3. My Work
Modalities-
Expressive Therapies, Biofeedback-HRV, qEEG, Brainwave
Biofeedback, EMDR, Bodywork, Trauma informed Contextual Family
Therapy, Group work incorporating the expressive arts,
Population-
- Private Practice In Old Greenwich CT, Individuals and Families
- Seasonal Healing and Celebration Rituals, Drum and Dance
-12 Years Residential Psychiatric Facility with Children, Adolescents
and Adults
- Mankind Project, New Warrior Training, Men’s Support Circles
- Boys to Men, Initiatory process for adolescents
- School Residency doing Social Emotional Enrichment through the
Arts
- Restorative Justice Circles with “At Risk” youth
4. Objectives
• Better understand your own and others
psychophysiological reactions to situations
• Be able to be more responsive and alive to
ourselves and to others
• Begin or enhance a practice of using
enactment for enrichment, empowerment and
renewal.
• Support and empower others in their practice.
5. Method
• We will learn a method of resolving trauma through the
expressive arts. I will present this in the framework of a
group therapy model.
• This method can be fully employed in individual therapy.
• It can be used on your own for your own healing process.
• It can also done with a peer, or group of peers.
6. Bio in a Tale
• Once upon a time, StarChild was born in an enchanted kingdom. Fogs of
Madness would drive the King and Queen into stupor, rage and insanity.
• One day, while the King, Queen and Hilda-the old kind one, were in the
throes of of their madness, the Dragon came and slayed villagers,
• In horror, StarChild left the kingdom and searched for the sacred
mountain of the wise people where he heard that StarMusic was still played.
• StarChild learned to follow the trail of SongLine across the land.
• The SongLine led StarChild to the Old tribe that kept the StarMusic alive.
There StarChild learned to stand in the center of the fire, connect to the Stars
above and the center of the Earth and come out of the flames unburned. He
loved it there but they told him, “You must leave and return to your
kingdom.” “But I will loose myself in the Fog of Madness,” StarChild said.
So they gave him a buffalo horn, filled with ash and a burning ember.
• Now back in the Kingdom, StarChild, now a man, blows on the sacred
embers, and sings the old Star songs. This music pushes back the Fogs of
Madness. Others join him in this song, the kingdom shines, laughter returns.
And still when the moon is dark, and winds are strong the Madness creeps
back into the kingdom.
• And still there is a dragon who bides his time waiting to find his
next meal...
7. Flight Preparation
• So.. Like when boarding a plane-
• - know your safety exits,
• - put your oxygen mask on first, then help those
around you
• - your seat cushion may double as a floatation device!
• This seminar may be challenging or evocative for you. Do
what you need to do to take care of yourself.
• Respect your self and only do or share what you are
comfortable with. You are welcome to pass on anything,
• Move around as you need to.
• You are welcome to ask questions, make comments. I will
do my best to keep our discussion on the track that serves
the greater good.
• Use your common sense and clinical judgement about
where and when you employ any of the techniques or
processes you learn here.
• Hand outs
9. Objects
Pulse
Rumble if...
Pass the rumble
Pass the rumble - match tone, change,
pass
Mime Catch w Rumble
Double Pulse-
Tell us how it was getting here using your
drum
Fluid Sculpture
Some Action-
12. Enactment
• Externalize experience, have it out
there, rather than just in here
• Gain distance perspective and
connection.
• It has an edge In time; It has a
beginning, middle, and end
• It has an edge In space; an inside and
outside
• We can have a relationship with “It”
• “It” actually becomes a “Thou”
• We can change it; it can change us
13. Enactment
• Objective Correlative- noun, Literature.
1. a completely depicted situation or
chain of events that objectifies a
particular emotion in such a way as to
produce or evoke that emotion in the
reader.
• Representation
• Map or Model
• Computer- U.M.L. - Universal Markup
Language- the architecture of a
program
14. Medium and Modality
Medium Modality
Body/Movement
Hearing Sound
Image/SIght
Smell
Taste
Touch / Substance
Words
Dance, Drama, Puppet, Art, Sport,
Pilgrimage, Yoga, Tia Chi, Juggling, Rope
Walking, Martial Arts,
Music, Drama
Visual art, Culinary, Craft, Drama,
Photography (video in time)
Perfume, incense
Culinary arts
Sculpture, Music, Massage,
Crafts, Culinary, Martial Arts
Poem, Story, Graffiti, #
Song, Drama
Exists in time and space,
private or social
Exists in time, instantly social
Exists in space, not time, can
be private and social
?Space, ?Time
Exists in space, and time, private
and social
Exists in space, can mark time
private can be social
Words need a modality to exist
Modality give them space or time
can be private or public
16. Brodmann Areas
- 52 regions of the cerebral cortex of humans and
monkeys that appeared to have different cellular
morphology and organization.
- Over the past century clinical findings and
neurophysiological studies have shown that these
microstructural differences correlate well with
cortical function specialization.
by using different modalities, we engage different
brain regions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodmann_area
18. Medium and Modality
High Sensitivity / Low Skill
Medium Modality
Body/Movement
Balance
Hearing Sound
Image/SIght
Smell
Taste
Touch / Substance
Words
Dance, Drama, Puppet, Art, Sport,
Pilgrimage, Yoga, Tia Chi, Juggling, Rope
Walking, Martial Arts
Music, Drama,
authentic movement
simple choreography,
imitate nature, Playback Theater
Small Range instruments, call and response, use
Visual art, Culinary, Craft, Drama,
Photography ( slide show / video in time)
Perfume, incense
Culinary arts
Sculpture, Music, Massage,
Crafts, Culinary, Martial Arts,
Poem, Story, Graffiti,
#Song, Drama
recorded music, Playback Theater
Collage, Decks
abstract drawing, Playback
Theater
selecting smells
seasoning food
Ephemeral Altars, Flower
Arranging, Playback Theater
McKim process- scribe while person
touchs things while blind folded
call and response Playback Theater
19. Enactment
is to our psyche
as the digestive system is to our body.
We can use it to digest, to take in that which
nourishes us and to release that which does
serve us, or even poisons us.
20. Kinds of Listening and Engagement-
Intrapersonal and Interpersonal
• inattentive
• distracting
• critical (rejecting, shaming,
condemning)
• competitive
• exploiting (getting a laugh
at the expense of another)
• analyzing
• critiquing
• advising
• projecting
• demanding
• present
• curious
• wonder, awe
• respect
• reflecting
• gratitude, appreciative
• sympathy
• empathy
• compassion
• blessing
Why would someone have these attitudes?
21. “If I really see you
I will laugh out loud
or fall silent
or shatter in a million pieces
and if I don’t
I will be locked in my prison of stone
and cement”
Rumi
13th-century poet
23. clip from
“Finding Joe”
www.findingjoethemovie.com/
introduction to the universality
of the hero cycle
Hero Cycle is an analogue
to trauma treatment stages
24. In the fairy tale that you are living...
Who is your prince or princess, or holy grail?
What is the Road of Trials?
What is the Dark Night?
Who is the Old Wise Man/Wise Woman?
What is the Magic Amulet?
What is the Dragon?
What is the Boon or Gift you bring to your
community?
25. Enact your Fairy Tale
or Part of it-
• Draw it
• Write it
• Comic Strip
• Sculpture
• Song / Rap
This need not be the whole
tale.
It can be just a chapter.
It need not make a lot
sense. #
You are welcome to totally
lie- also you are welcome to
impersonate
a client or someone else.
29. What was writing the
story of you life as a
fairy tale like for you?
31. clip from
“The Sound of Music”
“The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears”
32. Clip
boy conducting beethoven's 5th
example of emotional
responsiveness and aliveness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0REJ-lCGiKU
33. • “The dyadic relationship, particularly with primary
caregivers helps to develop the sense of self and
tone of the prefrontal lobes”.
• Allen Shore
• This sense of self becomes a ground of being, an
essential model of who I am who others are and
how the world is.
34. and Suddenly...
“an suddenly” a common motif in fairy tales which
is analogue for trauma, particularly single incident
big T trauma’s
35. Clip
Star Wars IV
Luke returns home
to find his caretakers killed and
house burned
36. clip
Tv announcer has
amygdala hi jack
when a lizard
jumps on him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO0iGlV2wbE
39. demonstation
interaction when we don’t get facial or vocal social
emotional cues.
Person wears- mask, doesn’t speak, makes
ambiguous gestures.
Notice how this feels.
40. clip
Still Face Experiment
regulatory effect of dyad relationship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0
note there was a time not that long ago
when people didn’t think babies
couldn’t socially interact
41. Window of Tolerance
Hyper aroused
Optimal aroused
Hypo aroused
increased sensations
emotional reactivity
intrusive imagery
disorganized cognitive processing
hyper vigilance
relative absence of sensations
emotional numbing
disabled cognitive processing
reduced physical movements
from Pat Ogden
42. Stephen Porges
Polyvagal Theory
Social Engagement-
Fight Flight- high sympathetic tone
Freeze- high parasympathetic tone
52. Allen Shore
• You cannot develop a sense of self without
adequate affect regulation
• Affect regulation in the child depends primarily on
the mother/primary care giver
• She/He needs to be able to regulate herself and
her baby
• Her alignment with her baby builds brain
structures and networks
• Primary organizing structure is the pre-frontal
cortex
53. Impoverished Development of the
Orbital Frontal Cortex causes:
• Lack on inhibition of fear, rage,
aggression
• Decreased awareness of emotional
state of self and others
• Decreased empathy and care for social
rules
• Lack of cause and effect thinking
58. Trauma
Shame and
worthlessness
Hopelessness
Emotional
overwhelm
Decreased
concentration
Loss of
Interest
Irritability
Depression
Little or no
memories Nightmares
Flashbacks
Hyper-vigilance
Generalized anxiety
Panic Attacks
Chronic pain
Headaches
Substance
Abuse
Eating Disorders
Feeling Unreal
Loss of sense
of “who I am”
Self Destructive or Out of body
Behaviour
62. Art/Enactment
Bridges Conscious Awareness to the
Silent Depths of the Psyche
The artistic process then facilitates the dialogue
between the parts of the brain which rule: (prefrontal)
and speaks (Broca’s area and Wernake’s area) and
the parts that KNOW -basal ganglia, insula, and parts
that sort it out- hypocampus.
63. Treating Trauma
Slaying or Redeeming
the Dragon
Fairy Tales inform us,
that to handle “the dragon”,
we must first be prepared
64. Resource
If you must face the dragon
or make a trip to the pit of hell
What resource would you need to be successful?
also known as . . .
How do you keep your left prefrontal lobe active,
amygdala calm, and your affect balanced?
65. clip
Harry Potter
Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry learns the Patronus Spell
"This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your
most positive feelings.
This is a great model of learning about using Resources. Also models the Old Wise Man
process of initiation
66. Resources
Theseus -Mitos, ball of yarn to escape the labyrinth, slayed
Minotaur
Batman and James Bond’s tech gadgets
Hobbit - Gandalf, courage,
Perseus, Hermes - winged sandles, Athena, shield,
Ender- war games at Battle school
Harry Potter- cloak of invisibility
Sound of Music- Song
69. Amy Cuddy TED.com
Our bodies change our minds
Physical posture as a Resource
70. Resource Enactment
1) Name a resource from your life-relationship
mastery
symbol
2) Draw it or pick a tarot card
or other icon that holds the image
find movement that embodies the energy of the resource ( not literally moving the image
3) Partner up - learn their resource movement and teach them yours
4) Duo partners with another Duo, learn all four resource movements, put them in a sequence
5) As ritual of empowerment, group of 4 presents their resource movements to whole group while
group supports with drumming, clapping chant
6) Make clear this is not a competition! This not a performance it is a ritual of empowerment where
we support each other to embody our positive qualities, strength, grounding, courage, grace,
sensitivity, balance
7) You can also have people make verbal affirmations
* explore other intermodal transfers
72. Trigger
Break Traumatic Memory in to Components
SUDS- Subjective Unit of Distress
Image- (could be in any sense)
Sensation
Emotion
Behavior
Worst Negative cognition, thought or belief about your self
While holding this memory what is your positive- belief about
yourself, emotion, sensation,
Where are you on the bridge between negative cog and positive
76. What would you like to think about yourself now
SUDS
Subjective Unit of
Distress Scale
0-10
Positive Cognition
in relation to that situation? B
Image of the
Trauma/
“Face of the Dragon”
Negative Cognition
Sensation/
Emotion
Body Map
Worse Negative Belief about self in relation to the situation?
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77. Processing Sequence
Form the enactment
Seperate from enactment get into witnessing perspective
Witness the enactment
Was that accurate? Watch for body truth response.
How was that for you to witness
Pendulate from resources to trauma
Is response- merged, contemptuous, judgmental, dissociated, or
Compassionate? ( Is left frontal or right frontal dominant at this time?)
If response is merged, contemptuous, judgmental, dissociated,- enact that.
If response is Compassionate- How would you like to respond to this
scene?
(present time adult ego state can transform the scene- this self must be the
source of agency.)
Healing interactions- protection, limit setting, explaining, nurturing
relationship, blessing
Role reverse to have protagonist receive the healing action that he she just
gave.
Behavioral based homework. Given this new healing light- what can you
practically do to continue to support this.
78. now -
click your heals together
three time
and say,
“there’s no place like home”
Welcome Notice what is happening inside you. Welcome what ever is happening with you- fear, excitement, boredom, frustration, distraction
and simply welcome it in a friendly way
In a weeks send me an email
The arts can be used as container that can hold tragedy, comedy, conflict, betrayal, loss, suffering, joy- redemption , the mysteries of life and death. @@@ The grand father character (the old wise man or the crone) also models an energy or archetype that we as therapist can call upon to respond to our clients stories with a greater perspective, wisdom and most importantly- enthusiasm. @@@ We are all living a story- Wow look at the journey that you are on.
we are going to work the process of enactment. I think will be most useful to first experience these processes then reflect on them.
Object- say your name and one or two sentence about why you choose that object
Low skill, high sensativity, modulate affect
apologize for the chart, volley ball drill w Gary
case for playback, Action verses Enactment profane
set up relationships
the compassion
rumble if: this has been done to you, if you have done it to someone, if you do it to yourself
poem
Announce transition- where we have been, where we are going.-
Hero Cycle provides a MAP of treating trauma=
Break?
Finding Joe-
if you study any piece of enactment you can find something of this pattern or algorithm
break
12 minutes
talk about my squiggle drawing,
You are welcome to totally lie- also you are welcome to impersonate
a client or someone else.
Break
THe good the hills are alive, I go the hills when my heart is lonely
What is the trauma being resolved in the sound of music?
Please bare with this clip- its about 6 minutes and slightly dis-organized
Still it hits may significant point that underly dynamics that go in any social situation.
Big T trauma
Freeze a reaction to overwhelming stress
Fight Flight filters how we sense - fails to distinguish between what is present and what is memory
Social Engagement- allows the highest levels of social exchange- tone, intentions
Prodisy- singing in tune, flow state of an athlete
THis is how you may learn that client has trauma. particularly weak attachment or early repeated small t trauma, people with big T trauma more know who they have changed.
Be very elementary and clear chick in the chair
End of Science-
Here Harry Potter is learning the patronus spell to learn to fight the dementor ( dementor makes you feel like you have never been happy)
sketch
Traing
Draw, or object or write, or Card
Movement- sounds, or chant, gesture, words
Drums “Im going to be the best I can”