"Somatic Reclamation: Exploring the Lived Experience of Word Woundings"

In October 2022, Dr. Cacky Mellor was awarded one of two Peter A. Levine Research Awards for her work exploring word woundings and the process of coming into relationship with them. Thank you to Dr. Mellor for building the evidence base for SE!

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Background

Hate speech, verbal abuse, and verbal microaggressions have wide reaching and long-lasting traumatic biopsychosocial impact. This research examined a facilitated embodied artistic exploration of word woundings, the negative felt sense of a word.

This research drew primarily on the fields of somatic studies, depth psychology, and expressive arts therapy to explore how the words of others—from verbal abuse to careless verbal slights—can impact an individual physically, psychologically, interpersonally, and spiritually. Concepts from embodied social justice and critical theory are used to examine the possibility of how identifying with and internalizing a wounding word can internalize the oppression that the word represents.

Methods

The study utilized a body-centered, art-informed research methodology to explore word woundings. Six volunteers located in the continental United States participated. In one-on-one sessions the participant and researcher worked together in a somatic reclamation process to cocreate a visual representation of the participant’s word wounding and apply the image to their body as part of coming into relationship with it.

Results

The process facilitated a new and deeper understanding of the origin and experience of the wound. The participants reported a transformative experience as a result of the process.

Discussion

The study suggests that the somatic reclamation process can be utilized to heal personal and collective word woundings.

Researcher

Dr. Mellor is Visiting Faculty at Lesley University’s Psychology & Applied Therapies department and has a remote somatic private practice, Somatic Reclamation, working with individuals. She has spent the past 15+ years studying the power of words on the body, mind, soul, and society. In undergrad, she studied art therapy and holistic psychology at Lesley University, after which she received her Masters of Education in art-based activism and social entrepreneurship from Lesley's Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. She earned her PhD in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dr. Mellor's current scholarship is centered around the internalization of language, narrative, and trauma on a somatic level and how it affects interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. She is deeply passionate about social justice, the arts, intergenerational trauma, and somatics.

"We Are All in This Together: Coping with Stress During Uncertain Times through Somatic Experiencing"

In October 2022, Dilara Öze and Bilge Nuran Aydoğdu were awarded one of two Peter A. Levine Research Awards for their study of a SE based group therapy model that found possible effectiveness in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Thank you to Dilara and Bilge for building the evidence base for SE!

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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on all countries and induced excessive stress and anxiety among many who are dealing with this invisible danger. Stress and anxiety originate from a threat, and chronic exposure to stressors results in feeling overwhelmed. When the coping strategies are not effective in a certain situation, the person might demonstrate conditioned reactions like the fight, flight, or freeze. This study aims to increase the resiliency factors through a SE-based group counseling process.

Methods

Two groups consisting of 9 individuals each - an intervention and control group - attended a group process for 8 weeks. In addition to these groups, a waitlist control group was formed consisting of 31 people. In addition to pre-and-post individual interviews, The COPE Revised: Proposing a 5-Factor Model of Coping Strategies and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale were administered to both groups.

Results

Qualitative content analysis of the interviews found five themes emerged: hope, universality, cohesiveness, insight, and interpersonal output (new behavior).Group process decreased the anxiety and depression level which was assessed through The COPE Revised: Proposing a 5-Factor Model of Coping Strategies, F(1, 38) = 9.13, p < .05, ηp 2 = .19, which indicates a large effect size.

Conclusions

This study indicates the possible effectiveness for an SE based group therapy model for reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Qualitative data indicated increased coping skills, interpersonal development and presence of multiple curative factors identified by Yalom’s model of group therapy.

Researchers

Dilara Özel is a PhD candidate and research assistant in the Guidance and Psychological Counseling program at Middle East Technical University. She is also an alumnus of the Faculty of Education Bachelor’s Program at Boğaziçi University, İstanbul. She was a researcher at projects funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Program of the European Union (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action), TUBİTAK, and COST Action. She was a visiting fellow at the MiReKoç (Migration Research Center at Koç University) team for the Spring 2021 period. She received a national scholarship (TUBİTAK 2214-A) and work with Prof. Dr. Aileen Edele at the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM), Germany during the Fall Semester of 2022. She is also a SEP student. She took training on Experiential Play Therapy, IMAGO Couples Therapy, and Adlerian Approach from various scholars. She is developing a peace education program for refugee-receiving schools in Turkey.

Bilge Nuran Aydoğdu completed her bachelor's degree in guidance and psychological counseling at Boğaziçi University. She completed her master’s degree at Marmara University with her thesis title of “Psychological Problems and Needs of Deaf Students during Adolescence: A Phenomenological Study”. She is a PhD student in Guidance and Psychological Counseling at Marmara University, as well as a research assistant in the same department at Balıkesir University. Her dissertation focuses on deaf identity development from an interpretive phenomenology perspective. She attended the Disability Studies for fall semester in 2020 organized by Boğaziçi University, Research Worldwide İstanbul and Lund University. She has received the 2021 Peter Levine Research Award as part of the SE Turkey Team on their project about the effectiveness of SE on stress and anxiety level during the pandemic. She has attended several workshops and trainings about trauma, disability, and diversity. Her work focuses on psychological counseling services for the deaf using Turkish Sign Language.

Multidisciplinary Approach to Brain Fog and Related Persisting Symptoms Post-COVID-19

This article reviews an integrated approach to addressing COVID-related 'brain fog' through research, clinical findings, and case examples.

Brain fog in post-COVID-19 is a complex health condition with multiple factors that increase risk, health processes driving impact, and often requires team-based care. The authors note “symptoms and etiology associated with brain fog including (1) cognition, (2) sleep, (3) psychological factors, and (4) neuroinflammation.” Having targeted approaches that improve sleep, self-regulation, psychological trauma, cognitive rehabilitation, and neural inflammation may be core to addressing the human impacts of long-term COVID-19.

Research has indicated challenges in long-term, post-COVID cognitions in neuropsychological systems related to executive functioning and attentional capacity, sometimes known as brain fog. While these symptoms can have multiple causal pathways, they can mirror hypoxia (loss of oxygen), diffuse axonal injury, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and stroke.

There are strong overlaps between sleep challenges and health outcomes, as well as the risk of long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Sleep supports both tissue repair and brain executive functions. Difficulty with sleep is common in individuals with trauma exposure impacting cognitive functioning. Sleep challenges are associated with increased cognitive challenges, increasing impact of existing health conditions, and increasing psychological distress.

Psychological factors such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety disorders, and grief are common post-COVID. These mental health challenges increase the risk and impact of 'brain fog' symptoms with “pooled prevalence of 45% for depression and 47% for anxiety in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.” Depression, trauma, and anxiety can increase and exacerbate cognitive challenges and are well documented as an important area of assessment when individuals are experiencing challenges with cognitive functioning. Developing tools, skills, and processes to support individuals from a somatic perspective could enhance recovery from this globally important health crisis.

Neuroinflammation is associated with wide-ranging mental health and health conditions. Cognitive functioning has been noted to be related to levels of neural inflammation. Improved diet and nutrients that reduce inflammation could be an impactful solution.

Developing a multidisciplinary approach that includes stress management, sleep quality, nutrition, exercise, mental health treatment, cognitive rehabilitation, and somatic processes that support autonomic and inflammatory regulation could be an important way to address the long-term cognitive impacts of COVID-19.

Read More: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42843-022-00056-7
Krishnan, K., Lin, Y., Prewitt, K. R. M., & Potter, D. A. (2022). Multidisciplinary Approach to Brain Fog and Related Persisting Symptoms Post COVID-19. Journal of health service psychology, 48(1), 31-38.