Alternative Therapists Compliment and Enhance Therapy
In addition to conventional individual, family and group therapy, the Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma has been also been using complementary therapies, provided by pro bono therapists Joanie French and Chris Angeli.
French has been studying Feldenkrais — a form of movement reeducation integrating physiology, anatomy, martial arts, psychology and neurology that was developed by nuclear physicist and engineer Moshe Feldenkrais — since 1994. Feldenkrais therapists believe that posture and movement reflect the state of the mind and body; for example, a depressed person might have hunched shoulders. Asked how to describe the therapy, French responds with a famous Feldenkrais quote: “What I am after is not flexible bodies but flexible brains. What I am after is to restore each person to their human dignity.” She works with clients here at CSTWT to treat such conditions as muscle and back pain, neuromuscular conditions and various types of injuries.
Chris Angeli has been practicing energy healing therapy for more than 20 years. For the last couple of years she has been working with torture survivors at CSTWT, using Emotional Freedom Techniques therapy, an alternative healing technique in which special points along the body’s energy meridians are used to process and release past emotional trauma. High success rates have been shown in the use of EFT to treat phobias and anxiety.
Most CSTWT clients report noticeable results and improvement after undergoing Feldenkrais and EFT therapies. All clients who participate in these therapies also undergo individual therapy for mental health issues at CSTWT. Clients report diminished anxiety, better coping skills, reduced intensity of their reactions to trauma triggers and a major reduction in somatic complaints such as headaches and muscle aches.
