Touch is one of the most understudied senses but it plays a vital role in communication and brain development. The first form of interactions are touch based interactions. These slides explore how touch as a healing mechanism and how it haw been ignored by mainstream psychotherapy.

2. Mindful Arrival
 Invitation to notice where you are.
 Remember this exercise we will tell
you why it matters later!
 Orient to the room, to the chair, to
breath, to safety.

3. Why won’t my therapist give me a hug ?
 All people need touch.
 It is as important as food for our health.
 Then why is it so common that a therapist will refuse
to give a hug?
 Touch is a vital to human development.
 Why don’t therapists include touch in therapy?

4. The Fear of Touch
 Psychotherapy was founded by Freud in the
Victorian era.
 Freud incorporated the beliefs of the times about
touch into his treatment.
 People at the time believed that touch was not
healthy for children and often sinful for adults.

5. Touch Saves Babies?
 In the 1920’s people noticed that in the
orphanages many babies were dying.
 Researchers set out to find out why.
 They assumed it would be lack of food and
water that caused the infants to die.

6. Touch Saves Babies?
 They were shocked to find that infants who
received plenty of food and water were dying.
 They were starved. But they were not starved
for food.
 They were starved for touch!

7. Touch Saves Hearts
 Some gorrillas after a long day in the jungle have a
loved one who grooms them and picks the bugs from
their fir.
 Some gorillias are not supported by a loved one
through touch.
 The gorilias who are groomed each day have healthy
hearts.
 The gorilas that are not have: harden arteries, look
like they have high colesteral and are at risk of heart
attacks!

8. Be Part of the Revolution
 For years science ignored touch all together!
 But currently research has provided ample data that
touch is healing both psychologically and
physiologically.
 Yet there are those who choose to ignore the reality.
 Be a part of the revolution. Be a part of the paradigm
shift!

9. Who we are
is created
through
touch…

10. You can tell a lot from a hand shake!
 Touch is profound communicator of emotion.
 Recent studies have found that people can identify
multiple emotions through physical touch such as…
 Anger, Fear, Disgust, Love, Gratitude, and Sympathy.
 People can decode emotional information
communicated by touch by simply watching touch on
a film.

11. Let’s Give It a Try?
In the next few images see if you can figure out what emotion is
communicated through touch in the image.

12. WHAT EMOTIONS DO
YOU SEE IN THIS
IMAGE

13. How Touch Can Help Us Feel
Better When We Feel Bad…
 Touch can be used in several ways to help
us feel better…
 It can help us reduce anxiety, stress and
even anger!
 It can help us learn to make friends with
difficult emotions.

14. How Touch Can Help Us Feel
Better When We Feel Bad…
 Touch can help us learn to notice how we feel
our emotions in our body.
 Touch can help us get out of fight or flight and
back into a feeling of safety.
 Over time safe touch can support the growth of
brain areas that help us manage difficult
emotions!

15. Waking Up the Body: SKILL #2
 It is best to use this in the morning or
when tiered!
 Stand with your feet shoulder width
apart.
 Starting with your feet lightly slap or tap
each body part up to your head. Being
gentle with your neck, head and face.

16. Waking Up the Body: SKILL #2
 Now massage your scalp, and rub
your ears between your two fingers.
 To finish brush lightly down your body
from your head to your toes with your
palms.

17. Safe Touch
The ZONE. Feeling
Helps You Move
Why touch works a map! good capable and
From
strong.
Overwhelm
Back to The
Zone
Not enough energy
and boredom.
Overwhelm
Panic or anger.
Sadness and
Disconnection

18. The Map: From stress to rest.
 Overview: Any type of touch that you find soothing,
relaxing and supportive helps you move from stress to
rest.
 One positive emotion helps a person move from
stress to rest quicker!
 Human touch sooths the stress response! Studies of
massage show that touch reduces stress.

19. Touch That Can Sooth
 Placing one’s hand on one’s heart
 Tapping on one’s collar bone or shoulders.
 Standing in a warm shower or taking a bath.
 Massaging one’s feet, self massage, or get a massage!
 Progressive muscle relaxation.
FOR MORE IDEAS TRY: dbtselfhelp.com “Soothing in the 5
senses.”

20. Getting the most from a hug
SKILL #3
 Hugs can be great ways to sooth
emotions. However, you can make
them even better!
 When you hug the person hug left
side to left side. This will help you
connect the hug more directly to the
emotional centers in the brain.

21. Getting the most from a hug
SKILL #3
 When you hug the person notice your own body and
the sensations inside.
 Bring your attention to the positive sensations of the
contact with the other person. Notice that they do care
for you. Notice the sensations that happen when you
feel cared for.
 Let the feeling of being cared for spread through out
your whole body as far as it can go!

22. How Touch Changes
The Brain…
 Orbital Frontal Cortex – The CEO of
Emotions in the brain. Safe touch calls this
area online and supports this area to
effectively sooth difficult emotions.
 Amygdala – The fight flight center of the
brain. Touch supports the Amygdala to sooth
and calm down after a stressful event.

23. How Touch Changes
The Brain…
 AntiriorCyngulet Cortex – Is the brains of our
emotions. This area helps us understand the emotions
of others and to reduce or sooth our emotional
reactions to events. Touch increases the functioning of
this area.
 The Insular Cortex – Brings up the information about
our emotions from our body to our mind. It also plays
a role in feelings of craving for food or drugs. Both
positive and negative touch increases the functioning
of this brain region.

24. Behind the Scenes
The Brain Story
 In the first exercise we asked you to
remember it and we would explain why it
was important!
 Well here is why.
 This is the story of the brains behind the
exercise!

25. Behind the Scenes
The Brain Story
 When we asked you to look around the
room we were letting your Amygdala
know that it was safe and could rest.
 We did this by asking your Orbital
Frontal Cortex to notice. This help that
part of your brain tell the Amygdala it is
time to relax.

26. Behind the Scenes
The Brain Story
 When we asked you to notice the way your
body contacted the ground or chair we
were asking you to call up information from
the body into the Insula.
 Because we were looking for calming
signals from the body your Anterior
Cyngulate Cortex could join force with
Orbital Frontal Cortex to tell your Amygdala
it is time to rest!

27. Power of Touch to Heal
 Just as touch plays a profound role in the
development
of the child it can be healing.
 Touch can play a profound in helping us make friends
with difficult emotions and move from stress to rest.
 Touch for babies:
 Leads to increased weight.
 Leads to increased brain development
 Leads to increased length of the infant
 Leads to increased ability to calm down when upset!

28. Power of Touch to Heal
 In parents and adults touch has be found to:
 Increase the quality of a marriage.
 Increase perception of that a marriage partner supports
you.
 Reduce the effects of post-partum depression.
 Massage has been shown to reduce symptoms of
depression, anxiety, and PTSD (a.k.a. Trauma).

29. Touch Changes the
Brain and the Self
 Touch has been found to reduce the production of the
stress hormone “CORTISOL.”
 Touch has been found to increase the pleasure
neurotransmitter, “Dopamine.”
 Touch has been found to increase Oxitocyn a
chemical responsible for love, emotional bonding and
stress reduction.

30. Touch Changes the
Brain and the Self
 Healing touch has been found to
increase the sleep for those who have
difficulties with sleep.
 Touch has been found to reduce
aggression and anger.
 Touch has been found to reduce anxiety.

31. Talking to Your Therapist
About Touch
 Not all therapists have been trained in how to use
touch.
 You can ask your therapist when you interview them if
they have training on touch treatment and their
thoughts about touch in therapy.
 Some therapists will not know the power of touch and
tell you that touch is not something they do.

32. Talking to Your Therapist
About Touch
 Talk to your therapist about what their beliefs are
about touch, how they use it in therapy and when they
feel it is not a good idea.
 Establish safety with your clinician: Be willing to say
no to an intervention therapist suggests, tell the
therapist that you have had enough, and ask them for
what you need.
 Always listen to your body signals.

33. Boundaries of Touch in
Therapy
 Boundaries are always changing.
 When we feel safe we let people close.
 When we do not we keep them further
away.
 Our feeling of when some one is safe
changes all the time.

34. Boundaries of Touch in
Therapy
 Learn to notice when your boundaries have changed.
Respect your boundaries even if they are different
from five minutes ago!
 Your clinician should support you to learn to evaluate
when contact feels supportive, safe and good as well
as when it does not.
 As always listen to how they talk because the
relationship is more important then any technique for
healing.

35. We Have Enjoyed
Sharing this with You
 Well, that about covers it for the MyShrink – I hope
you enjoyed it and found some relief and relaxation!
 We always love to hear people’s thoughts about how
this has helped you in your life.
 Please feel free to send us questions, feed back and
thoughts!
 GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JURNEY

36. QUESTIONS