Lifespan Integration Therapy
What is Lifespan Integration (LI)?
LI is a gentle trauma healing method that uses a memory timeline in conjunction with somatic (body) strategies to work toward healing. Similar to EMDR, the goal is not to talk through, or verbally process, traumatic events. One goal of Lifespan Integration is to decrease activation (physical and emotional reactions) around traumatic events. Another goal is to create a strong core self, because trauma often leaves us with incorrect and harmful beliefs about ourselves. A strong core self looks like:
being about to regulate your emotions (not have angry outbursts, etc.)
developing a secure attachment style
greater self-awareness
self-love for past and present versions of yourself
How does it work?
You and your therapist will develop a memory timeline. Your therapist will help you develop a timeline best suited to your needs. Cues (short prompts of a couple words) will trigger each event in your memory timeline. As your therapist reads the cues, you will practice releasing some of the energy you feel by squeezing a pillow and pressing your feet into the ground. You may experience activation (increased feelings of stress, fear, increased heart rate and breathing) but your therapist will work with you to remain in your window of tolerance. When you are in your window of tolerance you are neither hyperaroused (agitated, anxious, panicky) or hypoaroused (numb, disassociated, checked out). Many clients experience feelings of resilience, hopefulness, and gratitude after working through their timelines.
Why does it work?
Traumatic events in our lives can leave us feeling stuck and with memory gaps. From the Lifespan Integration website, "Seeing repetitions of the flow of time proves to clients that they have survived their pasts, no matter how traumatic. The timeline always ends in present time. Through the process of LI therapy, clients come to understand, on a cellular level, that they are living here and now in present time. The process of viewing repetitions of chronological memories of their lives strengthens connections between neurons within clients’ body-mind systems to build an increasingly coherent and more broadly distributed map of self through space and time. Neuroscience tells us that a space-time map of self is key to a unified sense of Self."
Let us know if you have any questions about Lifespan Integration or are interested in trying it with your therapist.