“Anorexia is both the result of a protest against the cultural rule that your women must be beautiful.  In the beginning, a young woman strives to be thin and beautiful, but after a time, anorexia takes on a life of its own.  By her behavior, an anorexic girl tells the world, ‘Look, see how thin I am, even thinner than you wanted me to be.  You can’t make me eat more.  I am in control of my fate, even if my fate is starving.’” – Mary Pipher, “Reviving Ophelia”

Many people believe that the young woman who suffers anorexia epitomizes our culture’s definition of what it means to be feminine:  thin, passive, and eager to please. The metaphor is that she will become what our culture asks of its women:  to become non-threatening, taking up little space while being decorative and not intimidating and non threatening.

Beauty is a defining characteristic for women.  Girls worry about clothes, makeup, skin and hair – but mostly about weight. In our book, Healing Eating Disorders with Psychodrama and Other Action Methods: Beyond the Silence and the Fury with co-author Karen Carnabucci – we  talk about how this societal standard for beauty influences our image of ourselves and is one of the many contributors to the rise of eating disorders and chronic dieting struggles with girls and women.  Sadly enough this emphasis on appearance is quickly spreading to boys and men as well – and eating and body disorders are growing with them as well as we discuss in our book along with specific interventions for these populations.

Why is appearance so important?

We have moved from communities of primary relationships in which people know each other to communities of secondary relationships where appearance is the only dimension available for the rapid assessment of others.

Today’s media portrays desirable women as thin. In 1950, models averaged five feet, four inches in height and weighed 140 pounds.  Today, the standard is five feet, ten inches and 110 pounds!

A recent study found that 11 percent of people in the United States would abort a fetus if they were told it would grow into a child that would have a tendency toward obesity.  Elementary school children have more negative attitudes toward obese children than toward bullies. Obese students are less likely to be granted scholarships.  Being fat means being left out, scorned, vilified, and often bullied.

In order to help our young people value their true selves and grow into healthy adults, we recommend the need for love from family and friends, meaningful work, respect, challenges and physical and psychological safety.  They need identities based on character, talent, interests instead of appearance, popularity and sexuality.  Instead of scales and diets, we do better to promote healthful meals, family exercise, and a value system that de-emphasizes the importance of looks.

Psychodrama and related action methods, through role play and other explorative tools, provide an important route to discovering how to find and sustain these connections and identities in their lives.  These methods can be used in education and in community settings as well as in therapy.

As a psychodramatist and psychodrama trainer, I often ask my clients:

“If you were living on a magical island where weight, size, shape, appearance had no value and, instead were neutral, what would you find yourself focusing on?”

This question is a perfect question to think about – and, better yet, to act out in the psychodrama room. With these actions, we can experientially discover another reality, one that is healthy – and through the power of action methods old roles based upon body obsession can be transformed into new roles based upon character.

Claire Schrader speaking about ritual theatre in society

On 29th June 2012 Claire Schrader hosted a celebration of Ritual Theatre: The Power of Dramatic Ritual in Personal Development Groups and Clinical Practice.

The evening involved presentations and performance from the book’s contributors, including pioneer dramatherapist Dr. Sue Jennings.

Claire Schrader says: “It was my intention with this event not just to launch the book but to honour the spirit of ritual theatre – the spirit that is in ritual theatre – and a topic that is very close to my heart. I am grateful for all those that rallied round to support this event – which was truly a co-collaboration.”

See photos from the event and read Claire’s reflections here:

http://ritualtheatre.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/celebrating-ritual-theatre/

And watch a video of Claire’s introductory speech here:

Dodie Graves (left) and Jane Moss (right)

Dodie: My experience of groups goes way back to being a participant during my seminary days, when we had to work collaboratively to get projects completed. It always seemed to me to be a most unhelpful and unfair way of doing things, as there were a few of us that would do the work and a few who would be “carried”. I suppose after that I wanted to make sure that groups I was in were more structured and constructive and I guess I took that into my counselling training when it came to doing a module on groups. In my own “group work” I was looking for clear and safe leadership and a place to be myself in secure hands. This, I think, is what I have wanted to create for bereaved people in groups, where they already feel vulnerable and want to find a safe place to share some deep things.

Jane: This rings lots of bells with me. As a writer working in bereavement support (through Cruse Bereavement Care and in partnership with hospice counselling teams), I find that the people who come to my writing groups are looking for something more structured than a talking group. They want to try writing as a means of self-expression, but attending a group also seems to offer them a safe place in which to compare their experiences and stories with others. They often take their writing into one to one sessions too, which can be helpful.

Dodie: It’s so good for them if they can get a benefit in that way. Being in a group can be quite scary for the participants as they will have to contend with others’ opinions of them and others’ needs. There are some real advantages to attending a group though, once the initial apprehension has passed and the group starts to feel cohesive. Bereaved people who join a group are coming into a “community” of suffering and they can start to be there for each other, they can share together, cry together and encourage one another. They can also get advice from each other that they wouldn’t get from being in a one-to-one counselling session.

Jane: That’s so true. People are always nervous at the first meeting. I hear worries such as ‘I can’t spell’, or ‘I was rubbish at writing essays at school’! It’s part of my role to reassure people that spelling and grammar don’t matter; you can always go and tidy it up later. It’s much more about finding the confidence to express yourself in your own voice and share with others who empathise with you. I believe the arts are a great way for people to open up about things they might find hard to talk about or even give a name to. The great thing about writing is that it is so accessible. All you need is a pen and paper, and the page is available any time of day or night.

Dodie: As a facilitator, I think you also have to have an added dimension – a real appreciation for the power of the written word. I have found getting people to write and also to work creatively with their emotions and their thoughts can be powerful. Having tried some group work with creative exercises, I would love to try the approach that you, Jane, have taken with bereaved people coming together to write creatively about their grief.

Jane: When I first started thinking about ways to bring writing and bereavement support together, you, Dodie were one of the people who inspired me. I think we’re both quite practical people, and writing is such a practical activity. I have found that some people want to write directly about their grief, whereas others prefer not to. At first this worried me because I thought some people might feel forced into writing about sad experiences; but in practice I find that people write about whatever they need to. I use themes and structured exercises a lot – for example, journeys, family stories, anniversaries – and I often offer a published poem or extract from a story to provide people with a starting point, so they can respond in any way they want to. People often express pleasant surprise at the results, saying that they hadn’t expected to write about a happy memory or a positive emotion such as hope.

But going back to your first point, Dodie, about the value of providing structure, I often find that some people in a group will participate fully while others stay quiet. These are the ones I work hard to engage with. Offering short writing forms like lists, acrostics or haikus (short poems of three lines of five, seven and five syllables) can work well. If someone is feeling shy or tongue-tied in the face of big difficult emotions, a word limit or a specific focus seems to help them contain what they want to express.

Dodie: I guess in a “talking” support group, we might feel more at ease with people who are quieter, as long as they are engaged in the process. It’s the dominating ones that can cause us concern. These people need to be encouraged to find their place but not take over. Facilitating groups with a number of unknown people is a real adventure!

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2012.

What have you found so effective about art therapy as an approach with clients who have issues with body image?

The very act of creating involves use of the body, and therefore promotes an appreciation of the body. Women begin the art therapy process by practicing awareness of breath moving in and out of the body; they relax, and become inspired. Images originating within the mind are brought forward, and expressed with the help of the body. Participants begin to view themselves as artists. As they celebrate diversity of ideas, materials, and forms, they also develop an appreciation for the diversity and uniqueness of the body-vehicle that moves them through the life journey.

Which of the exercises in the book has produced the most surprising results?

Each exercise in the book has produced some surprising results. We don’t normally see ourselves as boats, or shoes, or purses, or vases of flowers (to name a few); however, I found that women are able to explore themselves profoundly in the development of these familiar objects. I did not anticipate the extent, or benefit of nostalgia that takes place during the purse workshop. Women explore the impact that other women have had on their lives as they engage in a multi-sensory recall of the purses those women carried on their life journeys. I am often surprised at the sense of connection and comfort expressed by women during the group art process: Waters of Life. Participants learn they have much in common with other women, and can give and receive support while exploring very personal aspects of self.

What are some common obstacles that practitioners face with clients who are new to group work? How can this book help overcome them?

As women begin this journey, it is not uncommon for them to feel some anxiety, or fear of the unknown that lies ahead. When women work with other women in a group setting, they build a sense of trust in the facilitator (guide) and their fellow travelers. The guide meets with each participant ahead of time to explore the traveler’s preparedness to venture out onto the waters and roadways ahead. Participants respond to: guide confidence and experience; structure of the art processes, and freedom to express in a confidential, validating environment. The exercises in this book introduce and reinforce techniques to help manage emotions experienced in the process.

How should your book be used?

Reflections of Body Image in Art Therapy is an expressive art workbook and educational resource for women of all ages and stages of personal development This book contains art exercises that may be used by women who are looking for creative ways to explore themselves beyond the limitations of cultural definition. The art processes are fun, inexpensive and may be adapted for girls and women of all ages and backgrounds. The experientials may be used in group settings with a guide who travels alongside to offer support and assistance. The processes are also beneficial to individual travelers looking for new experiences on the journey of self-discovery; women may work on their own, at a pace that feels right for them. The art processes may be used in clinical, educational and recreational settings.

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2012.

View images from Margaret’s book on Pinterest

In this interview, editors Debra Kalmanowitz, Jordan Potash and Siu Mei Chan discuss how art therapy differs in the East and West, and how their pioneering new book came about.

Left to right: JKP authors Debra Kalmanowitz, Siu Mei Chan and Jordan S. Potash.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what attracted you to the field of art therapy?

DK: I came to art therapy by chance. I have always made art, and continue to do so. From early on remember feeling frustrated with words, feeling that when I put something into words, it seemed to loose its power and often its meaning. A combination of my love of the arts and an interest in psychology, sociology and anthropology brought me to art therapy.

JP: I have been an artist for as long as I can remember and I knew even in high school that I wanted to use art in the service of others. I feel fortunate that I found the field of art therapy, which allows me to combine these areas of being able to offer art for the betterment of individuals and communities.

SMC: I first experienced the power of art therapy by attending an Introduction to Art Therapy course in 2002. I was very impressed and touched by the group process. I experienced the art therapy process by using art as a tool for communication. At that time, it was a process of exploration and self- discovery. Then the devastating Tsunami disaster happened on 26 December 2004 (it was also my birthday), and it had a big impact on me. On TV I saw thousands of broken, helpless, grief-stricken faces, scarred from the loss of their loved ones. I started to think of the meaning of my career and life, and in the end it brought me to formal art therapy training.

This is the first book to examine the theory and practice of art therapy in a specifically Asian context. Why did you decide to compile and edit a collected volume on this subject and what is timely about its publication?

The creative and expressive arts therapy are growing progressively across Asia. Some asian countries have already established formal art therapy training courses. Knowing that this is new and innovative, and at a crucial stage of development and growth of localisation characteristic in art therapy, it became clear to us that this was a topic that needed to be discussed and presented. When Hong Kong hosted the Asian Art Therapy Symposium in 2009, we saw some of the diverse ways that art therapy was being practiced in the region. This book is the first attempt to look at the issues specific to this part of the world, and to begin to share the work that is already paving the way for a new profession in the region. We purposefully chose the form of an edited book in order to allow for multiple voices, each of which can speak to a different facet of art therapy in Asia. When put together, these give us a greater sense of the practices and theories involved and that are evolving.

What is the key difference between art therapy in Asia and in the West?

When we look at art therapy in Asia, we could say that there are as many differences as there are similarities. To suggest that there is one key issue would be to oversimplify the subject. The similarities lie in the use of the arts in healing, and the understanding that working through the arts holds tremendous capacity for transformation and change. There are of course numerous differences, all of them stemming from fundamental differences in culture as it relates to conceptions of health, relationships, therapy practices, belief systems and cultural attitudes towards the arts. This book goes into the intricacies of these differences and similarities in great detail. In editing this book and engaging with the authors, we came to understand more fully that difference is both an actuality and a fallacy. We hope that readers will not be lulled into a preconceived or stereotyped notion of art therapy in Asia as either unnecessarily “exotic” or ultimately the same, but rather as a practice firmly rooted in culture and values, like art therapy anywhere else in the world. This is why we chose the subtitle, to demonstrate that practices may have their core in Asia, whereas others may be rooted elsewhere. Either way, they still become fully “Asian”, demonstrating uniqueness and similarity at the same time.

Why was it important to include spirituality as a particular theme?

All of the sections in the book came about as we reviewed the dominant themes of the proposals we received from the authors. As we reviewed them, we were reminded how Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Hinduism form an integral part of the thinking and the moral make up of the region. Sometimes these major religions are connected to spirituality, but at other times the influence that they have is as a basic moral guide, a framework defining ethical behaviour by which to live. Whatever form they take, these religions are ever present. Numerous chapters that were submitted for this book included the use of spirituality explicitly in their work, and it was important therefore that these authors had a voice as part of the practice in the region.

In addition to this, there are numerous practices from the Buddhist tradition which have been adopted without the connection to spirituality or religion. Mindfulness, meditation and the holistic approach to the body – the connection between the body, mind and spirit. These approaches have been adopted not only in the East, but in the West, too. It is because of this that we have included a section on spirituality in the book that includes examples from Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

The book explores how Asian art therapists have adopted Western models, adapted them to suit their wide-ranging needs and contexts, and developed their own original approaches. In what ways are their practices now influencing Western practice?

There is a constant flow of information, a cross-germination of different ideas, a mixture of philosophies methods and outlooks in the world. This is happening across the board, and art therapy is no exception. There is no doubt that art therapists around the world will find resonance and inspiration from the theories and practices detailed in the book. More than simply adapting techniques, we hope they see the influence of culture and how art therapy in Asia provides new ways of working, but also opportunities to reflect and re-envision art therapy practice everywhere. There is no doubt that there is a flow between art therapists practicing in the East and West. Art therapists in Asia benefit from theories and practices developed in the West, just as those in the West draw on ideas and strategies from the East. One need only look at the allure of projective drawings in the East and the pull towards mindfulness in art making in the West. As a profession, art therapists on both sides will learn from each other.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

We hope that the readers will be able to read this book and reconsider their own work, no matter where they work. Although globalisation is often thought of as damaging to local culture, the spread of information gives us all ways to learn from each other. Considering the benefits of meditation, holistic health and collectivist values as they apply to art therapy provides an angle that is not reflected in other literature. Instead of looking for a new series of techniques or interventions, we hope that readers will discover fundamentally new ways of conceptualising both their work and how they work. So, while the book may be useful to those working in Asia, it can also prompt new ways of practicing art therapy more generally. Moreover, it details the influence and role of cultural-bound values that are inherent in theories and practices. This is applicable not only for art therapists in Asia, but all art therapists transporting art therapy across cultures.

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2012.

By Barbara Goldschmidt, teacher, researcher, licensed massage therapist, and co-author with Niamh van Meines of Comforting Touch in Dementia and End of Life Care: Take My Hand.

My passion for integrative health care began 30 years ago, when I travelled to California to recuperate from a car accident. I was a seeker, looking for solace and a new path. Southern California offered warmth, reasonable rents, and ways of living that seemed open to many possibilities. It was commonplace there to focus on fitness, and easy to find gyms, yoga teachers, health food stores, and book shops filled with Eastern philosophy and self-help. Then there was the Pacific Ocean, like a big glittering mirror, reflecting who you were and at the same time inviting you to look deeper.

This was all very different from life in New York City at the time, where a focus on fitness was not so commonplace. In fact, friends on the East Coast often looked down on some of these pursuits. They’d ask, ‘Why is California like a breakfast cereal?’ Answer: Because it’s full of fruits, flakes and nuts! Maybe they thought it was foolish, but I felt I was finally becoming sensible.

During my seven years in Los Angles I completed my bachelor’s degree at UCLA, but my most meaningful studies were outside of traditional academia. I explored ‘alternative’ therapies, as they were called back then, because they were not part of the mainstream. Fortunately, I found reliable teachers who were masters in their field. I practiced yoga every day in Bikram Choudhury’s classes. Thanks to Jack Gray, whose energy work was studied by Dr. Thelma Moss at UCLA’s Parapsychology Lab, I learned how to direct my thoughts to help the healing process and to use my hands to do what Mr. Gray called ‘transfer of energy’. Dr. Grace Brunler demonstrated how she had used color light in her medical practice with her husband Oscar Brunler. With Jon Hofferman, a grad student from the UCLA film department, we made a short documentary about her work.

It was an exciting time, because it felt like a real movement in personal well-being was taking place. It wasn’t being led by doctors, but by ordinary people who were looking for more than symptom relief. They wanted therapies that were natural and non-toxic, and a way to be involved in the healing process. That was a key—becoming an active participant in wellness and illness instead of being a passive recipient of care. The quest for ways to be involved in the healing process, and for tangible ways to share it, became the continuing thread of my studies, writing and teaching.

When I moved back to New York City I wondered if I would be able to maintain the gentle practices I’d learned. As it turned out, I discovered deeper and more specific ways of practicing. With Catherine Shainberg, director of the School of Images, I studied body-centered imagery for many years. Dr. Shainberg doesn’t give answers, but leads students to the answers within themselves. My sessions with her led me to study massage therapy at the Swedish Institute, a college of health sciences in Manhattan. This allowed me to go from just writing about this field to becoming a practitioner.

After working for a few years as a licensed massage therapist, a desire for a more effective ways to engage with the body led me to Jeffrey C. Yuen and the study of Chinese medicine. I began to understand that energy, or Qi, infuses all of life, and that it is fundamental. Qi is our energetic program; it creates the body and directs our growth, development and everyday processes, including healing.

While I appreciate that there exists some controversy around the idea of Qi—it has no standard definition, it’s not readily visible, and can’t be quantified—I embrace its usefulness as teachers and practitioners have done through the ages. Directing Qi through the use of meridian points became the foundation of my practice, which often included teaching people to move their Qi from within through imagery.

Today, ‘alternative’ therapies are not just for Californians and even in New York City there are plenty of gyms, as well as stores selling organic food. Yoga, massage, meditation and acupuncture are now part of an integrative approach to cancer care, palliative care or chronic conditions in medical institutions around the world.

Comforting Touch for Dementia and End of Life Care: Take My Hand, is an integrative approach that will hopefully inspire people to explore touch as a way to share the radiant energy of their care. I was fortunate to have as co-author Niamh van Meines, who brought in her expertise and passion as a massage therapist and nurse practitioner working in hospice and palliative care. In the book, we introduce people to the idea that their touch involves the physical aspects of skin, muscles and bone; the energies of warmth, electromagnetism and Qi; and the inner quality, or spirit, which they bring to it. All will have beneficial effects for both the giver as well as the receiver. And in the spirit of integrative care, we encourage caregivers to become part of a team—whether with a doctor, nurse, social worker, psychologist, massage therapist, acupuncturist or pastoral advisor—so they will not feel alone, inhibited by initial awkwardness, or unnecessarily fearful.

I was happy when our book proposal was accepted by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, because they are so dedicated to the healing arts and to books that people can use to help one another. When Lisa Clark, our sponsoring editor, told us we would be part of the Singing Dragon imprint, it seemed especially fitting, because the energy of nature and the Eastern philosophy that teaches ways to engage with it have been a big part of my life. I hope that this book will be useful for the many people caring for someone with dementia or at the end of life, and that it will provide a meaningful way to discover both a tenderness and a power that we all have in common.

Next blog post: Compassionate care through touch – An interview with Niamh van Meines »

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011.

Jessica Kingsley took a few minutes between meetings to talk about why we attend this major international event, and to highlight some of the things we’ve been talking about.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Dr Louisa Silva has a medical degree from the University of California, a Masters in Public Health from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. She is director of the Qigong Sensory Training Institute, Oregon, where she has completed multiple research studies into the effects of qigong massage on young children with autism.

Here, she answers some questions about her new book and DVD, Qigong Massage for Your Child with Autism: A Home Program from Chinese Medicine - publishing by JKP imprint, Singing Dragon.

How did you become interested in traditional Chinese approaches to health, and in working with children with autism?

I am trained in three disciplines that are of equal importance to my work: Western medicine, Chinese medicine, and public health. My interest in Chinese approaches to health began when I was in Medical school at UCLA. Nixon had gone to China, and the nation had just heard about acupuncture being done on his aide. My Medical school invited a team from China to come over, and together they did a radical mastectomy under acupuncture anesthesia. At that moment, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chinese medicine was powerful, but was too buried in my medical studies to begin to study it. It wasn’t until I had been out in practice for a few years, that I began to hit the wall with allopathic medical understanding and treatment of chronic conditions that I turned to Chinese medicine and began to study it. I found that Chinese medicine offered a way to strengthen the body so that it could throw off illness, and that it had much to offer to help improve general health and vitality. I saw the research showing that chronic conditions could be improved or cured. Over the years, I integrated what I had learned in medical school about Western diagnosis and treatment of illness, with the ancient Chinese techniques for improving health and removing illness. My interest in public health led me to pursue Chinese medical approaches to chronic illnesses that are natural, non-invasive, and easliy available to families.

My interest in autism began in 2000, when the son of a dear friend was diagnosed with autism, and I realized how little there was to offer parents of newly diagnosed children. At that point, I decided to teach a qigong massage protocol that I had learned from my Chinese medicine professor to the boy’s parents, and we found that it was helpful. This began a whole new career path for me in research, as I knew that for qigong massage to be accepted in the West as a treatment for autism, the research studies would have to be carefully done and published in scientific journals. I joined Teaching Research Institute at Western Oregon University, and now, 11 years later, we have published many research studies showing that the massage is effective, and explaining how it works.

What is Qigong Sensory Training (QST), and what are the benefits of QST for young children with autism?

Qigong Sensory Training is the name that we chose for the qigong massage methodology that is described in the book. It is a five month program of daily parent-delivered massage, and it has shown improvements in behavior and social and language skills in controlled studies. Not only does autism become less severe, but the child has general improvements in health in important areas like sleep, digestion, ability to calm themselves down, and toilet training; there is less aggressive and self-injurious behavior, and parenting stress is considerably lower.

How did the book/DVD come about and what is the idea behind it?

Our research suggests that behind the delays seen in children with autism lies a sensory nervous system that is out of kilter – the child’s skin, eyes and ears aren’t perceiving the world around them the way others perceive it. The senses are hypersensitive or hyposensitive or both. Many children have problems recognizing gentle touch and pain, some children don’t seem to notice when they are injured, and the senses don’t seem to work together – they don’t turn their head to look at someone’s face, and coordinate listening at the same time. Ordinary events can be confusing and upsetting for the child, and in the end, the brain doesn’t reflect accurate information about the world around them.

The hallmark of autism is a delay in social development that is apparent by age three. However, before age three, the important self-regulation milestones must be achieved for social development to proceed. The self-regulation milestones of the first three years of life are the foundation for healthy development. They are: 1) the ability to have a regular wake/sleep cycle, 2) the ability to have regular digestion and elimination, 3) the ability to self-soothe when upset, 4) the ability to regulate orientation and attention, 5) the ability to toilet train, and 6) the emerging ability to regulate emotions and behavior in response to social cues. Without these milestones, social development is delayed.

We know that all self-regulation takes place in response to sensory input. There was never a self-regulatory event that was not in response to sensory input. When sensory input is faulty, then self-regulatory output is also faulty. When sensory input is severely faulty, as it is in autism, then there is global delay of self-regulation milestones. Our research shows that children with autism have severely abnormal sensory responses, expecially of touch, and globally delayed self-regulation milestones before the age of three.

The massage works three ways: 1) it improves the circulation to the skin and normalizes touch pain responses. 2) it triggers the self-soothing response, and allows the child’s nervous system to learn to self-soothe. 3) it improves the health and vitality of the body so that digestion, elimination, toilet training and the body’s ability to remove toxins are improved. The child becomes stronger, healthier, more aware, and better able to pay attention at home and school, and to learn.

In our research, we used trained specialists to teach parents the massage, and work with them and their child over a period of months while the child overcame their barriers and difficulties with touch. We have trained a number of therapists on the East and West coast of the US, but the vast majority of the world has no trained therapists in this method. The book came about in response to many requests from parents the world over who did not have access to a trained therapist to learn the massage, and were asking for information about how to give the massage at home. It contains the full curriculum that the trained therapists impart to the parents over the months that they work with them.

Who is the book for, and how much do you have to know about TCM to use it?

This book is for families of young chldren with autism. They do not have to have a background of TCM to use it. We have explained the important ideas that they will need to use when they give qigong massage in ordinary, everyday language.

In the book you talk about the Chinese medicine explanation for the (behavioral and physiological) symptoms of autism as blockages of energy. Can you explain a bit here?

Chinese medicine considers health a state where there is abundant, free-flowing energy and circulation, and illness a state when there are blocks in the energy flow, which interfere with the free flow of the circulation. According to Chinese medicine, there is a block of the circulation to the skin, which results in the sensory nerves being over or under-sensitive. The massage normalizes the circulation and the sensation returns to normal. When the skin feels normal, many self-injurious behaviors simply disappear. The brain receives normal information about the surface of the body, and motor skills improve. For example, very quickly after sensation on the hands becomes normal, fine motor skills increase; after sensation on the feet improves, gross motor skills increase. Constipation is another example of a block of energy in the bowel, so that it does not eliminate normally. The massage quickly restores strength and energy to the bowel, and constipation resolves.

What are some challenges that parents face when attempting this kind of intervention, and how can your book help to overcome them?

At first, it can be challenging for parents to establish the massage in the child’s daily routine, as there are many parts of the body where the child is uncomfortable to touch. Often, the part of the massage that they like the least is the part where they need the most help. For example, many children with autism refuse touch on their ears. These are often the same children who do not listen or have language. Once touch on the ears becomes normal, they begin to use their ears to listen, and we see language pick up. Overcoming difficulties in particular areas is where it can be extremely helpful to have a therapist to work with. The book contains many ways to approach difficulties with touch on the different areas, as the most direct way for the child to overcome these difficulties is for the parent to continue to work with the massage. The techniques are also demonstsrated on the accompanying DVD. Our program is a minimum of five months, and by the end of the first month, the majority parents have been able to help their child overcome their difficulties with touch, and both parent and child are enjoying the massage as a nice part of the daily routine.

Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011.

In this interview, *Singing Dragon author Lisa Spillane answers some questions about her new book, Six Healing Sounds with Lisa and Ted: Qigong for Children, which teaches young children how to transform negative feelings into positive ones by using simple breathing techniques that are based on ancient Chinese Qigong exercises.

Tell us about your background and your experience of Qigong.

While I’m thankful for the many happy times I enjoyed as a child, it’s mainly the challenges I faced in my early years that have led me to write this book. I was born in New York and lived there until my father died shortly before my eighth birthday. After that we moved to Ireland where my parents were from. My father died from a brain tumor which he suffered with for two years, and the trauma of that and subsequently moving to a new and very different country was a lot to deal with for a little girl. In time, those experiences gave me a desire to pursue a career in education with the aim of helping children to express themselves.

I qualified as a Teacher of Art and Design, and for my Master’s Degree in Education I researched and developed programs for children from at-risk backgrounds and for young offenders. Nearly twenty years ago, along with two artists, I co-founded Artlink, a charity located in the Northwest of Ireland that provides opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to learn and experience art. My childhood experiences coupled with what I’ve learned through teaching have reinforced my view that children need to be taught techniques to manage their emotions so they can develop lifelong habits to protect themselves from the consequences of stress.

I was introduced to Qigong meditation by attending classes taught by Grandmaster Mantak Chia three years ago. Since then I’ve continued to learn through local trainers in Brussels, where I live, and through self-research. The first time I did the Inner Smile and Six Healing Sounds meditational exercises it occurred to me, when I was being shown how to rub my liver, that previous to that moment I hadn’t given much thought to its location. My organs were like abstract objects that I was connected to on a very superficial level. And, it dawned on me how ridiculous it was that even though I’d had this body for so many years and took an interest in health and nutrition, I was unable to confidently point to my spleen, pancreas or liver. I thought to myself that if I’d learned these exercises as a child, not only would I have known more about my body but I’d have been able to help myself in those dark times when I felt pushed and pulled by my emotions. Qigong techniques can help children to understand their emotions better and to have more control over them by showing them that they have the power to transform negative ones into positive ones through utilizing the body-mind connection.

What are the Six Healing Sounds and where do they come from?

This book combines the Six Healing Sounds and the Inner Smile Qigong meditational exercises. Qigong is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The exercises were developed thousands of years ago in China to help people to purge toxic negative emotions from their bodies. Doing them combats the dangerous effects of stress by activating the body’s own healing systems through a combination of: deep breathing, smiling, touch, gentle movements, sound vibrations and positive thoughts. Many of the elements we do instinctively, which is how the doctors of ancient China became aware of them. They created the healing sounds from observing the noises (sighs and groans) people make for different ailments because they realized that these sounds cool and detoxify the body’s organs. In the practice, each organ has its own healing sound, color and set of positive and negative emotions. Also, each organ has a season and associated elements. For example, the season for the liver is spring and its element is wood. To avoid information overload, I’ve only suggested the seasons and elements through the stories and illustrations so that children can absorb them with less effort.

Why are they so beneficial?

Although the exercises are simple and easy to learn, there are many complex scientific reasons for why they work. A good number of those reasons have only become evident to us in recent years through advancements in brain scanning which, for example, has proved that smiling, even when we don’t feel like it, produces endorphins in the brain which help to reduce stress and support the immune system. Neuroscience has also shown that thoughts of gratefulness and appreciation calm the nervous system and protect the heart. We instinctively know that using the breath to calm down is very effective. And, deep breathing also increases the amount of oxygen rich blood in the body which is needed for energy and healing and it boosts the lymphatic system helping it to get rid of toxins.

Is there a “right way” to do them?

There are many variations to this practice. This book demonstrates the exercises I learned from Grandmaster Mantak Chia. I’ve tried others but these are the ones I prefer. That said, I felt it was necessary to make some alterations so they’d be more accessible for children. In the second story I chose to refer to just the stomach, even though it should be the stomach, spleen and pancreas because I didn’t want to overwhelm young readers with too many new words. And, it’s good for them to focus on the stomach at this stage in their lives because there’s so much temptation for children to comfort themselves through eating junk food. This gives them an alternative to trying to numb their feelings of worry with food. I’ve also made alterations to the Triple Warmer exercise. This exercise doesn’t relate to a specific organ, but because it aims to even out the body temperature by bringing hot energy down from the head and cooler energy up from the feet it made sense to me to describe the hot energy as the chattering, busy thoughts in the brain. The exercise ends with Ted resting his hands on his stomach which is roughly the Dan Tian area, which relates to this exercise.

For readers who’d like more clarity regarding the sounds: “haaaww” rhymes with “saw”, “whooooooo” is like the sound an owl makes except longer, “sssssssss” is like the sound a snake makes, “tchewwwww” is like a sneeze sound “achoo” except made slowly and without the “a”, the “shhhhh” sounds like you’re telling someone to be quiet and finally “heeeeee” rhymes with “pea”. And, although you should try experimenting with the volume it’s recommended that the sounds be made softly and slowly.

It’s best to do all the organs in the order they are shown in the book, making the sound at least three times for each one, but you can concentrate on just one or as many as you like as long as you do them in the right order. The more you do this the more you will make it your own. If you get caught up in trying to do it perfectly then you won’t get the most out of it. There are also postures and movements as well as other emotions for the organs to be learned but what’s in this book is more than enough to make a good start with. Learning this practice should be seen as a continuous lifelong process that taps into our inherent abilities to heal ourselves.

Undoubtedly we could all gain something from these exercises – why did you decide to write it for children?

There’s an abundance of information on the internet and many excellent books and videos that teach adults how to do these exercises but from what I see there’s very little on the subject for children. Firing up the imagination with colors and beautiful imagery, smiling and making different sounds are all things I knew would appeal to young readers and the earlier we can learn tools to deal with our emotions the better. The format of a children’s picture book is a great learning tool because it allows for a lot of the information to be presented visually. When we use our eyes to dart around the page to look at all the different elements it helps the brain to create meaning and record images, thoughts and feelings together which in the future help us to remember the sequence of the exercises with all the associated information. And, I think many adults will find through the experience of sharing the book with children that they’re benefiting from the practice too.

What do you hope readers, including parents and teachers, will gain from the book?

When my son Dualta was a little boy, it was usually when I was reading him a bedtime story that he would decide to tell me about the ups and downs of his day. Mindful of this need to “offload” at bedtime, I’ve written the stories short enough to give children the space to bring up any negative feelings that may be troubling them. Also parents can choose to just concentrate on one or two stories depending on what particular emotions are raised. For example, if a child is grieving over the loss of a pet it might be more appropriate to just do the lungs and the heart. Using this book as a guide, it’s my hope that readers are led through a process which soothes away troubling emotions so they feel calm and ready for a good night’s sleep.

Teachers can use this book to encourage children to learn about their bodies and to consider how their attitudes and behavior effects themselves and others. Learning through stories is a fun way for children to absorb information and they can relate the scenarios to challenges they face in their own lives. It can be used to prompt children to share their experiences and in so doing they will learn that emotions and feelings are a natural part of life and common to everyone. More importantly, the exercises will help them to see that they can learn ways to manage their emotions and cultivate a sense of peace within themselves.

*Singing Dragon is an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Visit www.singingdragon.com for more info.

Copyright © Singing Dragon 2011.

In this series of videos, Nancy Williams – author of Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child – talks about the many benefits of Yoga for children with special needs, including those with autistic spectrum disorder, developmental delay, sensory integration disorder, anxiety disorder, ADHD, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.

Nancy has been a yoga therapist for 9 years. She also works as a pediatric Speech Pathologist, and is a certified Neuro Developmental Treatment Therapist, Zero Balancing practitioner, Yoga instructor and Reiki Master Teacher. Nancy runs her own yoga therapy practice in Tucson, Arizona (USA). more…

This lovely slide show features images from Nancy’s yoga workshops:

Nancy introduces ‘Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child’:

Nancy on Why Yoga Therapy Works for Children with Special Needs:

Nancy on The Difference Between Traditional Therapies and Yoga:

Nancy on How to develop a Yoga practice of your own, or locate a good Yoga teacher or class:

Watch more videos about Nancy and her Yoga workshops…