Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Podcast- A Polyvagal Theory Informed Therapy - Episode 20 An Embodied Approach to Eating Disorders with Rachel Lewis Marlow

Episode 20 An Embodied Approach to Eating Disorders with Rachel Lewis Marlow

05/17/22 • 70 min

Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Podcast- A Polyvagal Theory Informed Therapy

Hi everyone,
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with the skilled practitioner Rachel Lewis-Marlow from the Embodied Recovery Institute.
I first heard Rachel speak at the Polyvagal Institute Summit about a Polyvagal approach to working with eating disorders. It was so interesting that I had to have her share her knowledge with you as a guest on the podcast.
Please see below for additional information about Rachel and links to the Embodied Recovery Institute.
It would be a great honor if you could share this or other episodes with colleagues.
Please "like" the podcast, or leave a review via your favorite listening platform.
This episode is so rich. Please see some topics that we discuss:

The current understanding and approach to working with Eating disorders
An Embodied approach to working with Eating disorders- integrating Sensory-Motor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Polyvagal Theory
Embodied Recovery Lens- understanding the biology such as epigenetics, birth history, attachment and........
Role of Primitive Reflexes in the body and rhythms of moving toward or away
Looking at eating disorder behaviour as the body's way of speaking- about your sense of safety
Window of tolerance and ventral vagal states
The Embodied Recovery model: moving away from traditional approaches of eliminating eating disorder behaviour, to being curious and decoding behaviours....looking for patterns
Restricting, Binging, Purging- expressions of emotional states
Learn about the "Action State" and the Embodied Recovery Approach
Role of Relational Cycle- relation to others/relation to sensory or motor experiences that nourish
Ability to differentiate Interoceptive signals in Eating Disorders
PVT- it is the same nervous system that governs digestion that identifies and connects with safety
Safety is not the absence of danger- there is a big difference between being protected and being safe! How does this impact ED.
The field of treating Eating Disorders is often one of fear....."you will die if you do not eat" - how can your nervous system support nourishment when in fear!
Recovery is an additive process to nourish the nervous system- not taking things away
The importance of an integrated approach to recovery
The body is a resource for recovery
The vital role of the practitioner and their willingness to embody regulation

About Rachel.
Rachel Lewis-Marlow is a somatically integrative psychotherapist, dually licensed in counseling and therapeutic massage and bodywork and the Co-founder of the Embodied Recovery Institute which provides training to eating disorders professionals in a trauma-informed, relationally oriented and somatically integrated model of eating disorders treatment. She is a Certified Advanced Practitioner in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and has advanced training and 25+ years experience in diverse somatic therapies including Craniosacral Therapy, Energetic Osteopathy, Oncology massage and Aromatherapy.
Rachel began providing somatically integrative psychotherapy to eating disorders patients at the residential, PHP and IOP levels of care.
Currently, in private practice in Chapel Hill, NC, Rachel works with people healing from trauma, eating disorders, and dissociative disorders. She has extensive experience as a teacher and presenter, focusing on accessing the body’s unique capacity to give voice to the subconscious and to lay the foundation for healing and maintaining psychological and physical health.
Embodied Recovery Institute- https://embodiedrecovery.org/

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Please support my work by sharing this episode with a friend or colleague:)

The current understanding and approach to working with Eating disorders
An Embodied approach to working with Eating disorders- integrating Sensory-Motor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Polyvagal Theory
Embodied Recovery Lens- understanding the biology such as epigenetics, birth history, attachment and........
Role of Primitive Reflexes in the body and rhythms of moving toward or away
Looking at eating disorder behaviour as the body's way of speaking- about your sense of safety
Window of tolerance and ventral vagal states
The Embodied Recovery model: moving away from traditional approaches of eliminating eating disorder behaviour, to being curious and decoding behaviours....looking for patterns
Restricting, Binging, Purging- expressions of emotional states
Learn about the "Action State" and the Embodied Recovery Approach
Role of Relational Cycle- relation to others/relation to sensory or motor experiences that nourish
Ability to differentiate Interoceptive signals in Eating Disorders
PVT- it is the same nervous system that governs digestion that identifies and connects with safety
Safety is not the absence of danger- there is a big difference between being protected and being safe! How does this impact ED.
The field of treating Eating Disorders is often one of fear....."you will die if you do not eat" - how can your nervous system support nourishment when in fear!
Recovery is an additive process to nourish the nervous system- not taking things away
The importance of an integrated approach to recovery
The body is a resource for recovery
The vital role of the practitioner and their willingness to embody regulation

Support the show

Please support my work by sharing this episode with a friend or colleague:)

Previous Episode

Episode 19 Professor Nina Kraus- A Sound Mind

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr Nina Kraus from Northwestern University about her work investigating sound processing in the brain and her new book "Of Sound Mind." Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health.

Her research has found that our lives in sound, for better (musicians, bilinguals) and for worse (concussion, hearing loss, language disorders, noise), shape how our brain makes sense of the sounds we hear. Her book OF SOUND MIND - How our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, was written for the intellectually curious.

Kraus advocates for biologically informed choices in education, health, and society.

We did not touch on all the topics discussed in her book so I encourage you to read Of Sound Mind.

Episode Thoughts:

Firstly I wish to emphasize the importance of expanding our knowledge to be more aware of the impact of sound on our neuroceptive system and as a consequence our ability to maintain optimal homeostasis for mental and physiological wellbeing.

Dr Kraus quotes Helen Keller ....:blindness disconnects us from things, deafness disconnects us from people” As PV informed individuals or therapists we certainly understand the importance of being able to connect. How we process sound- voices greatly impacts this.

Nina’s work has expanded our knowledge of the importance of the more complex neural feedback system from the brain to the ear to fine-tune our listening and create the connection of meaning in sound. Her lab has developed key measures of understanding auditory processing in the brain. Interestingly significant processing occurs in the midbrain where we know there are connections to the amygdala and motor centers - which are wired to speedily process sound for safety or defence.

Kraus also speaks about... whole brain processing of sound with significant cross-talk with other senses. She says that making sense of sound is profoundly governed by how we feel, think, see and move and conversely influences how we feel, think, see and move and that...”the sounds of our lives shape our brain”

Sound is an invisible ally or enemy of brain health

Topics covered include:

Why is hearing underestimated?
Neural processing of sound in the brain.
EEG and Sound Stimuli.
Rhythms - brain and body in relation to understanding speech and reading.
Temporal timing - Interactive Metronome and sound processing
Dyslexia and sound processing.
Sound is complex- upsweeps, harmonics, rhythm, timing....
Sound Processing in Autism
Concussions and how sound processing is impacted.
The Aging brain and sound processing.
"Safe" Noise and the detrimental effects on our health.
How to maintain a healthy "Sound Mind."

My next Guest is Dr Arielle Shwartz who teaches about PVT and yoga

Take care till next time
Breathe Slow, Joanne

Links

www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu

Kraus N Editorial: RHYTHM: A Case for Digital Music Medicine. Hearing Journal .
Bonacina S, Krizman J, White-Schwoch T, Nicol T, Kraus N How rhythmic skills relate and develop in school-age children. Global Pediatric

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Please support my work by sharing this episode with a friend or colleague:)

Next Episode

Episode 21- EMDR, Polyvagal Theory and SSP for Trauma - Panel discussion with EMDR Experts

Welcome everyone to episode 21.
I am so happy to be revisiting the topic of EMDR in today's episode. I last spoke about EMDR in episode number 14 and it is by far the most popular.
So my goal for today is to help listeners, both practitioner and layperson, learn more about the evidence-based EMDR therapy as well as discover how an integrated EMDR/SSP approach may offer an optimal pathway to wellness.
In today's episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with 3 amazing clinicians, Jill Hosey, Eliza Fernandes, and Laurie Belanger, all EMDRIA Approved Consultants. Jill, Eliza, and Laurie are part of a Unyte EMDR think tank for developing guidelines about implementing the SSP within the EMDR therapy approach. Other members of the team who were unable to attend include Nicole Black and Marshall Lyles, both also EMDRIA Approved Consultants.
You will gain a deeper knowledge of EMDR therapy in trauma, the Polyvagal Theory connection, and implementation of the SSP acoustic intervention. Each practitioner shares their passion for supporting their client's journey to wellbeing using an integrated approach of both Safe and Sound Protocol and EMDR therapy.
Before we start a little about my guests-
Jillian Hosey is a Clinical Social Worker and Trauma Therapist who is a founding partner of Healing Therapy Alliance (HTA) and the PsychoSomatic Trauma Initiative in Toronto. She is Course Director, York University, School of Social Work

Laurie M Belanger has been providing services as a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist and is from East Amherst NY.

With her degree in Social Work, Eliza Fernandes has been providing psychotherapy services in Toronto, Canada
Please see below for contact information for each Unyte-EMDR team member.
Some Key Points to listen out for:
What is EMDR therapy- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Current understanding of the role of Bilateral Stimulation- (REM- during sleep; Orienting Response; Parasympathetic system; Working Memory)
EMDR is a memory processing therapy- putting the past in the past
How traumatic memories are stored in the brain
The Adaptive Information processing model
Current symptoms are manifestations of past difficult experiences
EMDR & Polyvagal Theory- PVT provides the bottom-up understanding of how the "body needs to feel safe"
Implementing SSP in the EMDR triphasic approach to trauma
SSP effective in the Preparatory/Stabilization Phase
SSP as a stabilizing resource to help get to the more difficult processing
SSP as a diagnostic tool to help assess "Affect Tolerance"
SSP builds positive affect in preparation for memory processing
SSP during Phase 8 to consolidate gains
SSP Guidelines for EMDR practitioners- set of recommendations and considerations for EMDR therapists
Books and Resources recommendations- EMDR and Somatic Psychology; Neurobiological Foundations for EMDR Practice-(listen in for more great resources!)
I hope everyone enjoys this episode. Such a wonderful group.
To contact me the best email is [email protected] (yes, this is a different email, but it is my main working one so easier to monitor) I love to hear comments or feedback.
Please join our private FB group Safe and Sound Protocol Podcast- A polyvagal Informed Therapy for new learning opportunities and other information shared.
If you liked this episode it would be a great honor if you could share it with a colleague or friend.
Take care,
remember to breathe low, slow, and smile.