Chris Wise

 

SOMA STORIES- AN OVERVIEW OF THE STORY

Soma Stories is an integrative approach to therapeutic practice and an inquiry into our personal lives explored in workshops with the intention of gaining insight and the possibility of making changes if that seems desirable. It is being developed by Chris Wise and Yasemin Balci.

Soma Stories has its roots in two movement practices, in the importance and value of creative expression, in reflective practice, in a theory of body and mind derived from philosophy, the teaching practices of the actor and director, Michael Chekhov, in psychoanalytic explanations of the human experience and what makes a good relationship between a mother and her infant and by extension between a therapist and client or patient and by further extension between any two people and people in groups. The theorists we look to here are found mostly in what is referred to as the object relations school. Winnicott leads here but others are important, Milner for one. Everyone rests on Freud.

There is a belief in the importance of the body, ignored by many approaches to psychotherapy, even though it was insisted upon by Freud. Our starting focus is on the body in movement and what happens to our thoughts and feelings when we move. We use this as the basis for what we call acts of translation; taking the thoughts and feelings evoked by moving and creating something using various materials available- we start with clay. We then engage in reflective practice to see what meaning we may find.

The way we work allows a shifting focus on the three aspects of our experience: the physical; the mental; and the spiritual, which we interpret as our capacity for creative living. This is our soma and encoded there, mostly unconsciously, are our stories.

This is how we combine these elements:

We start with movement (with eyes closed)

We create something from a piece of clay or other creative expression

We reflect on (think about) what we have done

What we do is done in partnership with a witness who helps us with our emerging story.

The work we do in the workshops takes place in a group and the group is given a structure to work within. Keeping to the structure, which is continually emphasised throughout the day, is important. Why this is so and how we do it is explained in detail at the start but basically it is about creating a witness circle that is responsible for holding and containing individual and group projections and anxieties.

After two or three cycles, which are lengthened as we go on, a performance element is introduced. This is about adding depth and meaning to our stories and draws on the ideas of Michael Chekhov about the mind and the body, the importance of the imagination and what he called the psychological gesture. This is also supported by some recently expressed philosophical ideas on how the mind arises. The mind is not just the brain.

The workshop is well supported by brief tutorials and handouts that cover the distinctive features mentioned briefly here. We shall also point a way ahead for your personal development or how this could be used with clients.