Embodiment, healing & otherness : interpretations of somatic methods as part of the healing from the experience of otherness
Silverio, Julia (2023)
Silverio, Julia
2023
Yhteiskuntatutkimuksen maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Social Sciences
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-05-09
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202304193924
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202304193924
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine the somatic methods as part of the healing process from socially constructed otherness. The study is located at the intersection of feminist research, therapeutic culture research, body and embodiment, phenomenology, and otherness research.
The study examines how somatic methods are perceived as a method for healing from the experience of otherness. In addition, the study investigates phenomenologically what personal and societal meanings are given to these healing experiences. Data was collected through eight interviews. Participants were somatic methods practitioners who all worked in Finland. Interviews were analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
The results of the study show that integration from otherness and somatics were connected to the experiences of the interviewees. Somatic methods strengthened the interviewees' experience of belonging to their bodies, other people, and the living environment. In addition, implementing the exercises as part of the group was perceived as an important part of the healing experience. Especially meaningful for the interviewees' experience was the process of being seen by the others in the group and witnessing the process of others. The social meanings the interviewees discussed were related to the possibilities of broadening the ways of expressing gender and some normative practices in somatic spaces. In addition, the interviewees experienced these opportunities as opposites of the society’s prevailing performance norm and capitalism. Somatic methods were seen as part of an alternative lifestyle that substantially impacted the interviewees' relationship with their bodies, how they relate to other people, and how they perceived their environment.
The study examines how somatic methods are perceived as a method for healing from the experience of otherness. In addition, the study investigates phenomenologically what personal and societal meanings are given to these healing experiences. Data was collected through eight interviews. Participants were somatic methods practitioners who all worked in Finland. Interviews were analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
The results of the study show that integration from otherness and somatics were connected to the experiences of the interviewees. Somatic methods strengthened the interviewees' experience of belonging to their bodies, other people, and the living environment. In addition, implementing the exercises as part of the group was perceived as an important part of the healing experience. Especially meaningful for the interviewees' experience was the process of being seen by the others in the group and witnessing the process of others. The social meanings the interviewees discussed were related to the possibilities of broadening the ways of expressing gender and some normative practices in somatic spaces. In addition, the interviewees experienced these opportunities as opposites of the society’s prevailing performance norm and capitalism. Somatic methods were seen as part of an alternative lifestyle that substantially impacted the interviewees' relationship with their bodies, how they relate to other people, and how they perceived their environment.