Tapping creative process can be a powerful way to work with trauma of all sorts. My massage mentor Jeanne Christensen compared our therapeutic work to peeling an onion, one layer at a time, to get to the core.
Creating a safe container is one of the keys to gently working through layers. I like to allow time to sit back with my journal/ do metacognitive drawing for process. It's good to verbalize that we will only go as deep as we're ready to process, and don't need to unpack it all at once.
The Intentional Creativity container is already structured in ways that support safety and healing for any issues we and our beloveds come with.
I often begin with basic grounding, imagining my roots going into the earth, and letting any feelings that arise drop down like compost. I keep tea or water handy (await from my paintbrush!) and remind myself to breathe. In this Tedx clip , Dr Thelma Bryant affirms the healing power of creativity, and remembering to BREATHE when things arise!
When working with clients, I imagine a Matching Picture Rose 🌹 in the room or on my altar, attracting any energy of the same issue in me! This can be by real roses on the altar - after the session, dissolve the imagined rose - and change the water on the vase.
In the 90s, a massage client actively working through her past traumas shared guidelines before her first session. One was to stop moving my hands when she asked me to, while keep them gently touching her, and not 'abandon' her by removing them! She would process what came up (often out loud) and then we'd continue.
She visited the retreat center several times each year, and would ask, 'I've gotten a lot better, haven't I? I only needed to ask you to stop moving ___times!' And I would affirm her progress - this affirmation was equally important to her!
Over the years, when new clients were nervous i often shared this client's boundary, and invited them to let me know ways I could help them feel safe.
Shiloh invites us to do body centered coherence movement at times, noticing any places we feel restriction or unease. At break time, when we put 'brushes in the water,' we can also invite a breath, ground and shake out tension before continuing. Breath and movement are great ways to release tension and reset.
I love the 'making safe' exercise our SiStar Semerit taught, which comes from trauma specialist Resmaa Menekem:
- take a breath, and look behind you over one shoulder, allowing both the neck and hips to twist
- return to center
- take a breath and look over the other shoulder
- then back to center, and note how you feel.
- Is any additional movement needed?
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping) can be a great tool to include! Sherry Reuger-Banaka is a CoW grad and EFT practitioner. In 2019, we offered a Grief to Gratuitude class that included painting, my harp during meditation, and EFT.
Since learning EFT, when a client mention anxiety etc, I often ask if they've worked with EFT, often they have.
If this is one of your tools, spend some time with developing a script on an issue you or a beloved are feeling - "Even though I have this anxiety ... all this anxiety... it's hard to take a breath ... (etc) ...I completely love and accept myself!"
Write down where you are on the scale from -10 to 0 to +10 . Are you at -3? then getting above 0 to a +1 or 2 is a rise of 4 to 5 points!! (Here's a quick intro to the scale and tapping, with Karen Aquinas)
Go through the script again - can you bring it up another point or two? Going from -3 to +5 is huge! Write that new number down as well, and check in later on - has it gone up? Gone down?
You could use the same scale before and after a quick MC drawing practice - And fine tune when to use your practices boost effectively.
And finally, it's good to build in your own after care practices after your work together, and allow time for your own process. Sweeping the studio floor before and after a session is one of mine! I also sweep my from above my head with my hands 6" away, flicking my fingers at the end several times: "I clear my body (flick) my spirit (flick) and my field (flick)"
My mentor Jeanne taught us to wash our hands with soap and warm water after sessions for cleanliness, and then for clearing: rinse with cold water from the elbow down, letting go of anything we helped our client release! If I'm near running water, I like to imagine it being carried away as fish food!
What are some of your favorite self care practices?
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