NeuroAffective Touch® — NATouch™ — is a mind-body treatment modality developed by Dr. Aline La Pierre in the early 2000’s.
It’s a Polyvagal-Informed psychobiological approach that integrates elements of somatic psychotherapy, attachment and developmental theory, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and affective and interpersonal neurobiology.
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The therapeutic modality highlights the primary role of the body, and emphasizes its equal importance to the mind and addresses emotional, relational, and developmental deficits and trauma that cannot be reached by verbal means alone.
NATouch interweaves talk therapy, gentle touch, mindfulness, body-mind dialogue, and nurturing support to integrate mind, body, heart, and the nervous system.
One of the ideas behind the modality is to help repair developmental trauma by offering clients the fundamental “missing” nonverbal experiences of connection, support, attunement, and nurturing. That is, notably those experiences that were missing in their childhood.
Sessions help build a connection to physical sensations of trust and comfort that are thought to generate new emotional and cognitive options, and foster an enhanced life experience.
It’s thought that NATouch sessions can help people restore connection with themselves and others, establish a feeling of safety in their body, develop a compassionate relationship between mind and body, increase states of calm and relaxation, release old wounds, access heart wisdom, and build new patterns of behavior.
