Neurophysiological background of holistic psychotherapy with respect to memory, body memory, and resources

Abstract

Progress in neurophysiological and brain research provides new insights into the storage and recall of information. This article gives a description of the neurophysiological background of memory processes and refers to the emotion-centered, multisensorial and partially body-oriented psychotherapeutic work with memory contents. With respect to psychotherapy it is especially important that every human being forms his or her individual memory, which is subject to lifelong transformation. As conscious and unconscious memory contents control the behavior, in therapy the preexisting memory contents must be considered as well as corrective experiences to be stored as resources in memory. Because humans best recall memory contents in the state in which they stored them, memory contents are best recalled by stimulating all sense organs (multisensorial) that were involved in the storage of the original experience or information. A practical example of the holistic, body-centered psychotherapy IKP illustrates some of the theoretically elaborated aspects.

Key words:
Body-centered psychotherapy IKP; Somatic memory; Memory; Neurophysiology; Neurotic disorder; Psychosomatic illness; Psychotherapy; Recall; Resource; Trauma therapy.