NeuroAffective Touch®
What is NeuroAffective Touch®
Developed by Dr. Aline La Pierre in the early 2000’s NeuroAffective Touch® is a A polyvagal-informed psychobiological approach, that integrates the key elements of somatic psychotherapy, attachment and developmental theory, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and affective and interpersonal neurobiology.
Neuro. Touch is a form of nonverbal communication that reaches deep into our inner personal space. Therapeutic touch not only touches the surface of the skin; it also touches thousands of sensory nerve receptors in the joints, muscles, connective tissue, and organs. These sensory receptors are nerve endings that carry information directly to the brain…hence the term “neuro.”
Affective. Touch has a strong emotional impact. During touch work, clients often said: “It’s like you’re touching my emotions.” The nervous system and emotions are deeply intertwined and cannot be separated…hence the term “affective.”
Why is Touch Important in Therapy
Statistics show that before the importance of touch was understood, one-third of infants in orphanages died because of lack of touch, and half of the rest suffered from mental illness*. In the weeks following birth, an infant must be touched frequently and in a nurturing way in order to thrive.
“The body cannot be touched without engaging the mind, and the mind cannot be engaged without affecting the body.”
There is now documented evidence for the critical role of touch in human psychology and biology. Research conducted by Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, shows that touch is at the foundation of relational experience. It is a fundamental mode of interaction in the infant–caregiver relationship. Loving, respectful touch is essential to healthy growth, and vital to the process of integrated wholistic development.
NeuroAffective Touch® addresses early touch deficits by communicating directly with the body to nurture clients at the nonverbal level where they received their first imprints.
Touch, neglect, and abuse
Studies on the causes of mental health problems suggest that some form of touch abuse or neglect is at their root. It is a known fact that parents who neglect, molest, or beat their children were themselves, as children, touched in traumatizing ways.
Many psychotherapeutic models postulate that touch is contraindicated when abusive touch was a component of the trauma. However, experience shows that gentle, supportive, and nurturing touch offers a profoundly restorative experience that brings back hope to a body in despair that has never experienced respectful healing touch.
How does NeuroAffective Touch® help heal developmental trauma?
NeuroAffective Touch® helps repair developmental trauma by offering clients the fundamental missing nonverbal experiences of connection, support, attunement, and nurturing. Sessions help build an in-the-body, bottom-up connection to physical sensations of trust and comfort that generate new emotional and cognitive options, and foster an enriched top-down life experience.
We help clients who suffer from nonverbal or preverbal distress, as reflected in difficulties with:
Experiencing that they actually exist
Developing autonomic regulation and soothing themselves
Trusting relationship
Identifying and communicating their needs
Feeling trapped in states of self-judgment, shame, and guilt
NeuroAffective Touch® demystifies the seemingly endless number of emotional and cognitive problems that result from developmental, emotional, and relational distress and trauma.
Without realizing it, many individuals develop adaptive behavior patterns that work against them. NeuroAffective Touch® identifies these dysfunctional patterns and shows how what happens at each stage of development can impair the capacity to connect with self and others, and negatively affect future relationships and life choices.
How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image and the Capacity for Relationship
Except from the book: Healing Developmental Trauma
Developmental trauma is the result of ongoing injurious parenting that is beyond a child’s control. Naturally open-hearted, innocent children are unprepared for physical abuse, emotional betrayal, and relational neglect. In addition, traumatizing families seldom teach their children the skills to cope with the roller coaster of their painful emotions, confused thoughts, and dysregulated physiology, leaving them unprepared for the challenges of adult life.
Adults who grew up in misattuned or hostile family environments often do not realize that their struggle with anxiety, lack of confidence, shame, self-hatred, depression, anger, violent behavior, and difficulties in relationships are the outcome of the physical and emotional trauma sustained within the family ― what is referred to as developmental trauma.