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Press Release
Abigail H. Natenshon Combines Feldenkrais with Traditional Psychotherapy
to Treat Eating Disorders
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Abigail Natenshon, MA, LCSW, GCFP
on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais
“The work of Moshe Feldenkrais can be used advantageously to augment the more
traditional approaches to treating patients with eating disorders and body image
disturbances. Particularly effective in treating long-term sufferers of eating
disorders, victims of rape, sexual abuse, and self-mutilation, the technique
creates a novel experience of body and self. For those patients who feel
“uncomfortable in their own skin,” this work accesses the brain in a wholly
unique way, creating alternative ways to appreciate and more accurately perceive
the body and self, and to use the self with more freedom and flexibility to
solve problems.”
"Feldenkrais represents a revolution in human health. Through this method we
can learn to improve our living circumstances not only physically but also
emotionally, intellectually and spiritually." -- Smithsonian Magazine
"I recommend The Feldenkrais Method to patients whose movement has been
restricted by injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain. I
find it to be much more useful than standard physical therapy. I also believe
that the Feldenkrais Method can help all of us feel more comfortable in our
bodies." -- Andrew Weil, M.D., author of 'Spontaneous Healing'
"The exercises are so simple and so ingenious...It is so clever to develop
the body by making the mind and senses become aware of each side of the body
separately. It increases the subtlety of sensation." --Yehudi Menuhin,
concert violinist
"What I'm after isn't flexible bodies but flexible brains."
-- Moshe Feldenkrais
Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984), was a distinguished scientist, physicist
and engineer. He earned his D.Sc. in Physics from the Sorbonne and was a close
associate of Nobel Prize Laureate Frederic Joliot-Curie at the Curie Institute
in Paris, where they conducted research together. He was also a respected Judo
instructor and author of many books on the subject. Living in England in the
1940s, Feldenkrais found himself unable to walk after suffering a serious knee
injury. He began an intense exploration into the relationship between bodily
movement and healing, feeling, thinking, and learning. As a result, he restored
his ability to walk and made revolutionary discoveries culminating in the
development of the method that bears his name.
Feldenkrais®, The Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, ATM®,
Functional Integration®, FI®, and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner(cm)
are registered trademarks of The Feldenkrais Guild®.(The above quotes are taken
from the web site of Robert Cowie.)
Unique New Psychotherapy / Body Awareness Groups Forming in Highland Park,
Illinois
Eating disorder group therapy is available to individuals seeking the integrative,
experiential mind/body work of Anat Baniel Method© / Feldenkrais Method©. This
form of somatic education, when used as adjunct treatment in combination with
more traditional approaches, by providing integrative movement with attention,
enables autonomous shifting out of old habits and into useful new ones. It
facilitates learning “from the inside out;” enhancing sensory-awareness and
re-integrating neurological function that goes far to re-create a core sense of
self. (Read Abbie’s article, The Feldenkrais Method ©
and Anat Baniel Method © in the Treatment of Eating Disorders, published in the Feldenkrais Educational Foundation of
North America
SenseAbility Newsletter,Spring 2011, pages 8-9.)
To learn more, CLICK HERE
The Therapeutic Effects of the Feldenkrais Method "Awareness Through Movement" in
Patients with Eating Disorders
by Laumer U, Bauer M, Fichter M, Milz H.
University at Regensburg
[Original Article in German]
Based on the movement-pedagogical concept of Feldenkrais and the findings-of
disturbed body perception by eating disordered patients this research aimed at
studying the therapeutical effects of the Feldenkrais Method "Awareness through
Movement" with eating disorder patients, 15 eating disordered patients treated
at the Roseneck hospital for behavioural medicine rated-by means of a
questionnaire consisting of scales of the Body Cathexis Scale (BCS), the Body
Parts Satisfaction Scale (BPSS), the questionnaire for body perception
(Fragebogen zum Korpererleben; FKE), the Emotion inventory
(Emotionalitatsinventar; EMI-B), the Anorexia-Nervosa-Inventory for Self-rating
(ANIS) and the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI)-various aspects of their eating
disorder before and after participating in a nine hour course of the Feldenkrais
Method.
The data of these patients were compared to those of the members of a control
group, also consisting of 15 eating disordered patients who did not participate
in a Feldenkrais course.
The participants of the Feldenkrais-course showed increasing contentment with
regard to problematic zones of their body and their own health as well as
concerning acceptance and familiarity with their own body.
Other results were a more spontaneous, open and self-confident behaviour, the
decrease of feelings of helplessness and decrease of the wish to return to the
security of the early childhood, which indicates the development of felt sense
of self, self-confidence and a general process of maturation of the whole
personality.
The outcome points to the therapeutical effectiveness of the Feldenkrais Method
with eating-disorder patients within a multimodal treatment program."
This information came from an abstract translated into english from German in
Entrez-PubMed called
The Therapeutic Effects of the Feldenkrais Method "Awareness Through Movement"
in Patients with Eating Disorders by Laumer U, Bauer M, Fichter M, Milz H
University at Regensburg
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