Sexual Abuse Support Group
Sexual abuse is a relative cultural term used to describe sexual relations and behavior between two or more parties which are considered criminally and/or morally offensive. Different types of sexual abuse involve: Non-consensual, forced physical sexual behavior such as rape, incest or sexual assault, or psychological forms of abuse, such as verbal sexual behavior or...
Several years ago I went to massage therapy for the very first time. We had been talking about it in one of my classes (I was a grad student). The professor of this class talked some about needing memories of good touches to balance out memories of bad touches. I went to the massage therapist a few times and I think it did help. So has anyone else done any bodywork kinds of therapy, and what was it, and did it help?
I have not had the 'therapy" body work, but a friend gave me a free massage for my birthday once - I chose the deep tissue massage and I really did not want to leave the office. It felt a little strange to pay someone to touch me, never did that before or since, but knowing they would attend to my aches and pains and did so in such a relaxing and appropriate atmosphere was phenom!!! I never really had an issue with stranger touching me as long as I knew it was coming. My issues were more with the touching that involved people with who I have emotional ties with. It was then that I started "flashing back" at times.
But I can see the possible value to such - as long as the therapist is totally professional and appropriate, it could de-sensitize some who do have issues with body touching.
Good thought - I will be looking into this on the 'net.
Thanks for the post - I always expect intriguing things come from your mind and you never disappoint!!
Steve
I am a huge proponent of "safe" body work. And because there are so many different types out there it requires some research and investigation.
I have done QiGong, Focusing, Reiki energy work, Acupuncture, Somatic Experiencing, Swedish massage, CranioSacral, and Radix.
I have recently returned to practicing QiGong which is somewhat similar to a walking meditation and have found that it relaxes me. Though I do these body movements soon after getting up I found that its benefits extended to the p.m. I am sleeping two hours longer since returning to the practice.
Eugene Gendlin's Focusing is a body awareness practice where I was keying into my "felt sense" of things. It helped me put some of the pieces of the puzzle together; things that happened at a pre-verbal stage.
Reiki energy work taught me that energy is real. I way lying on the table with my eyes closed. The practitioner was holding her hands over, but not touching, various parts of my body. When she came to my gut I experienced a burning sensation so intense I was about to jump off the table. I thought she was burning me with something.
When I asked her about it afterwards she said, if I remember correctly, that I was depleted of energy in my gut and needed more and that she was nothing more than a conduit for that energy.
I was fortunate in having a gifted acupuncturist do this work. I never once felt the needles she put into my body. I say gifted because she was also a visionary. She saw a stake in my gut and wanted to know if I wanted her to help me get it out. I know this sounds weird but I am also a firm believer in the statement that "we don't know what we don't know."
I felt a huge relief once that stake was removed. I don't know what that stake was about I can only tell you how I felt after it was gone.
Somatic Experiencing is work by Peter Levine and I can tell you that it is probably the most unobtrusive type of body work, along with Focusing, that I experienced. I don't recall exactly how it worked but you can find that information in his book, Waking the Tiger.
What I can tell you is that I experienced over 33 memory releases in a very short period of time. The memories were not like flashbacks and I had no clear recall of any particular memory, just an experience of physical release.
It also explained to me what my body was trying to do when I would lie in bed some nights and shake. I just thought I was crazy and could not understand what was going on. It was my body trying to rid itself of trauma energy. I seldom shake like that anymore.
Swedish massage was okay. The down side was that I didn't know the masseuse who was male. I did not take my clothes off and insisted on keeping the sheet over my clothes. I don't know what he thought. This massage was a gift from an acquaintance. Like I said, it was okay.
I'm sure I would have had a different experience if I had know the masseuse and felt safe.
CranioSacral is the bodywork that I would return to. It's a head only massage of head pressure points. It brought up stuff in a non-intrusive way. The masseuse was again male, but was recommended by my therapist at the time. I would return to him because I experienced him as safe.
Radix is another therapy I would re-engage. Radix practitioners believe it is important for the person to experience their feelings, not just talk about them...and, I did experience lots of feelings.
Again, Radix brought up stuff from pre-verbal years.
I believe that bodywork is a critical part of healing. Body, mind, and spirit must all be attended to, IMO. So, yes, I know that releasing the trauma energy from my body via bodywork has helped a great deal.
xx
SuzA
I have had Reiki and I am a Reiki II myself so I can do Reiki on myself. I can do Reiki on others too but prefer to just do it on me. Oh, and my cats. They love it.
When having Reiki done the practitioner will use symbols that will heal you in numerous ways. One that is very important is the Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen which will move the trauma out of your cellular memory. I only know three symbols, but a practitioner who is a Reiki Master (one level above me) will have more symbols to help move even more of the trauma out of you.
I also want to mention that SuzA66 mentioned that the practitioner floated her hands above her. This is unusual because Reiki is a hands on healing energy. So if you do try Reiki you may want to ask the practitioner if they work hands on or if they float above the body. Both ways work and I'm sure if you ask for them to float, they will. If they are a good practitioner they will explain what they will be doing and will ask if you are OK with it. If you are not, they should float above you instead.
Keep us posted on what you try and how it works. I'm going to look into the Radix that SuzA66 mentioned. That one sounds very interesting.
Good luck!