Bonding (psychotherapy)

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The Bonding Psychotherapy (formerly New Identity Process or NIP ) is a therapeutic approach that Dan Casriel , psychiatrist and analyst, under an order of the State of New York to work with hard drug addicts founded in the 1960s. Today bonding is used as group therapy for many mental disorders.

development

In Germany Dan Casriel and his concept in were known 1970s by collaborating with the then chief doctor of the Psychosomatic Clinic in Bad Herrenalb , Dr. Walther H. Lechler . Since then, several psychosomatic clinics and resident psychotherapists in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, France and the USA have been using this method. In recent years she was led by Dr. Konrad Stauss, former chief physician of the Psychosomatic Clinic Bad Grönenbach, described in modern psychological terms on the basis of the consistency theory of Grawe , the attachment theory , modern brain research and the process-experience approach of Greenberg (1984) and Elliot (1999).

Therapy concept

The focus of this process- and experience-oriented therapy approach is the satisfaction of the vital and neurobiologically anchored basic psychosocial needs for physical closeness (bonding) and emotional openness, attachment , autonomy , self-worth , for physical well-being, for pleasure and a sense of life. In the bonding process, that is, in what Casriel calls the "experience of emotional openness", combined with physical closeness to another person, the injuries within the bonds to parents, siblings and other formative attachment figures should be activated and the associated feelings , negative attitudes , physical blockages and destructive behavior patterns are worked through.

Hurting experiences (violence, disregard, lack of security, closeness and love) create pain, anger and fear and lead to dysfunctional attitudes ("Nobody likes me"). This is often associated with the fact that primary feelings (fear, anger, pain, joy, love) can no longer be expressed correctly. The related needs can then often no longer be expressed.

Attitudes towards one's own feelings arise during the learning and socialization history. This attitude becomes dysfunctional with sentences like “a boy doesn't cry”, “a decent girl doesn't do that”, “don't be so loud”, “be nice” etc. People have learned that expressing strong feelings has a high social price Has. For example, the expression of anger or anger is inhibited in many people by negative attitudes and beliefs. "When I show my anger, I become a problem / am I unreasonable / I will leave, etc." An effective and appropriate expression of anger, which is used for protection and demarcation, was simply never learned. Instead, anger has been associated with destruction. In the mammal kingdom, however, anger is very often used primarily as a deterrent through the sustained clarification of boundaries, and only secondarily as a destructive attack.

Negative attitudes regarding one's own emotional expression lead to so-called 'substitute feelings' being expressed instead of 'primary feelings', for example instead of deep anger - spite, instead of bubbling joy - shallow niceness, instead of deep emotional pain - plaintive tearfulness in the established own misery. Typical dysfunctional attitudes that prevent primary emotional expression are for example: "Showing feelings is as embarrassing as peeing in public", "If I really allow my pain, I will dissipate", "If I really allow my anger, I go crazy and destroy everything and everyone here "," If I live out my joy directly and loudly, everyone turns away from me, embarrassed, and I remain alone. "

The vicious circle of longing for a relationship, inhibited or dysfunctional expressions of needs, the resulting disappointment in relationships and subsequent avoidance of relationships should be made comprehensible and interrupted at the lowest level physically, emotionally and linguistically in the therapy group.

method

In practice, the therapy consists of a series of bonding work and work in the attitude group. It is usually embedded in a therapeutic community and accompanying or subsequent individual or group therapy.

Bonding on the mat

Casriel therapy is usually carried out in pairs in larger groups under the guidance and support of several therapists. After an introduction by the leader and a possible "warm-up phase", the partners choose each other. One partner works, the other accompanies. The worker lies on his back on a mat, the companion lies down on him, so that a maximum of body contact occurs. The person lying below hugs the companion and then begins to perceive his sensations and feelings. He names ascending feelings as uncensored as possible (for example "I'm afraid"). The companion does not intervene in this process, but is only a "witness". The client may be supported by questions or suggestions from the therapist, for example by suggesting that the mentioned feeling be expressed louder and louder. The client expresses his feeling louder and louder (for example "I am afraid. - I am AFRAID! - SHIT AFRAID!") Until he is completely filled with this feeling and / or the feeling disappears and another feeling gives way. In the process excerpt described, the therapist could make the suggestion that the emotional expression "Shit fear!" to reinforce the resulting angry and powerful component, for example by stimulating the client to shout: "MY FEAR IS MY STRENGTH!".

This new attitude towards one's own fear, which up to now may have been exclusively experienced as paralyzing, can be reflected upon and further strengthened within an attitude group. During the entire bonding process, the client has the positive experience that the bonding partner remains in close contact, although the client allows himself to express himself and experience things that he has previously avoided as highly problematic and possibly unacceptable.

A typical emotional course can lead from fear - through anger, guilt, pain, grief - to joy, happiness and tender loving erotic feelings. Such courses can be repeated several times. A session lasts around two to four hours and the partners take turns after half-time.

Other forms besides the classic "sandwich position" are, for example, the so-called "holding", eye bonding (in which one stands or sits opposite one another, holds hands and looks into the eyes), hugging while standing, bonding side by side in threes (a Working man in the middle, one companion next to him).

Settings group

In the attitudes group that follows or takes place at the same time , new positive attitudes are developed with regard to the expressions of feelings and needs experienced during the bonding process. They should be integrated as parts of one's own identity that have been defended against so far . The expression of the need for interpersonal contact, as it is appropriate to the social and today's biographical reality, is reinforced, for example, by means of attitude sentences.

Classic attitudes are, for example, "My fear is my strength", "I am entitled", "I need and take you close."

Whether one works with mutual holding (bonding), with other body therapy techniques or as part of the setting group, depends on the individual client's ability to integrate.

Transfer and accompanying therapy

Bonding therapy often takes place within a therapeutic community , for example in a psychosomatic clinic . There, the experiences from bonding and the newly acquired attitudes can be implemented and integrated into everyday life. Even with deep emotional outbursts that occur in trauma patients, for example, people then find the necessary loving support in the community. The same applies to working together in workshops and therapy groups lasting several days.

If these possibilities are not given, bonding therapy requires accompanying individual or group therapy so that the patient can process his emotional experiences and new attitudes in a good way and integrate them into his life. Dan Casriel mentions in his publications that many patients ("not all") need individual therapy after bonding therapy. For severely traumatized patients and for patients with severe anxiety disorder or borderline patients, accompanying psychotherapy is necessary. Only in this way can they process the deep emotional experiences.

Further development of the method

Various bonding therapists have further developed bonding and it has long been combined with other forms of therapy such as psychodrama , gestalt therapy , transactional analysis and analytical therapy .

Contraindication

As part of the therapy for a borderline personality disorder , some important representatives of bonding therapy regard bonding as contraindicated . It can potentially lead to a split in personality: while one part of the patient is expressive , screaming and feeling, other parts of the personality freeze. They crawl into hiding, now even more adapt to a false self and operate crisis management there .

However, other representatives consider its use in borderline patients to be sensible under certain conditions and less severe degrees of severity, and this is practiced in some special clinics.

The same applies to panic disorders and trauma patients . Especially after sexual abuse , critics fear that the close physical proximity can lead to retraumatising flashbacks , which is why special therapeutic experience, a particularly supportive and secure setting and, if necessary, a modification of the "classic" mat work within bonding psychotherapy by the therapist is necessary .

Other contraindications are pregnancy and schizophrenic psychosis.

criticism

From a psychoanalytical point of view , the main point of criticism about bonding is that it is unclear how the intense emotional experiences on the mat can be integrated into everyday life or into further therapeutic work. The processing of what has been experienced usually takes place in a ritual collective manner, without the possibility of dealing with individual life stories in a differentiated manner.

See also

literature

  • Konrad Stauss : Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods. Kösel-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 . New edition, Tredition Verlag, Hamburg 2015
  • Dan Casriel : Rediscovery of Feelings: A Crying Away from Happiness. 12 & 12-Verlag, Oberursel, ISBN 3-930657-35-X
  • Ambros Wehrli: Introduction to the emotional group therapy according to Casriel. Volume 1 - You can do it, but you can't do it alone. Santiago Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-937212-06-7 .
  • Ambros Wehrli: Comments on emotional group therapy according to Casriel. Volume 2 - The School of Life. Santiago Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-937212-07-4 .
  • Hilarion G. Petzold : The four levels of therapeutic deepening, in integrative movement and body therapy, writings on theory, methodology and practice. Vol. I / 2 (pp. 378-383) Junfermann, Paderborn 1988.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ambros Wehrli: Introduction to the emotional group therapy according to Casriel. Volume 1: You can do it, but you can not do it alone Santiago-Verlag, Goch 2005, ISBN 3-937212-06-X , p. 11.
  2. ↑ Konrad Stauss: Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods . Kösel-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 , pp. 21, 22.
  3. ↑ Dan Casriel: Rediscovery of Feelings - A Cry Away From Happiness . 12 & 12-Verlag, Oberursel, ISBN 3-930657-35-X , p. 194.
  4. ↑ Konrad Stauss: Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods . Köselverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 , pp. 69-71.
  5. ↑ Dan Casriel: Rediscovery of Feelings - A Cry Away From Happiness . 12 & 12-Verlag, Oberursel, ISBN 3-930657-35-X , pp. 263-269.
  6. ^ Ambros Wehrli: Introduction to the emotional group therapy according to Casriel . Volume 1: You can do it, but you can't do it alone. Santiago-Verlag, Goch 2005, ISBN 3-937212-06-X , pp. 44, 47, 48.
  7. ↑ Konrad Stauss: Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods . Kösel-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 , pp. 226, 227.
  8. ↑ Konrad Stauss: Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods . Kösel-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 , pp. 226, 230, 235.
  9. ^ Ambros Wehrli: Introduction to the emotional group therapy according to Casriel . Volume 1: You can do it, but you can't do it alone, Santiago-Verlag, Goch 2005, ISBN 3-937212-06-X , pp. 61, 62, 68.
  10. ↑ Konrad Stauss: Bonding Psychotherapy - Basics and Methods . Köselverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-466-30716-3 , pp. 230, 231, 232.
  11. ↑ Konrad Stauss: New concepts for the borderline syndrome - inpatient treatment using the methods of transaction analysis. The Grönenbach model. Junfermann, Paderborn 1993, ISBN 3-87387-110-6 .

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