Hauke Gernot, Lohr-Berger Christina, Shafir Tal
Embodiment Resources Academy, Munich, Germany.
The Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 25;15:1409373. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1409373. eCollection 2024.
The neuroscience-based concept of "embodied cognition" or "embodiment" highlights that body and psyche are closely intertwined, i.e., effects of body and psyche are bidirectional and reciprocal. This represents the view that cognitive processes are not possible without the direct participation of the body. Traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) addresses emotional processes on a conceptual level (dysfunctional thoughts, beliefs, attributions, etc.). However recent findings suggest that these processes already start at the level of bodily sensations. This opens up a way of working in therapy that includes the level of bodily sensations, where the development of emotional meaning is supported by bottom-up processes. Bidirectionality of embodiment can be effectively exploited by using body postures and movements associated with certain emotions, which we refer to as embodiment techniques, to deepen the physical experience of poorly felt emotions and support the valid construction of emotional meaning. This embodied approach offers several advantages: Prelinguistic or hard-to-grasp aspects can be identified more easily before being processed verbally. It is also easier to work with clients who have limited access to their emotions. Thus, in this paper we describe a new embodied CBT approach to working on the dysfunctional schema, which is based on three modules: body focus, emotional field, and interaction focus. In addition, using specific zones in the space of the therapy-room allows the embodiment of problematic interactions, as well as of power and powerlessness, closeness and distance, etc. Directly experiencing these processes on one's own body in the protected space of therapy allows faster and deeper insights than would be possible with conversations alone. Finally, the vitalizing power of emotions is used to create coherent action plans and successful interactions. This working method is illustrated by means of a case from practice.
基于神经科学的“具身认知”或“体现”概念强调，身体与心理紧密相连，即身体和心理的影响是双向且相互的。这代表了一种观点，即没有身体的直接参与，认知过程是不可能的。传统认知行为疗法（CBT）在概念层面处理情绪过程（功能失调的思维、信念、归因等）。然而，最近的研究结果表明，这些过程已经在身体感觉层面开始。这开辟了一种治疗方法，包括身体感觉层面，在这个层面上，情绪意义的发展由自下而上的过程支持。通过使用与特定情绪相关的身体姿势和动作（我们称之为体现技术），可以有效地利用体现的双向性，以加深对难以感受的情绪的身体体验，并支持情绪意义的有效构建。这种具身方法具有几个优点：在进行语言处理之前，可以更容易地识别前语言或难以理解的方面。对于那些难以接触到自己情绪的客户来说，合作也更容易。因此，在本文中，我们描述了一种新的基于具身的CBT方法来处理功能失调的图式，该方法基于三个模块：身体聚焦、情绪场和互动聚焦。此外，利用治疗室空间中的特定区域，可以体现有问题的互动，以及权力与无力、亲近与距离等。在治疗的受保护空间中，在自己的身体上直接体验这些过程，比仅通过对话能获得更快、更深入的见解。最后，利用情绪的激发力量来制定连贯的行动计划和成功的互动。本文通过一个实际案例来说明这种工作方法。
