Stress and the traumatic stress reaction
We are all stressed at some time or other. Other words we might use to describe how we feel might include: feeling pressured, under strain or tense. So what is stress? According to the online Oxford Dictionary, stress means “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.” […]
What is trauma? Can it be prevented or healed? (Part II)
Developmental and shock trauma Although not mutually exclusive, since the same person can suffer from both, Levine differentiates between ‘developmental’ trauma and ‘shock’ trauma. Traditionally, the area of developmental trauma has been dealt with by psychoanalytic theory. Freud grappled with the intricacies of developmental trauma, and continually revised his thinking on the subject throughout his […]
What is trauma? Can it be prevented or healed? (Part I)
The ‘Stream of Life’ metaphor describes our emotional life, which flows like a river within its banks. This river contains all our sensations, feelings, thoughts and behaviors, which are under our control. There are also stones and boulders in the riverbed, difficult situations we have faced in the past, and which may account for some […]
The Challenges of Living with Pain
A previous version of this article appeared in Pulse, May 13th, 2016. Normally we seek to avoid pain, whether associated with a known physical condition such as an injury or illness, or something more clearly perceived as psychic/emotional pain, such as despair, helplessness, anxiety. It is often easier to deal with acute pain, which by […]
The body mind clinic
When I first studied clinical psychology (e.g., psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy) many years ago, the focus was on ‘talking’ therapy. Nowadays, the newer therapies, such as Focusing and Somatic Experiencing (SE) utilize a more unified body-mind approach, and tend to be more short-term. As a trauma therapist, I help my clients use their brains, minds and bodies […]
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Soma (Latin) means body We experience our body via its sensations. A sensation can feel pleasurable or painful. In order to describe sensations associated with constriction or trauma, we may use words such as heavy, congested, queasy, disconnected, empty. Sensations associated with expansion and healing include words such as light, flowing, bubbly, warm, solid. If […]
Have you ever been in a car crash?
The greater the number of drivers and vehicles on the road, the more car accidents there are. This is especially so when road maintenance and expansion are not always top priorities, and when driving has become a way of letting off steam for people with temperamental nervous systems, itching for a fight. In a society […]
The Felt Sense, Resources, and Resiliency
What is the Felt Sense? Eugene Gendlin (2003) the creator of a method he called focusing, coined the term felt sense in his seminal book, Focusing. A felt sense is “a special kind of internal bodily awareness,” that one can learn to be increasingly attuned to, a “body-sense of meaning.” This process involves a physical […]
Focusing, somatic experiencing, and the compass of the body
In his seminal book, Focusing, Gendlin (1982) describes what he means by the ‘felt sense’: “A felt sense is not a mental experience but a physical one. Physical. A bodily awareness of a situation or person or event. An internal aura that encompasses everything you feel and know about the given subject at a given […]
The Enigma of Childhood – Interview with Dr. Ronnie Solan
Republished by permission from Author Site (ronniesolan.com) Interview by Ruth Shidlo, PhD., SEP Dr. Ronnie Solan is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst based in Tel Aviv. An expert on the emotional development of the child, she works with children, adolescents, adults and couples. Her book, The Enigma of Childhood – The Profound Impact of the […]