Attunement Therapy
What is Attunement Therapy?
Attunement Therapy is a modern healing modality founded on some of the most ancient biological principles relevant to human physical and emotional health. Evolution has wired us to be physically connected with other people on a regular basis to maintain a healthy body, to destress and to heal. Attunement Therapy not only provides the opportunity for safe, neutral, non-sexual touch; it can deeply reorganise the nervous system so that the client walks away with a heightened sense of self and stronger drive to seek more healthy physical connection with other people.
The value of Attunement Therapy is that most people need another person to assist them to regulate, process and manage their most difficult emotions. This is called external regulation and a simple way to achieve external regulation is through touch. Attunement Therapy works directly on the autonomic nervous system and the parts of our mind we call the "unconscious". The unconscious mind is 95% of how we think and feel, so this modality helps reduce fear, trauma, stress and anxiety in our life. Its influence on the nervous system has a hormonal effect which leads to enhanced digestion, immunity, sexual function, longevity and over all physical wellness.
Learn more about the origins of Attunement Therapy here.
Who is this for?
Attunement Therapy can support those who:
Experience chronic stress or a difficulty relaxing
Feel separate from others or lack a sense of belonging
Are disconnected from their body and emotions
Experience difficulties with connection and/or intimacy in work, family, friendship or romantic relationships
Feel empty, not good enough, abandoned or rejected
Experience emotional imbalances such as depression, social anxiety or rage
Feel unsafe in their body or in the world
Hold fear and/or shame around receiving and being seen and supported
Feel stuck in their healing journey
What is involved?
Each session is tailored to the individual needs of the client and is always responsive to what is organically arising in the body from moment to moment. Sessions open with evidence-based grounding techniques and body awareness practices, such as orientation exercises, guided meditations and body scans. These are designed to calm the nervous system, become more present with the body and settle into the space. The client is given the opportunity to share background information and intentions for what they seek to gain from the session.
Commonly, a brief eye gazing experience follows as an opportunity for increasing rapport between the practitioner and client and allowing the client an experience of being seen. For the holding portion of the session, the client is invited to recline beside the body of the practitioner with their head rested on the chest so they can hear the practitioner’s heartbeat. Our brain and body are in a constant feedback loop and the physiological state of the body influences how we feel. Different heartbeat rhythms are understood by the brain, and combined with touch, offers the conditions for the client’s nervous system to access deep states of relaxation where their body can enter into a natural and automatic "reset" function.
The client is encouraged to go inwards during the holding, as this offers the stillness and spaciousness to let go of the outside world and come back into deeper connection with unmetabolised feelings and disconnected aspects of themselves, while being gently held, supported and witnessed. All emotion, aspects of self and body movements (e.g., neurogenic tremoring/shaking) are welcome and supported to pass through.
Other gentle processes may be offered such as affirmation, journal prompts and sound healing. Sessions can also involve inner child integration processes, body/sensation tracking or exercises that increase the connection with one's own feelings, boundaries and needs. These exercises strengthen the relationship to one's inner core, and, in turn, establish greater self trust and comfortability with the practitioner and humans more broadly. For those experiencing significant touch and relational trauma, sessions can be adapted to the individual and built upon multiple sessions, such as no touch or graduated touch.
The session closes with integrating any reflections the client wishes to share and application of insights to create more connection in their day-to-day lives. Clients are guided through re-grounding exercises and aftercare information.
What are the benefits?
Attunement Therapy can offer an experience of a non-invasive, gentle and body-centred approach to healing and wellness. Through healthy human connection and safe, neutral touch, an individual can begin to reconnect with their own body, emotions and inner voice. Being supported and witnessed in emotional vulnerability can allow for the processing of old wounds, insights to create positive change in your life and access to the flow of aliveness, creativity and peace innate in every being.
Improvements may be seen in:
Immunity
Physical illness
Trauma recovery
Digestion
Memory and focus
Self worth and confidence
Sense of safety being in the body
Deeper connection with self
Motivation and creativity
Healthy sexual function
Healthy relational intimacy
“Safety is not the absence of threat... it is the presence of connection”