Whiplash and ideomotion

[christophb]

A patient brought a book in to the clinic to day titled "Crash Course - A self-Healing Guide to Auto Accident Trauma and Recovery" The book is by Diane Poole Heller Ph.D with the forward by Peter Levine. I only skimmed through it but there is a section in it called "Whiplash and Compression" where I came across this exercise...

Have your partner gently support your head in her hands. She should not attempt to move your head – your body will do this on its own during the exercise. She should, however, prevent you from moving too quickly or too far. Your neck has been hyperextended and you do not want it to repeat the experience.
Remember the moment of impact. Where is your head? What is it doing? As your body remembers the accident, you will feel your head begin to move. You may feel as if your head and neck are moving your body. Find your most comfortable position, and then gradually expand your range of movement, as your body is ready. Re-enact the accident in slow motion. As you tap into the accident, you will feel your head want to move in an unwinding motion. Allow it to move only a little, then back out and tap into a resource until you feel a relaxation response…

It seems to have the flavor of ideomotion eh? (not necessarily the flavor of SC though).

I just finished Levine's book and I can see the influence in the exercise. I am wondering if the "remembering" is an important aspect for the resolution of trauma if using ideomotion. I am not referring to tissue memory or even the accuracy of the memory.


Chris

[Barrett Dorko]

Chris,

Obviously this author has no clear idea what she's doing, what's wrong, what's right, why people hurt or how the body functions in response to brain activity. Otherwise this isn't too bad.

Very soon in the description of handling choreography it suggested, as if the therapist knew what "too far" meant or would look like. At that moment ideomotion recedes to almost nothing other than a palpable isometric state within the muscle. No attention to the patient's autonomic state is mentioned here either. All these directions, including the accessing of memory, would lead to confusion and little more than a performance by the patient. By pure luck it might help, but there is no real understanding on the part of the therapist here.

[Diane]

She (Diane Poole Heller PhD) sounds like she's been to a few Barnes workshops, language like the body "remembers" and "unwinds"... she is also weaving in Levine's "titration" model of, remember a little bit, let the whole system relax around that bit, then remember a little more and repeat..

[christophb]

Diane, Barrett... Agreed

There is no mention of ideomotion that I can see in the writing so I doubt that ideas of letting the body find its own path without an outside moderator would be promoted. This is probably a good example of accidentally finding ideomotion and then adding things/descriptions/meanings to it that don't really exist. Perhaps someone would like to e-mail her and let her know ;). I really don't know what the rest of the book is like... this is a very small part that I stumbled upon in my skimming.

I believe she is trained by Levine.

Chris

Barrett... I thought you would like the part about unwinding:D