ABSTRACT
An interest in body focused psychotherapeutic approaches has been growing in the past two decades from both clinicians and researchers and there has been increasing acknowledgement of the role of the body in the process of recovering, particularly from traumatic childhood experiences. While research is still in its early stages, approaches such as sensorimotor psychotherapy and somatic experiencing have cast light on the enormous potential there is working with patients using a somatic focus. Patients with early, particularly preverbal, trauma and disrupted attachment histories can present with somatic symptoms, among many other complexities (Young et al., 2003). These are difficult to access or treat with standard imagery or chair work used in schema therapy. This chapter explores ways in which somatic focus and specific interventions can assist in the process of the assessment, exploration as well as transformation of schema modes, thus complementing and enriching therapist’s existing toolbox. Short case vignettes will provide examples of somatic techniques used to decrease dissociation of child and parental modes and to facilitate the development of healthy adult mode.
