For those who know me well, this topic is not new to you.
You hear me talking about trauma (physical, emotional, psychological) during my workshops, Pilates classes and mainly during our one-to-one Physiotherapy sessions. But the truth is, I have never written about it.
The majority of people that attend my services are in pain (a lot of pain). Some cannot function properly because the pain is so intense, and the pain medication is heavy which can cause other problems.
As a Physiotherapist, my first Physiotherapy consultation is up to 75min. This gives me time to go through an in-depth Consultation, Assessment, and initial hands-on treatment. The consultation involves going through the current situation but also acknowledging any past traumas that could have led to the problem the client is presenting at the time of the consultation. For example, if a client suffers from chronic headache, migraines, neck, and shoulder pain, I always ask how she/he was born. Some will know, some will not. It is quite common to see adults who suffer from the conditions mentioned above and find out that they were born by forceps or ventouse. The same happens to patients with back pain and pelvic girdle pain where most of the times we can identify a biomechanical issue from a past physical trauma such as a car accident, a fall or even previous pregnancies that were not managed accordingly. A less known one yet very common in my practice, would be the pain caused by scar tissue, from c-sections, mastectomies or keyhole surgeries for example.
But one aspect that I find most of my clients are in shock with is the discovery of their emotional trauma and the impact that this causes in their own body.
I am blessed that during my Physiotherapy training, I had an amazing Psychology teacher and I learned how emotional and psychological trauma can affect our mental and physical body.
From infertility and miscarrying to complicated labour, from domestic violence to abuse, from going through multiple surgeries because of cancer and the list goes on, the stories my clients share with me are heavy duty and for some I am the only person that they have shared it with. They feel safe with me and trust is established or otherwise they would not confide in me. It can be years of silence and hidden memories until one day it all comes to surface because the body cannot take it anymore and it needs to be healed. As you know, I do not offer the quick fix approach to my patients and it can take some time to reach the core of the issue. But when we finally get that emotional release, the physical body starts to change as a result and the healing begins. It is amazing to watch people going from a pure state of pain to a pure state of joy, feeling mobile and functional again.
Please note that this type of work, involves the intervention of a multidisciplinary team. I cannot do it by myself, I am not a psychologist or counsellor or psychotherapist but I have enough training that allows me to identify when the cause of the physical pain is beyond a biomechanical issue. And sometimes, when the pain has an emotional root cause, this is the missing link that prevents you from achieving physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well-being.
Food for thought, I know, but if we do not talk about these issues how will we learn that the emotional self needs to be minded and taken in consideration when treating the physical body as well?
Deborah