about touch in therapy
Touch is our First Language.
Touch is our first language. It is an essential part of being human. Before we have words, touch is the way our care givers showed us that we mattered. Ideally, when a baby cries, we pick them up, soothe, bounce or even sing to them. Sadly, it doesn’t always work this way. As individuals, we internalize how relationships should be from these early, non-verbal communications. Then we often continue to live out relational patterns that are harmful and don’t serve us based on these exceptions we learned early in life. Safe, therapeutic touch in therapy can be very powerful for reaching early wounding and trauma that occurred in relationships with others.
My clients are frequently experiencing blocks to finding satisfying, nourishing relationships. With safe, therapeutic touch work we can access what is hard to get to with words, analysis or the intellect.
When I work with touch, we move very slow. Consent process is essential. We really get to know your ‘yeses, I don’t know and no’s.’ The work is done on a massage table with clothes on. I sit next to you and offer a still hand -holding your hand, shoulder, knees or back. We check in about how you are doing the entire time and pay attention to our relationship as it unfolds throughout the session. We identify what you are longing for and what kinds of blocks are present. We work with how to take in the care that is present between us in the session.
This kind of somatic work is very experiential, meaning we are following the feelings present in the moment. We are orienting towards what new experiences could be possible for you, meeting needs that have been unmet. We are less oriented towards an intellectual understanding of your past and present challenges than in other forms of therapy.
The heart, emotions and body have their own wisdom. The mind doesn’t have all the answers. In this work, we center the heart, body and emotions. Reach out if you are curious to learn more. You can also visit Relational Somatic Healing’s website to learn more about this approach.
“Touch is far more essential than we realize. It’s as vital as sunlight.”
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In this 30 minute conversation we can check out if we might work well together.