JOANNA SZTULMAN

Relational Bodywork

- trauma-informed -

Who can benefit from Relational Bodywork?

My trauma-informed relational bodywork can support you in a variety of concerns: Perhaps at times, you wonder who you want to be, how you want to live, what you want to do, or how you can stand more fully in your own truth. Maybe you are seeking a path (back) to calmness, strength, or liveliness. You might be experiencing challenging emotions, chronic pain, or illness; or you might have a personal history of (complex) trauma. You might have spent many years in traditional talk therapy without experiencing much relief.

I assist individuals in finding relief and their unique path forward through their somatically sensed experience, using a combination of conversation and, if appropriate, touch.

Two relational dimensions are central in my body-oriented approach: it is through our relationship, through the quality and nature of our encounter, that I wish to enable you to encounter yourself, and to enter into a relationship with all places and parts within you. Through a specific kind of conscious experience, the possibility of change and further personal growth opens up, also for those who still suffer from a history of (complex) trauma. If you are still affected by past trauma, we gently explore your experience of the present moment without any need to recount or relive the traumatic experiences themselves.

In my work, I use a combination of conversation, touch, and non-verbal communication that follows the Pantarei Approach; I also employ, following the principles of Focusing, a more verbally-guided approach that connects you with your inner sensations and feelings with the purpose of symbolizing them in words, images, gestures and movements. Additionally, I include my knowledge of working with ‘parts of the self’ as taught by Janina Fisher and Richard Schwartz (Internal Family Systems). This approach has proven immensely beneficial, especially for those suffering from trauma. However, an equally important starting point and focus throughout our process will be connecting you with your resources, strengths, wishes and values on a deeply felt level, in order for you to find clarity, strength, peace of mind and creativity. I will accompany you in your exploration of bodily sensations and feelings, meeting them with curiosity, giving them enough space to express themselves, and following the effect of their expression anew in the world of your sensations and feelings. In Pantarei work, I will support you in this also using touch, following the communication of your body.

I hold the position that all the places and parts within you are there for a very good reason and ultimately seek to protect you from suffering. This is also true for those that currently cause you distress. Only through a truly curious and benevolent form of attention will these places and parts be able to develop new forward movements.

In our work together, I see myself as your companion and enabler for change - but I trust that you alone, in your singular experience, will find the right answers and life steps for you, just as I will let your singular experience guide my way of accompanying you. Creating a safe space and unconditionally respecting your boundaries will be of my top priority.

How I will accompany your process

The importance of the body

In Western culture, the body has been subject to a millennia-long devaluation. Today we almost exclusively perceive it as a ‘thing’ entirely separate from our mind, which is meant to be optimized, examined or medically treated. In truth, however, the body is the center of our particular existence and experience. It is the place and origin of all our thinking and meaning-making. And even before our minds are able to reduce it to a separate object it is always already inextricably interwoven with our environment. Hereby, the body carries a wisdom which we can approach in thinking only by attuning to our inner sensations and feelings.

All our formative experiences are stored not only in the brain but also in the tissue of our body. Our body remembers, even when we are unable to retrieve conscious memory, and it expresses things where words are lacking.

So when we try to find what or who we care about or when we try to find meaning – in words or even in life – we can only find the answers deep within our own bodies. The same holds true for when we are in search of our next life steps or a path of development out of difficult emotions and states. Only a particular kind of attunement to our sensations and feelings will be able to allow for the emergence of something new by engaging in an interplay with symbolizations in words, images, gestures or movements.