Bo - I wanted to follow up on the topic below and the associated quote from Ginnie,
…the thought of mindful awareness of the body (think interoception) or other contemplative body-based practices would frighten most people with depersonalization. "Why would we want to go inward,” she asked, “when what’s happening inside is so frightening?”
When working with my yoga therapy clients, I find that some clients have difficulty knowing where or how a part of their body is positioned. And I work to help them “reconnect” with their body and build bodily awareness in the areas of both interoception and proprioception through our work together.
Should I take the information above to mean that with clients experiencing depersonalization and/or derealization using practices that incorporate physical bodily awareness of internal sensations (e.g. muscle engagement or how the body naturals moves while breathing) may be problematic along with any time of contemplative body awareness activity like a body scan meditation?
And that focusing on outer stimuli, and external sensations might be more helpful?
Of course each individual is unique in their needs, but I want to understand what will most likely best serve clients experiencing these symptoms.
Hi Cathy, that's a thoughtful question. As you point out, for many clients interoception and proprioception would be beneficial and enjoyable. But it's not so in depersonalization. Focusing on strong sensations (not so much external, e.g. vision, which can also be disturned), but sensations that bring people into their bodies in a survival-state kind of way, and that are intense and use resistance (bikes, etc.) and involve others are likely best when someone is in an episode of DDD- which can last many years. To make this more clear, I've amended the "recovering your body" section above to state this. And as you point out, tailoring interventions to the individual. But in active periods of DDD, think about strong, physically energetic sensations, e.g. spinning, fitness classes, sometimes dance and movement therapies but with less mindfulness.
Bo - I wanted to follow up on the topic below and the associated quote from Ginnie,
…the thought of mindful awareness of the body (think interoception) or other contemplative body-based practices would frighten most people with depersonalization. "Why would we want to go inward,” she asked, “when what’s happening inside is so frightening?”
When working with my yoga therapy clients, I find that some clients have difficulty knowing where or how a part of their body is positioned. And I work to help them “reconnect” with their body and build bodily awareness in the areas of both interoception and proprioception through our work together.
Should I take the information above to mean that with clients experiencing depersonalization and/or derealization using practices that incorporate physical bodily awareness of internal sensations (e.g. muscle engagement or how the body naturals moves while breathing) may be problematic along with any time of contemplative body awareness activity like a body scan meditation?
And that focusing on outer stimuli, and external sensations might be more helpful?
Of course each individual is unique in their needs, but I want to understand what will most likely best serve clients experiencing these symptoms.
Hi Cathy, that's a thoughtful question. As you point out, for many clients interoception and proprioception would be beneficial and enjoyable. But it's not so in depersonalization. Focusing on strong sensations (not so much external, e.g. vision, which can also be disturned), but sensations that bring people into their bodies in a survival-state kind of way, and that are intense and use resistance (bikes, etc.) and involve others are likely best when someone is in an episode of DDD- which can last many years. To make this more clear, I've amended the "recovering your body" section above to state this. And as you point out, tailoring interventions to the individual. But in active periods of DDD, think about strong, physically energetic sensations, e.g. spinning, fitness classes, sometimes dance and movement therapies but with less mindfulness.
Bo, thanks for clarifying. This certainly makes sense and helps me know how to better plan for the needs of my clients.