Neuroaffective touch
Safety is a birthright.
Please read that again
We are born with a need to feel Held,
a need to feel Soothed,
a need to feel Safe.
Safety is Deserved, not earned
Somewhere between birth and adulthood, this message gets lost.
And for those of us with childhood trauma, no one ever taught us this.
Trauma distorts and hijacks this inherent feeling of safety, especially when it occurs early in life. Our little child brains become overwhelmed and stressed by the world around us. We begin to see the world as unsafe and ourselves as unlovable.
We don't just "outgrow" these feelings.
These protective patterns become wired into our brains.
And as a result....
Scared baby brains become scared adult brains.
Overwhelmed children become overwhelmed adults.
Childhood hurts become Grown-up wounds.
Often, what we call "triggers" are really just moments when the adult brain reverts back to this earlier circuitry. In these moments, we feel like children again as the brain is desperately crying out for help, for soothing, and for love.
We can't easily self-soothe if we were never taught how
This is where NeuroAffective Touch can be helpful
You deserve to be in environments that bring out the softness in you, not the survival in you.
Ronne Brown
Touch is the first language an infant experiences.
NeuroAffective touch® (NAT) uses this primal language to connect with the most innocent parts of our nervous system and to offer soothe in the present moment.
"Neuro": The Nervous System Connection
This refers to the direct biological link between your skin and your nervous system. When you practice intentional self-directed touch, you send a direct signal of safety to your brain, helping to calm a stressed or activated system.
"Affective": The Emotional Connection
This refers to the connection between what we feel emotionally and what we experience in our physical bodies. By bringing gentle awareness to the body, we can soothe emotional distress as it occurs in the present.
Nervous system
(+Brain)
TOUCH
Emotions
Touch connects the body, nervous system, and emotions, and they cannot be separated.
What does a NeuroAffective Touch® session look like?
Guided support for creating a body sanctuary of comfort (ie through the use of weighted blankets, self-touch of heart, Nurture to heal™ pillows, etc)
Utilizing forms of self-directed touch to explore self-soothing
Experiencing presence and attunement from another person
Connecting with your own somatic and sensory experience and asking,
How can I create more safety here?
I describe it like this:
I use elements of NAT to inform my work, but it is not a protocol or requirement. All somatic or self-touch invitations are entirely optional and client directed. All of my sessions are remote and therefore my NAT modalities are not directly hands-on.
My scope is limited to coaching and therefore I utilize it predominantly for the purposes of safety resourcing and nervous system regulation, not to process past trauma or access specific memories. Licensed therapists are able to utilize a psychotherapy application of NAT for deeper trauma work.
For more information about The NeuroAffective Touch Institute, please visit:
