• Explains the simple yet transformative protocols and techniques of Mindfulness-Based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP)

• Describes how to work with specific emotional states, such as anxiety, grief and anger, and how to integrate MBSEP with other healing modalities

• Demonstrates concepts and practices in detail through dozens of case studies from the authors’ decades of therapy practice

Developed by Robert Weisz, PhD, Mindfulness-Based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP) is a simple practice that combines mindfulness and somatic perception to help regulate emotions and process traumas that are stored in the body. The authors explain the tools and techniques of MBSEP, and demonstrate these concepts and methods through decades of case studies.

Weisz and Blackwood explain how we are emotional beings who feel and experience our emotions in our bodies. They explain the contrast between the somatic, body-based experience of emotions as opposed to the mental, cognitively-based stories, explanations, and judgments of the thinking mind.

The authors explain the “struggle factor” and why it is futile to struggle against having negative emotions. They describe how to be mindfully present with emotional states like anxiety, anger, and grief and detail the healing influence of compassionate attention. Their methods foster neuroplasticity to create and expand neuronal linkages in the brain and nervous system. They also show how MBSEP can be integrated with other healing modalities.

Revealing how we can access the hidden truths within our feelings, this guide presents an effective protocol for processing emotions and for emotional regulation.

Robert Weisz, PhD, is the developer of MBSEP and a retired psychologist with over 50 years of experience. He lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Daniel Blackwood, MA, is the founder and director of the Evolution Group, Inc., a behavioral health organization since 1998. A practitioner of MBSEP for over 10 years, he is the author of Integrity Recovery and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

PART ONE

DEVELOPING A PERSONAL PRACTICE

Introduction to Part One:
Our Stories and Inspiration

1 What Is Mindfulness-Based
Somatic Emotional Processing?

2 Minding the Body, Embodying the Mind

Practice #1: Witnessing Anger

Practice #2: Emotional Memory

Practice #3: Emotional Memory Part Two

3 The Struggle Factor

Practice #4: Fighting with Fear

Practice #5: Attention to Anger

4 How We Acknowledge and Digest our Feelings

Practice #6: Leave the Story at the Door

Practice #7: Experiencing Pleasure and Pain

Practice #8: Emotional Regulation

5 Resourcing

Practice #9: Identifying Your Resource(s)

6 Breathwork

Practice #10: Mindful Breathing

Practice #11: Slowing Your Breath

Practice #12: Heart Math Breathing

Practice #13: Breath Awareness

7 Mindfulness and Witnessing

Practice #14: Cultivating Sensory Awareness

Practice #15: Mindful Affection

Practice #16: Witnessing Sadness

8 Compassion and Self-Compassion

Practice #17: Musical Attunement

9 Creating and Holding Space for Healing

Practice #18: Cultivating Felt Sense Attention

Practice #19: The Compassionate Witness

10 The Art and Practice of
Witnessing and Processing Emotions

11 A Step by Step Guide to MBSEP Practice

1. Initial Breathwork

2. Establish or Identify an Internal Resource

3. Acknowledge the Experience and Identify the Emotions

4. Notice the Body’s Experience

5. Remain Compassionately Present

6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 if Necessary to Support Additional
Processing and Release

7. Reflect on the Process and Assess
Additional Exercises for Processing Painful Experiences

Practice #20 Safe Place Resourcing

Practice #21: Breath Resourcing

Practice #22: Processing a Painful Experience

Practice #23: The Last Day of Your Life

PART TWO

THE THERAPEUTIC MANUAL

Introduction to Part Two:
MBSEP in Counseling and Psychotherapy

12 The Attuned Relationship in the
Context of Polyvagal Theory

13 Overview and Considerations

14 Creating Safety

15 Emotional Processing

16 Working with Specific Emotional States

17 Functional Issues

18 Questions about MBSEP

19 Supporting and Honoring Ourselves

20 Case Studies

Resources

References

Index