ABSTRACT
Life leaves marks on the body as well as in the psyche. Treating the mind often requires acting on a somatic level. Sequences of adverse events are engraved in the brain, stomach, skin and muscles, digging deep furrows, leaving memorised imprints resurfacing in adulthood as testimony of past suffering. Patients with personality, anxiety, post-traumatic, dissociative and eating disorders sometimes clearly recall scenes triggering the distress for which they seek therapy. At other times, however, memory recall is not possible. It is then that the body recounts distressing events, in the same language in which these events were coded. A patient in his forties with narcissism has a racing heartbeat. He fears he is at risk of a heart attack, gets into a panic, but does not say out loud: “I’m afraid. I feel sad. And naturally, someone suffering from the aftermath of a trauma demonstrates incessant hyperarousal through trembling, stress, being on edge, and the primeval fight-or-flight response is triggered.
