I recently read an interesting blog article
about the importance of nonverbal communication within the therapeutic
relationship, and how it contributes (or not) to rapport between therapist and
client. Click here to read the article and view its demonstrative video clip.
As I read the article, I was reminded of
what we call “the relational field” in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. In this
work, we begin by supporting a settling of the relational field, meaning that
the client is able to feel safe enough to begin to relax, and that client and practitioner
deepen into a sense of resonance. We may sense this as a calming, a sense of
dropping or quieting between us. We acknowledge that we are coming together as
two human beings, not just physical bodies or physiological systems.
As we feel safe, our autonomic nervous
systems can begin to settle. We can begin to shift from a sympathetic
fight-flight drive state into more balance, where our parasympathetic rest and
rejuvenation system can come more online. Our social engagement system is also
activated as we begin to resonate with each other, meeting as two human beings.
Once this settling has happened, then the client’s system can begin to
settle under its patterns and habits into what we call the holistic shift.
Here, the deeper, more inherent forces of primary respiration come to the fore,
often like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, and the inherent
treatment plan can then emerge.
If the relational field does not settle,
the deeper forces are not as easily accessed. We remain in the territory of
reactive, historically based activation. Therefore, settling of the relational
field is an essential first step in this work. It begins with our first
client-practitioner interaction, as we sense each other out through our words
and voices, as well as the exchange of more obvious information about the
practitioner’s background, experience and approach, and the client’s issues and
intentions.
How we support the relational field is a
basic, first skill in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Looking at our nonverbal
interactions can greatly enhance this skill. In my training as a somatic
psychotherapist and dance/movement therapist, I was taught at length to attend
to nonverbal gestures and bodily expression. While Biodynamic practitioners are
craniosacral therapists, rather than psychotherapists, our awareness of
nonverbal communication can be extremely helpful in settling the relational
field. I am reminded here of the research in infant-parent nonverbal
communication and how the practitioner-client relationship may serve to
reinforce or, hopefully, resolve early relational trauma.
Learning
from Little Ones
Little ones come into the world with their
social engagement system online. They are ready to engage. Their first impulse
is to gaze into mom’s eyes and breastfeed. Often, their interest in mom’s face
exceeds their attraction to the breast for some time. As they look into mom’s
eyes, both fall in love, and the bonding required for survival and thriving of
the pair deepens. The oxytocin (the love hormone) accompanying breastfeeding
serves to reinforce the positive feelings between the two.
As babies develop, their brains depend on
continued attuned interaction with mom, or their primary caregiver. Deprived of
this interaction, brain development is thwarted, contributing to later issues
with behavior, learning and health. Babies thrive within a field of “good
enough” mothering, where their primary caregiver is generally aware of their
needs and communications and responds accordingly. Missing the odd time is not
a problem, and may actually support the baby in preparing for a world that is
not so attuned. If the baby is not usually responded to with empathy and care,
development is affected, as the relational field it requires is not safe and
reliable. The self structure that develops within such a field, is particularly
defended, as the child grows with an unspoken, neurological expectation of not
being met and adequately cared for.
What is an attuned relational field between
mother and infant like? This is an important question for us as practitioners,
because it resembles an attuned relationship between us and our clients.
The influential work of Alan Schore and,
earlier, Daniel Stern, have pointed to the importance of mother-infant
interactions and attunement for the child’s development of self-regulation. Daniel
Stern, author of The Interpersonal World
of the Infant, studied films of mother-infant interactions and noted how
attuned they could be. They move in similar rhythms, with related pauses,
tones, inflections, pacing and gestures. When they are attuned in this way,
with the child’s need for time to integrate being respected, nervous system
arousal is regulated by the exchange. The infant looks away when stimulation
begins to become too much to process. The mother or caregiver who responds to
this signal by respectfully quieting with the infant, supports not only their
bond, but also the child’s ability to regulate emotional arousal. Babies also
suffer with under-stimulation, as can occur with depressed mothers who don’t
have the energy to respond or notice their infants’ cues, or with little ones
neglected in overcrowded orphanages. Misattunement in these early relationships
can contribute to difficulty with self-regulation and relationships throughout
life.
This is common knowledge in attachment
studies and therapies. It is also now common to look at therapeutic
relationships as an opportunity to heal this kind of early relational wounding.
How does this relate to Biodynamics and our relational field?
Cultivating
Attunement in Biodynamics
In Biodynamics, we carefully negotiate our
contact as well as the energetic space between practitioner and client. We are
sensitive, like the attuned mother, to the needs of the client. We practise
grounding and deepening under our own personal histories in order to provide a
relatively neutral, reflective holding field for the client. If our own
personal material is stimulated via our relationship with a client, we are
committed to working with this material through our own professional
supervision or therapy, and refer as necessary.
The attuned interaction between mother and
infant, like ours with the client, occurs on many different levels. The mother
speaks in certain ways to her infant, her tone and rhythm meeting those of her
infant. Her attention to non-verbal cues prevents under or over-stimulation. Her
words and voice, however, are accompanied by bodily movements, gestures and
facial expressions. The infant plays and communicates non-verbally, although
often making sounds.
I believe it is helpful for us as
Biodynamic practitioners to be aware of how we also interact with our clients
on many levels. These include not only physical contact through our hands, but
also somatic communication such as body movements, physical distance between
us, tone of voice and our actual words.
I have noticed that, for some clients,
talking during a session is essential to help them to settle enough for the
holistic shift to occur and the inherent treatment plan to present. As they
talk, their nervous system begins to settle and, gradually, they seem to feel
safe enough within our relational field, that they can become quieter.
Other clients talk habitually to maintain a
familiar high level of nervous system activation. They are afraid to settle,
but can gradually feel safer if I meet their energetic with similar energy. If
I judge their activation or try to get rid of it, they either become more
activated or withdraw into a dissociative freeze state. If I can meet their
energy but, like the attuned mother, sense when their system needs to have more
space and withdraw, they begin to feel safe enough to stay present. Then, the
holistic shift occurs and the inherent treatment plan can emerge.
Every client presents with different needs,
history and intentions. The more aware we as practitioners can be of the
various levels at which we interact, the more potential we have of meeting
their relational needs within the context of the Biodynamic treatment. The
resulting settling can have dramatic effects. As Stern writes: “Joy is the product
of a mutual regulation of social exchange by both partners.” And what can be
more healing for relational wounding than the experience of relational joy?
