Getting Our Bodies Back: Recovery, Healing, and Transformation through Body-Centered Psychotherapy

by Christine Caldwell

A
habitual movement as common as nail-biting or toe-tapping can be the key to
pulling out addictive behavior by its roots. These unconscious movement
"tags" indicate the places where our bodies have become split off
from our psyches. When brought to consciousness and confronted they will often
tell us very plainly where our psychological suffering originated, showing us
where to begin reconnecting body and soul. Christine Caldwell, a pioneer in the
field of somatic psychology, has created an original model for working with
body wisdom called the Moving Cycle. She describes how this form of therapy has
worked effectively in her own practice, and she provides practical techniques
to show how we can learn to listen to what our bodies are telling us, confront
addictive habits, and learn to celebrate our inherent wisdom and elegance.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Bodies, Health, Mental Health

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most rich and useful books I've ever read.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rambling thoughts on finishing:
I think I will need to reread to actually implement some of the ideas in this book. This is much more helpful than The Body Keeps the Score because it has things you can actually do instead of just clinical research and examples. I was looking for something in somatic healing that was for people wanting to heal and not psychologists. This is that. There are a few oddities I think— it does pathologize, a little bit, things that don’t need to be pathologized. Movements as addictions may be an interesting insight and helpful tool for inner work but thinking of movements as bad could be a trigger for perfectionists.
I like the idea to consciously do the addictive movements and see what comes up. I think something is missing there though— if stimming is a way for the body to regulate, then thinking of stimming as bad is not very helpful. In TBKTS, Van der Kolk talks about how animals shake to relieve stress and let go of an intense experience so they don’t hold onto neuroses the same as people do. If strong physical reactions weren’t so taboo in social norms, maybe we wouldn’t have these small, neurotic movement addictions. I wish she had framed these movements more as instincts gone wrong— and then amplifying them to help let go — and less like “your movements annoy people so you should stop doing them and this is how you stop”. I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but there was a part where she talks about what an addictive movement is, and one of the qualifiers is that it bothers other people.
Anyway, overall, I think it’s super helpful in that she has a method and instructions to follow — you can think back on them and journal about them and check in with yourself to see where you are in the cycle—

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Ostensibly about how to work with the body around addiction but a great book about developing a felt sense of our bodies. Turns out I was mostly not in my body for 35 years. What a shame!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was not exactly what I was hoping for, but still got something out of it. To be fair, I read the first three quarters months ago and just finished the last quarter now, so the previous content is not fresh in my head. However, the fact that I can't remember the first part well leads me to think that the content wasn't particularly meaningful to me. There were some good nuggets in here, but I'm not so sure I would recommend it to other people unless they find the description particularly interesting. I also think this book is more useful for people who have endured significant trauma or are currently addicted, rather than the everyday person. I'll admit that we are all probably addicted to something, but this book is more useful if the addiction is quite debilitating. Still glad I read it, but was hoping for something more impactful for me personally.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lost interest when four or so chapters in. I needed more practical advice. I may not have made it far enough, but I wish it had started earlier.

[Herman Veitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional and beautiful. A practical guide to be in the moment through my body. One that I had all my life, but never really allowed to be. Thank you for guiding me back home, Christine.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT all round. useful! I know of what she speaks personally and professionally and it is a book that I would (and may) add to my students recommended reading. She articulates things in new and clear ways. It is in my stack of books that I must reexamine before I start teaching... as it is heavily underlined and starred... of the mind/body books out there, this one is terrific!!

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so thankful to my friend for loaning me her copy. Shambhala publications are sometimes hard to find in the library.

It has an expansive, appropriate, and due definition of addiction.

This fell in my zone of proximal development -- comfortable and challenging.

[Lee Zulman]

Opens you up to other ways to deal with addiction. Expands the definition of addiction, specifically to eating.