What is Bilateral Body Mapping?:
Cornelia Elbrecht describes this approach as follows:
“What I am saying is that trauma responses are predominantly physiological, and need to be undone though our body. If we understand cognitively part of the story, that is fine, but this is often not possible, because we were either too young, when something happened, or anaesthetized or drugged. Nervous system regulation is actually more important than telling the story; the story is easily re-traumatiing, especially once the associated overwhelming emotions erupt. “
“Rhythmic bilateral drawing or connecting with the physical resistance of clay supports an immediate feedback loop of interaction with the world at hand and its resonance within the individual. It fosters the development of new neurological pathways that can bypass traumatic memories to restore wholeness and wellbeing.”
I received training from Cornelia Elbrecht and I would describe the approach as follows.
Working with drawing media we allow the body to respond to the somatic effects of trauma and to offer release and relief through the use of the drawing and massaging on paper. this allows the body and brain feedback loop to lower the physiological response and to bring the body back into a sense of calm or stasus rather than overwhelm.