[Adta] Movement Profile of Eating Disorder

[nava lotan]

Thank you Susan
What a wonderful response.  You know, I wonder if we
can speak about Somatic Transference, counter
transference and projective identification
(kinesthetic empathy, attunement etc..) by using
mirror neurons language- 
 
  Watching the body of ED women lately, it is very
clear to me that it is a syndrome which is built on
many different manifestations.  The ED symptoms may be
similar but each body "tell" a different story-
require a different intervening strategy.  Some are
more into Verticality, exploring boundaries and others
are more horizontal.  Did you or anyone else looked
and published about movement profiles of ED?  ..and
again I really appreciate relating so quickly to my
inquiries.
best
Nava Lotan
Israel 
--- skdmt2 <skdmt2 at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Hi Nava!
> You said: " Hi Susan
> 
> I watched the movie THIN, which I believe was filmed
> 
> in your center (yes?) last year.  After the film, my
> 
> students and I felt an urge to eat and we
> experienced
> 
> a feeling of starvation.  As if we have/must eat
> 
> immediately and eat a lot!  It was very strange. 
> The
> 
> movie is difficult to watch and I wonder if this is
> 
> something you experience and what you are making of
> 
> it?  somatic transference?
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you don't mind the question and will appreciate
> 
> your comments
> 
> feel free to respond through the list,
> 
>  
> 
> thanks
> 
> Nava Lotan "
> 
>
................................................................
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, I think you are probably experiencing somatic
> transference & I am not
> immune however, I believe it can be transformed into
> a very useful
> therapeutic tool, if we are able to understand what
> is we are dealing with-
> what is getting triggered for us.
> 
> I am including a section of a Working Paper on group
> therapy- see
> below-unfortunately it is no longer available- that
> explores this issue.
> 
>  
> 
>  Interesting isn't it!  let me explain a bit I think
> is relevant.  People w/
> ED tend to make everything about food, physical
> weight, size, body parts
> instead of the issues that underlie ED. I compare
> living w/ ED to living in
> a very restricted space in one's house & trying to
> keep everything under
> control in that space. Over the weekend in Central
> Florida, there were some
> terrible tornados & one woman was shown on TV who
> sought refuge in her
> bathroom. When she emerged after the tornado, she
> found everything intact in
> her bedroom but when she opened the door to the rest
> of her house, it was a
> shambles- That's kind if what happens w/ an ED- The
> ED person, in an attempt
> to deal w/ life, tries to use only ED behaviors as
> coping mechanisms because
> they are so scared or overwhelmed re their life. 
> 
> In their development & history there may be lots of
> control, trauma, perhaps
> some genetic factors also- a predisposition to an
> ED, they feel so
> overwhelmed & often frightened dealing w/ life
> through a more "normal"
> route, that they detour & try to restrict their
> feelings & thoughts, pick on
> themselves, put themselves down, run from themselves
> to try to find relief,
> to find ways to purge their feelings, stuff them
> inside & try to protect
> them, etc. Eventually, this turns into what is
> called an eating disorder.
> 
>  
> 
>  I try to refocus the women I see on the underlying
> issues & also to
> separate food from feelings, physical weight &
> hunger from emotional weight
> & hunger, etc. I let the nutritionists & medical
> staff deal with those
> issues &   try  to understand & help them understand
> what they are
> experiencing, express it, & connect the meaning of
> these feelings, patterns,
> events, etc, in their lives, as well as to challenge
> them to take risks to
> live more expansively.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, may people w/ ED have OCD or very ritualistic
> behaviors & that is seen
> of course in their whole movement repertoire, as
> well as in the dining room,
> where food rituals are not allowed. Cognitive
> thinking is often so black &
> white- so linear- it's like swimming in a pool- up
> one lane & back, rather
> then including abstract thinking- being in the gray
> areas- of course, d/mt
> is grey.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Also, FYI As you noticed, I'm sure, barely any
> therapy was shown in THIN,
> although it was filmed. It just wasn't what the
> director chose to show. 
> 
>  
> 
> I see that I've gotten somewhat off track from your
> specific question but
> realize that what was triggered for me was one of
> the most impt issues I
> believe in treating ED & that is understanding & as
> d/mts, that means
> getting involved & working to understand & balance 
> our own personal
> responses- physical, emotional-cognitive, often as
> cues.
> 
>  
> 
> Perhaps others who work w/ ED will also respond to
> these issues raised by
> Nava & her students. Patrizia, you also may have
> some things to add ( see
> below) 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for writing.
> 
>  
> 
> Susan
> 
>  
> 
> Susan kleinman, MA ADTR, NCC 
> 
>
................................................................
> 
> Reference info: Kleinman, S., Gerstein, F., Botwin,
> S.,   Developing
> Connections in Group Therapy. The Renfrew Center
> Working Papers, Volume 2,
> Fall., 2004
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> From Developing Connections in Group Therapy
> 
> Fran Gerstein, PhD, Shari Botwin, LCSW, Susan
> Kleinman, MA, ADTR, NCC
> 
>  
> 
>  "... Managing Countertransference 
> 
>   Eating disorder therapists are prone to certain
> types of
> countertransferential, often visceral in nature. 
> One notable somatic
> reaction to dealing with anorexic patients is that
> therapists can find
> themselves hungry and fantasizing about food during
> a group session.  It is
> as if the therapist picks up the sense of "hunger"
> and deprivation the
> patient is attempting to ward off. Because Renfrew
> therapists deal with so
> many patients with eating disorders, they are prone
> to very specific types
> of somatic countertransferential feelings.  Pallaro,
> in 
=== message truncated ===



 
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