There's always more we can do

I firmly believe that there's always something more that can be done. This applies both in therapy and in everyday life.

When I say I've experienced this firsthand, it's literally true. At 18 months old, I climbed onto the stove and spilled boiling water on myself. I was unlucky but also fortunate. In the end, I only burned my foot and ankle. It could have been worse. I found a skilled surgeon, so there are only minor scars remaining—it doesn’t look like the severe third-degree burn it was. But my body certainly remembered it, and it reminded me at various stages of my life.

From a young age, I couldn’t stand tight clothing. At the time, I was labeled as hyperactive, “nervous,” or “restless.” It wasn’t until years later that I realized my body remembered the painful moments when my bandages were changed. Only by working on that memory both physically and mentally did I resolve the issue.

As I grew older, even though there was no muscle damage, my foot maintained a protective position that led to physical instability, which also affected my emotional stability. It felt like I was always on the edge, both physically and metaphorically. Outwardly, it wasn’t very apparent. I was a highly cognitive child and then an adolescent, able to mask my internal world effectively. In fact, I even received diagnoses on the autism spectrum or Asperger’s. Later, I discovered these were partly accurate. Some of my behaviors were due to the lack of pruning in my neural networks (caused by being unable to walk for a few months after the burn, during a critical phase of neurodevelopment). But I was just a curious child who loved studying, so those diagnoses didn’t affect me much—I only saw the positive aspects (a great memory, winning math competitions, etc.). The problem was the underlying emotional bomb stemming from my foot’s posture, amplified by subsequent physical-emotional adjustment mechanisms higher up in my body. I managed to compensate for a long time on my own (but it was exhausting!), then received significant help from psychotherapy and other approaches (including more personal and artistic ones). Yet something was missing. I found that missing piece after various experiments, combining eye movements taught by a functional neurologist, a release technique taught by an unconventional physiotherapist, and some procedures I then called hypnotic (today I would categorize them under memory reconsolidation).

By integrating different disciplines and conducting numerous experiments, I've consistently found that there’s always more that can be done. For over 25 years, I have studied these aspects, conducted research, and dedicated my life to helping people who need this type of approach.

In this course, I share the synthesis of these years of work, with a particular focus on somatic memories and practical solutions. If you also wish to help others in these areas, I look forward to welcoming you to the course.

Dr. Fabio Sinibaldi - Founder of Integrative Sciences 

Multiple Levels of Somatic Memories

Address All of Them!

We have learned that traumatic memories can shape specific postures. By working on the somatic level (as it is more widely understood today), we help patients reprocess and restructure these memories, thereby altering their posture. True.

However, sometimes the posture doesn't fully change, even when there have been significant emotional improvements.
For instance, shoulders may be less tense, less forward or elevated, but still not in a physiological state. Bodily irritability remains significantly high. Alternatively, abdominal tension stays prominent. Or, the gaze remains averted, now more as a reflex than an emotional response.

These still-active patterns affect two levels: on one hand, they prevent the complete reprocessing of the trauma (because a piece is missing), and on the other, they manifest as other bothersome symptoms (the classic somatizations, such as stomach acidity, muscle pains, etc.).

This is due to different somatic memories. Understanding their mechanisms and having the right tools to address them is essential.

Find further insights on the main types of memories below.

1. Peripheral Bodily Memories that remain active even after Central Memories have been modified in psychotherapy

These are memories embedded in the peripheral nervous system, within muscles and tendons, which possess their own autonomy. Therefore, they require targeted action, easily achievable through simple movements.

CASE EXAMPLES: 

- Head Tilted Downward and Sideways: Appears as shyness but is actually a somatic memory of the protective reflex triggered when hitting a deer with a car (without physical harm to themselves).

- Stiff and Unnatural Gait: Caused by hypercontracted thigh adductor muscles following sexual abuse.

- Raised Shoulders in Children: Maintaining the posture adopted when being scolded as a young child.

TOOLS:

Through simple physical exercises (which patients can perform without the need for contact, simply by following our instructions) combined with techniques for mental-emotional reprocessing, these local memories can be easily released. This leads to greater overall well-being, completes the work by enhancing the ability to stay within the window of tolerance (and expands it). Additionally, it often frees narrative and implicit memories, which can then be reprocessed and integrated in various ways.

2. Memories of the network-that-connects-the-whole-body in Patterns that "trap" or "block" the body

These bodily patterns generate the same sensations perceived at the physical level (blockage, entrapment, entanglement) as well as at the level of motivation and personality.

This level (technically located within the neuro-myofascial network) significantly influences emotions, body maps, and self-image.

CASE EXAMPLES:

- Teenager with shortness of breath and lump in throat: Despite excellent work on breathing and emotional regulation.

- Young man with protective shoulder position: After a scooter accident, maintaining the position despite effective work by a psychotherapist and physiotherapist.

- Chronic and/or Neurogenic Pain: Broad but variable localization (e.g., sometimes lower back, sometimes one of the glutes, the so-called 'sciatica' appearing irregularly, etc.).

TOOLS 

You will learn techniques and exercises for your patients to perform and/or interact with them to unblock dysfunctional patterns embodied in the body.

The work proceeds in stages: first, bodily release; then reprocessing; culminating in multi-level integration (body, emotions, thoughts, identity).

3. Scars have their own Memory of the Traumatic Event

Scars (from accidents, such as cuts or burns; as well as surgical scars from childbirth or cosmetic surgery) and burns, if left untreated, create a negative biofeedback loop with all other memories connected to the event that caused them. This prevents proper reprocessing and the possibility of integration.

CASE EXAMPLES:

- Patient with medium-sized Burn Scar: Physically healed but still aware of active effects (e.g., not accepting the injury and their altered self-image).

Patient with a small arm burn scar: Healed and no longer visible, but with ongoing effects they are unaware of. This leads them to exclude the entire left arm from their body map, causing back pain, a distorted self-image, and clumsy movements that are often mistaken for ADHD symptoms.

Patients with Scars from Childbirth: Scars that compromise activation and sensitivity in the surrounding area.

Surgical Scars with Negative Connotations: (e.g., tumor removal) or positive and voluntary (e.g., breast implants) that prevent the correct reprocessing of the new self-image and/or maintain dysfunctional activation states, even if the traumatic memory has been reprocessed.

TOOLS

You will learn specific exercises that patients can perform independently under your guidance at home. These exercises help to release dysfunctional associations between physical pain, wound direction, breath blockage, and their related sensory, emotional, and cognitive levels.

4. Eye Movements to Use in New Specific Ways

Even in a well-established area like the connection between eye movements and traumatic memories, there are exciting new discoveries. For example, we will explore how to use eye movements toward the lesion/trauma and away from it to effectively reprocess related traumatic memories. Additionally, this approach can help balance the Central Autonomic Network (CAN), which we can describe as the "control center" of our self-regulation system.

CASE EXAMPLES:

- Patients who, during a collision—whether in sports or while accidentally bumping into someone while walking—direct their gaze in the opposite direction, preventing them from seeing the moment of impact.

- Patients Fixated on a Traumatic Element: Unable to look away when seeing a traumatic detail (e.g., someone looking at a wounded hand and realizing the cut is worse than expected; someone seeing a friend injured in an accident and unable to determine if they are alive or dead).

- Individuals with Concentration Difficulties.

- Individuals with Low Psychological and Behavioral Flexibility: (e.g., rigid thinking, difficulty considering others' viewpoints, restrictive habits, procrastination, etc.).

TOOLS

To address these aspects, we will introduce tools to incorporate into existing techniques as well as new specific techniques. The first category includes specific eye movements (different from those used in EMDR) that can be integrated into various memory reconsolidation and reprocessing procedures. The second category includes targeted techniques, such as the Inverse Physiological Replay.

5. Other Levels

There are additional levels of somatic memory, ranging from the cellular level (mitochondria, cellular protective reflexes, etc.) to alterations in the immune and metabolic systems. In this course, we specifically address the first four levels. For these other levels, you may consider enrolling in the Professional Master in Applied Integrative Sciences.