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Over the next few weeks I'll be publishing this next article on the importance of safe touch. Because it is lengthy, and a bit more technical, I'll be breaking it up into three parts. I hope it will be helpful and equipping, as well as something you will be able to share with your therapists, support people, doctors, and family members. As always, I hope you'll ask questions, send comments, let me know if this is helpful for you or not, whatever! :)
"Touch is one of the most essential elements of human development, a profound method of communication, a critical component of the health and growth... and a powerful healing force" (Zur, 2004). Touch can bring some of life's most enjoyable experiences, "and some of its most aggravating," say Bear, Connors and Paradiso (2001). "Somatic sensation enables the body to feel, to ache, to chill, and to know what its parts are doing. It is sensitive to many kinds of stimuli... including temperature, pain, and body position." Touch, as we will see in this article, communicates other things to us, as well, and on other levels that may come as a surprise to some of us. A little on anatomy first here, though, and a bit of terminology for those of you who aren't familiar with some of the terms we'll be using in this article. You'll note the word, "tactile" used later on, which simply refers to something tangible or physical. Touch begins at the "dermis," the skin, which is the largest "sensory" (this word means, pertaining to sense organs; sensation) organ we have. Throughout the skin are distributed tiny "receptors" (a receptor is a specialized structure that is sensitive to certain types of "stimuli" or change in physical energy) all throughout the body. It is through the skin, through touch, that the newborn first learns about its world and draws conclusions about that world, whether it is a safe place, or a hostile one (Leboyer, 1975; Wilson, 1982). Obviously, touch serves an essential purpose! Hunter & Struve (2001) tell us "these patterns will create a template by which subsequent interpersonal relationships will be formed." How, then, are we to see the awful effects that abuse has left on the wounded reversed unless we can ourselves see what an essential part reassuring, caring touch plays in our lives? Touch has become another great taboo. The research, if we can find it, will show us that we are a people literally starving for safe, healthy, healing physical touch. For those who can afford it, a minimum of a dollar per minute to oh-so-much-more will be spent for the comfort of a soothing touch. We pay the massage therapist at the chiropractor's, the spa, the salon, or even the mechanical chair on display at the mall if that's what it takes.
The copyright of the article The Importance of Safe Touch in the Healing Process in Multiple Personality is owned by . Permission to republish The Importance of Safe Touch in the Healing Process in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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