Between Body and Word – Body-Centered Play Therapy for Children and Adolescents
by Sydney on November 20, 2010
IX Congreso Internacional de Salud Mental y Derechos Humanos, Buenos Aires, Argentina 18-21 de Noviembre, 2010
Connecting the word with the body can create powerful connections of body and mind, as I experienced in the workshop “Entre Cuerpo y Palabra,” or “Between Body and Word,” presented by Psychotherapist Silvia Weitzman, Director of the Asociación de Psicoanálisis e Infancias (Association of Childhood Psychoanalysis) at the 9th International Congress on Mental Health and Human Rights in Buenos Aires November 19, 2010.
Sponsored by the Foundation of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, the Mothers of the Disappeared, this four-day event, held just across the street from Argentina’s National Congress, was thronged with psychologists, social and human rights activists, artists and more from all over Latin America.
In Buenos Aires, psychotherapy is embraced, and has the largest number of psychotherapists per capita in the world. People actively seek psychotherapy here and don’t view it as something shameful, as Americans sadly do. At the conference, there were various subtracts to follow among the plethora of offerings. I opted for the track of children and adolescents because it aligned with my passion and ideas about Storytime Yoga’s yoga play therapy for children using story and the body.
Sydney Solis participates in the workshop "Entre Cuerpo y Palabra," "Between Body and Word."
Weitzman started participants out by moving their bodies around in different ways – down low on the ground, up high; in short staccato movements, in slow, long movements; in loose movements, in stiff movements. Next, she instructed us to walk, but change our direction as soon as we made eye contact with someone. Then, we we stood in a circle, and one person could make a sound and others could imitate the sound as long as they wished, by stepping into the circle. It took a lot of breath work, something yogis are good at! Later, she instructed us to listen to a series of sentences, and when we heard a word that resonated with our body, we were to move and change our position, such as get off the chair and lie on the floor. She read the sentences three times each, of which had a variety of emotional content.
Then we paired up and spoke a chosen word to our partner and moved our body. The word, such as moon, or dove, was spoken by intentionally elongating the word’s vowels or consonants and using various pitches and tones in concert with body’s movement. The listener then was to imitate the word and movement. Then, to our partner, we used the word that resonated with us during the reading and found a body movement and tonal expression for it. Finally, groups of four got up in front of the audience, spoke their words and performed body expressions, resulting in an interesting melody of words and movements imbued with individual expression and emotion that created a whole.
Psychotherapist Silvia Weitzman, Director of the Asociación de Psicoanálisis e Infancias (Association of Childhood Psychoanalysis) at the 9th International Congress on Mental Health and Human Rights in Buenos Aires November 19, 2010
These sounds and the resonance with my body and the movements evoked a strong primordial reaction and connection within me, and this connected me with my body and the others around me more. I remember someone told me that the Chinese word for fire has the sound and expression of “Wow!” that original physical and primordial reaction to the mythical response of seeing fire for the first time. This was how the sounds and words came about, as responses from feelings originating in the body. The whole process made me much more body aware, just by listening to the sounds that one’s voice makes! And the voice is an original and unique creation of one’s own body, an expression of the fifth chakra, located in the throat.
I was drawn to the word, “juventud,” youth, and the movement for me was a strong propelling motion from my womb area. In body-centered psychotherapy, therapists have clients pay attention to what their body is doing while they speak. What is this action done while speaking? From where does the action originate? Why? Then the client focuses on this body part, listens to it and works with any emotional issues it brings up. This practice gives a deeper connection to the body and greater awareness of one’s self, and in my opinion and experience, also gives a greater sense of calm. It calms anxiety because one is grounded in the body and protected in the container that is the body, in the depths that is the body and the Earth itself, which is closer to the unconscious mind. Carl Jung always spoke about how one-sided Westerners are because they were too much in their heads and not in their bodies, and that they shouldn’t even try yoga because of this fact of not being grounded or balanced in the unconscious and conscious dimensions of their beings.
Participants express words in their bodies.
Symbolic images and sounds of words anchor the mind in the body and the body in the environment, creating awareness of the eternal in the present moment. This offers through the body access to feelings, instincts and intuition embedded in cellular memory and body imagery that were not previously available to them, which results in greater self awareness. I have noticed this in children who practice Storytime Yoga, especially those with ADD and ADHD. They become present, powerfully present and aware, because they are embodied, their minds are present in the container of their body, fully awake, and they are able to connect to the mythic dimension of symbol and image within themselves, which in turn points them to the transcendent.
Afterward, there was a comment about working with youth in this method as art therapy and the role this plays in conventional therapy, and how psychotherapy and the arts are complementary. Art and movement definitely provide our one-sided culture of the West access to the depth of the unconscious realms, making us more whole and balanced. I think this kind of creative play can give children and adolescents a new way to access feelings and become aware of hidden issues in a safe manner. For I have noticed that when the body is involved with story, sound and image, as my work with children Storytime Yoga and adults in Mythic Yoga has revealed, powerful connections arise that were previously unknown before the body was introduced in the process.
Las Madres del Plaza de Mayo, are the mothers of children who disappeared during Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. Their political action has become a powerful force for justice and human rights.
So, Let’s get Physical! Get that body into education, therapy, art, life! For adults and children!
For more information about Silvia Weitzman’s work and the Asociación de Psicoanálisis e Infancias, visit http://aianainfancias.blogspot.com/
National Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina. An exciting place for political and social action!
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Tagged as: add, adhd, art therapy, body and
