The
trip to get to Montreal this February, in the middle of a snow storm,
gave some participants the opportunity to try out our self-soothing
techniques and to draw on our inner resources to stay calm and grounded.
Most of the flights to Montreal were cancelled on the day
of our actual scheduled flights. The morning text on my phone read:” AC flight 1960CANCELLED. Reason: weather”. Nothing else!I
felt dumbfounded and isolated. After a few minutes, I called Ann and
Carol. What made it easier for me to cope with the sudden change was
The sense of CONNECTION.
Once I spoke to my
peers, my frontal cortex connected with my amygdala and I knew what to
do next. Amazing! That was the topic of our Trauma workshop with
certified Bioenergetic psychotherapist and trainer Violaine De Clerck.
The
group of 12 participants was led into a grounding dance every morning.
Boy oh boy, if we were not feeling our legs before that dance, we
surely felt them after it!
In her warm way and
with a delightful French accent, Violaine described the polyvagal theory
and taught us a few techniques that proved to be very effective.
“Surrender to the Mother” was very moving and a new version of
“Falling” turned out to be super informative.
Great
discussions were also held on how the borderline personality disorder
comes to be. According to Violaine it may originate in the
triangulating of The child amongst the parents amidst an insecure
attachment.
The biggest take away taught by Violaine Was:
“Without safety, there can be no healing, and when there is safety, the healing cannot be stopped.”
To end this blog, I suggest that you ponder on the following question:
As my colleague Ann asked: “What does safety mean to you?”
Keep growing,Adela Gorodzinsky, RP, M.Ed, CBT