt, you might want to give him permission to now have the voice that he didn't have before. It could include allowing him to express his anger in a way he wasn't able to before. It could include the Gestalt technique of the use of an empty chair. There are many people in his life he may have not been able to express the "fight" in him to. It could even include those that worked at the abortion clinic, family, friends etc. It could include just saying the word no, or stop. These are just a few examples of how you as a therapist can give permission to both men and women who may have trauma stored in their bodies from the abortion decision and the experience afterwards.
As therapists working with clients who present with abortion related trauma, there are unique ways for both men and women in how they may have been impacted on a body level. It will be important to learn to include somatic techniques in your work. If you have not received any training in somatic related therapies, it also might be a good time to do that as an adjunct to a more traditional talk therapy approach.
Over the years I have learned to watch the body language of my clients as they sit in my office. I especially made it a practice if I knew that my client or clients had some form of trauma in their past. I also learned to watch the body language of a couple when they first came into my office for their session. Often times, you can quickly assess what is happening with a couple before saying anything like, "What was your week like?" etc. Both individuals and couples that have trauma in their past don't often realize how their body stores the past trauma and how at times it is attempting to discharge the trauma. This is especially true when there is some form of escalation in the client's level of anxiety. Sometimes a client's body might be telling them to run, fight or freeze and they are not conscious of it. After having training in Somatic Experiencing by Peter Levine, I learned to give them permission to act on what their body was trying to tell them on an unconscious level. I just became the one to verbalize what their unconscious limbic system was trying to tell them.
I want to give an example as to how this would apply to your work as a therapist with a client or client's who present with abortion related trauma in their past. I want you to imagine for a moment that a woman who has had an abortion might be stuck in not being able to act on the message of her limbic system that said to flight or run from the abortion clinic, and the man was not able to act on the message of his limbic system that said to fight to protect his partner and unborn child. If this is true, then as a therapist you need to be aware of how when a client or client's begin to talk about their abortion experience, their body might still be stuck on an unconscious level at that place. So the first thing you need to be thinking is what might that look like in the woman and man's body in your office.
For example when a woman begins to speak of her experience of going to an abortion clinic, her feet may begin to move quickly as she sits before you. As a therapist, a quick intervention might include giving that woman permission to get up and walk or run. Sometimes that means opening the door to your office if possible, so she doesn't feel trapped as she did in the abortion clinic. For the man, as he begins to talk about how impotent he felt, you might want to give him permission to now have the voice that he didn't have before. It could include allowing him to express his anger in a way he wasn't able to before. It could include the Gestalt technique of the use of an empty chair. There are many people in his life he may have not been able to express the "fight" in him to. It could even include those that worked at the abortion clinic, family, friends etc. It could include just saying the word no, or stop. These are just a few examples of how you as a therapist can give permission to both men and women who may have trauma stored in their bodies from the abortion decision and the experience afterwards.
As therapists working with clients who present with abortion related trauma, there are unique ways for both men and women in how they may have been impacted on a body level. It will be important to learn to include somatic techniques in your work. If you have not received any training in somatic related therapies, it also might be a good time to do that as an adjunct to a more traditional talk therapy approach.