How a small “Nurture to Heal” pillow, has made a huge difference
With online therapy sessions creating distance between therapist and client, some of our therapeutic team have taken to using a small heart shaped “Nurture to Heal” pillow to allow individuals to feel comfort, protection, and support.
This tool is often used in Neuro Affective Touch, which looks to support all the organs of the body. The heart is particularly sensitive as, in life, it receives so many shocks that require gentle, careful healing so that we may move forward feeling emotionally robust and well.
The heart is not just a pump, it is a sensory organ. In the world of Psychology, it has traditionally been understood that emotions originate in the brain. However, recently, the role our heart has to play in our emotional experience has been recognised.
Our therapeutic team work with the heart to help our service users regulate their emotions. Kids Inspire’s Clinical Director and trauma specialist, Sue Bell, tells us how the heart shaped pillow has helped her to support her clients:
“The nurture to heal pillows have been an essential aid for me as a trauma therapist in giving clients a felt sense of what it is like to be safe, protected and supported. It is as if clients feel that they are receiving nurture and the warmth of a healthy loving hug”
Touch can have a significant role in supporting those who have experienced emotional trauma:
"How do you quiet down the frightened animal inside of you? The answer to that is probably in the same way that you quiet down babies. You quiet them by holding and touching them, by being very much in tune with them, by feeding and rocking them, and by very gradual exposure to trying new things." Psychiatrist Bessel Van der Kolk
This is just one way that our therapeutic team are reducing the distance between therapist and client that the move to online services has created.