The message of the body

“ What the body has to say ” presents a successful holistic treatment method for psychosomatic complaints

The special edition of Dr. Isa Grüber 's guide uses many practical examples to show how the body is included in psychotherapy. It is based on the "Somatic Experiencing"® model, in which the healing effect is achieved through targeted sensing.

When the body follows the soul
Physical complaints are referred to as "psychosomatic" if no specific organic cause can be found, but a psychological origin is suspected. In such cases, the psyche is examined in the hope of finding a solution.
According to the alternative practitioner Dr. phil. Isa Grüber, who lived in China for five years and learned about the holistic view of body, mind and soul there, psychosomatic complaints such as sleep disorders, migraines, hot flushes, dizziness or pain can be a call to pay attention to the body.
Her book is about "how we can connect with our bodies and perceive their messages. It describes a method for restoring this connection when it has been compromised by traumatic experiences. It shows a way of restoring the body the meaning it deserves in our more intellectual world."

Healing through holistic attention
It is easier or more difficult for each person to focus attention on their body sensations. But anyone who is willing to do it can learn. As a coach with her own practice in Bonn, Dr. Isa Grüber therefore takes a holistic approach: "If we want to become 'whole' again, we must not only focus on psychology but also on our biology. Many of our problems can be solved less with our minds than with attention to our bodies and their self-healing powers."
In her practice, she works with clients who are fully engaged in life, mastering their everyday lives, but still often carry a great deal of suffering with them. On closer inspection, there is a trauma history behind this in most cases. Whenever someone "overreacts", i.e. reacts to something with strong emotions that are not appropriate to the situation or with strong physical symptoms, this is an indication of unresolved traumatic experiences. A current situation activates an old issue, but the reaction is or was only appropriate for the danger at the time and has little to do with the present.

Somatic Experiencing® according to Dr. Peter Levine
The biophysicist and psychologist Dr. Peter Levine, who has specialized in stress and trauma research for many decades, developed the Somatic Experiencing model based on observation of nature. His groundbreaking discovery was that trauma primarily occurs in the body - and can therefore be healed with the help of the body. While conversation-oriented therapies operate on the intellectual and emotional level and address the cerebrum and the limbic system, "Somatic Experiencing"® includes the body - and thus the brain stem.
In this way, you can learn to deal with a high level of inner excitement without having to suppress it through activism or addictive substances, or acting it out uncontrollably, for example in outbursts of anger or high-risk driving. Instead, you try to release the inner tension in a controlled and measured way, change automatic reaction patterns that were previously due to stress and trauma, and thus create space for new behavior. The nervous system gradually recognizes that the danger is over and that it can switch back to normal operation. The better this natural physical mechanism of self-regulation works again, the more relaxed life becomes.

Book tip:
Dr. Isa Grüber: What the body has to say. Holistic health through mindful sensing. Coping with stress and trauma with Somatic Experiencing® (SE). Mankau Verlag, 1st edition May 2017 (original edition published in 2013 by Südwest), paperback, 12 x 19 cm, 272 pages, €9.95 (D) / €10.30 (A), ISBN 978-3-86374-392-5.

Link recommendations:
More information about the guide "What the body has to say"
To the reading sample in PDF format
More about Dr. phil. Isa Grüber