Embodied Images of Suffering and Individuation in Authentic Movement

Abstract

This heuristic self-inquiry explored the impact of betrayal trauma on the bodysoul. Using Authentic Movement and active imagination, the author tracked and recorded details of her animate, embodied experience of suffering following betrayal trauma and noted how those details were catalysts to healing and progression on an individuation path as described by C. G. Jung. Phenomenological data included body movement, images, and rituals recorded over an eight-year period. Findings showed that the overlapping practices of Authentic Movement and active imagination were uniquely suited for navigation through the territory of betrayal trauma as they provided a balance of structure, permission, and witnessing presence necessary for traversing dark places and they facilitated a passage through suffering, connecting the author to living, healing images, symbols, and forces within her individual body, psyche, and beyond. Noted themes were synchronicities, images of the objective psyche, archetypal pairs of opposites, and a naturally unfolding progression from despair to integration. The study may be relevant for depth psychotherapists, somatic practitioners, trauma workers, Authentic Movement practitioners, mental health clinicians, treaters of betrayal trauma, and those seeking an embodied, soul-centered way of dwelling with, working through, and finding meaning in adult emotional trauma and suffering.