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People used to think emotions reside entirely in their brain. We now know that parts of the body can hold emotions too. Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach before a speech, referred to something (or someone) as a "pain in the neck"; or felt a "lump in your throat"? Then there are old sayings that give examples of emotions in the body. Sayings like: "He's a bit liverish today" - an expression meaning, "he's a bit angry today"; or "She carries the worry of the world on her shoulders" - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess what emotion we hold in our shoulders. Clearly, emotions happen in our body, not just in our brain.
Traditional counselling tends to be conversational (talk therapy) and assumes everything can be talked through. Often when a crisis occurs, it is difficult to express with words the way we feel inside. In these cases conversational counselling can take months or even years for the client to gain enough insight, understanding and skills to move forward. Irrational emotions may never be released.
Emotions such as fear, anger and grief can negatively affect us long after the original event that caused them. When we don't have the skills to deal with a situation or emotion, our body stores it (like the books on the bookshelf) and fails to "let go" of these emotions - as adults we can find ourselves with unexplained aversions, behaviours, destructive beliefs, phobias and even chronic physical problems! When we experience a similar situation, the old emotional response, and way of dealing with it, kicks in.
We may find that we act in an unflattering way with
little or no control over our emotional state. Few people can see any
link between the past event and the present situation. But Holistic Counselling
can help identify the unresolved real (or imagined) event, and help your
body release its lingering emotional charge or pain, and identify new
ways of dealing with the situation and feelings invoked.
Holistic counselling recognises that not all inner experiences can be
verbalised or reasoned out. Sometimes no matter how much you try to work
through a feeling, the feeling persists. Holistic Counselling uses a combination
of both verbal and non-verbal tools to express/access human experience.
In addition to verbal conversation, Holistic Counselling uses the body as a tool for awareness, to locate and unlock the thoughts and feelings that have become stored in your body, - and uses non-verbal tools, such as art therapy, clay therapy, and sand play to express the inexpressible or to know the unknowable.
How does this work? It's really very simple. Firstly you'll form a mental picture, or "snapshot" of the current triggering event. Your body will assume an emotional state through which you can contact the specific body point storing the emotion. Within that point in the body can be located all the feelings, thoughts and memories that have been locked away. At any point you can step away from the feelings and view them from a safe distance, as if standing on a bridge. This gives you the opportunity to see yourself from another point of view. From there, frozen or unmet needs can be identified, and strategies can be put into place for you to meet these needs for yourself.
This approach is fast, it's strong, it's immediate and if you let it be, it's fun.
Janine Fraser is our Counselor. Janine holds an Advanced Diploma of Holistic Counselling and a Reiki Master Degree. Janine is available Monday - Thursday 6pm until 9pm and Friday from 9am until 5pm.
