LBMS Developmental Patterns And Body Organization In Trauma-Informed Therapy
When I was fresh at Social Work school, I was taught that patterns created before age three couldn’t be changed. GOOD NEWS! This is not true! We could Re-patterns at any age.
In this article, we will take a peek at the ‘Body Organization’ concept based on Imgard Bartenieff’s approach within LBMA (Laban Bartenieff Movement Analysis) and how it can support our work with clients struggling with trauma.
LBMA/LBMS is a comprehensive system that allows us to observe, identify, and analyze different aspects of individual and universal movement patterns.
Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) was an architect, dancer, and choreographer who explored and mapped personal and universal movement patterns through geometric shapes. He was a movement theoretician, created the Labanotation (writing movement), and made dance approachable for everyone.
Laban defined four main categories for movement observation and documentation:
Body – What body part is moving?
Effort – The quality of the movement.
Space – Where is the body moving to (directions and dimensions)
Shape – How the body (mainly Core) changes in relation to space.
Irmgard Bartenieff (1900-1981) was Laban’s student. She was a dancer, choreographer, physical therapist, movement therapist, and researcher. Bartenieff continued Laban’s work and created the Bartenieff Fundamentals, the Basic 6 (a series of exercises based on Laban’s spatial ideas), her development pattern theory, and the idea that we can move without activating big muscles unnecessarily.
Bartenieff identified a list of fundamental concepts: Breath and Core support, Spatial Intention, Weight Transfer, Level Change, and more.
Body Organization Development Patterns.
Bartenieff’s developmental patterns refer to the stages where the baby’s movement patterns develop based on Inner Connectivity components. The baby must overcome a challenge at each stage to create healthy movement patterns. If the developmental task isn’t completed successfully, it will affect the following stages, causing compensation.
These Patterns of Body Organization are holistic and affect us as a Whole. Body-Mind-Spirit.
The Patterns:
Breathing: Breathing is a holistic interaction process between the Inner (within the limits of our skin) and Outer (outside of our skin). It enhances the baby’s connection to their Core.
When we work with clients dealing with trauma and anxiety, working with Breath Support (Bartenieff’s concept of using the ‘flow of breath’ to move effortlessly) is fundamental to their ability to re-organize their body in a more supportive way.
Breathing towards the Core and practicing three-dimensional breathing are some options to practice Breath Support without associating breath work with relaxation, as the client might not be ready to let go and relax.
Radial symmetry (Core-Distal Connection): At this stage, the baby develops the connection between the Core (sense of Self) and Distals (hands, feet, head, and tailbone). This connection is fundamental for differentiating Self and Others, creating healthy boundaries, and feeling balanced, grounded, and centered.
Engaging our clients with Core awareness is a supportive tool that, with practice, changes the general movement pattern into a safer and more supportive one.
Engaging the pelvic floor together with Core activation enhances this process.
The skin is our natural boundary from the world. Clients can stimulate their skin to ‘awaken’ their boundaries by tapping, massaging, or rubbing it.
Spinal Connection (Head-Tail Connection): The baby (about three months) becomes interested in objects and movements. They transfer between ‘soft glaze’ (Broad Space Effort) and ‘zooming in’ (Direct Space Effort).
Experiencing the world by exploring and using their five senses contributes to creating the Spinal Connection and its relationships with the digestive system, body symmetry, and preparation to bridge from Inner/Self to Outer/Others.
To activate and begin repatterning the spinal Connection, ask your client to sit straight and slowly start to look up until they arch their back (gently). Repeat in the opposite direction (looking down). Direct your client to initiate and lead the movement with their eyes as the rest of the body (spine and core) follow.
You can repeat with a rotation movement towards the wall behind.
Upper-Lower Connection: At about nine months old, the baby should master stooping, standing, and moving into the Vertical Plain (moving up and down vertically). In this stage, the developmental task is Intention. The baby learns to control their body weight and relations with gravity by using force to move intentionally and Reach objects and people with intention.
Years ago, I had a 7-year-old client whose parents had gotten divorced, hated each other, and barely communicated. My client lived in two homes and often wasn’t sure which house to go to. Due to his parents’ troubles, they struggled to maintain his afternoon activities schedule, and he was confused and Scattered.
He often fell and dropped things. When we played and moved around, I noticed that when he lost his balance, he wouldn’t break his fall by putting down his foot (if he was standing on one foot) or his hands. This child’s experience taught him that his actions do not influence his environment. He couldn’t find a safe and stable ground despite his efforts. We worked on engaging his Core, crawling, and jumping like rabbits and frogs to enhance the Upper-Lower connection. These activities enhance the Upper-Lower Connection to re-organize his body, increase stability, and regain control.
Homo-Lateral (Left-Right Connection): Intentional exploration of Self in relation to Space, meaning, ‘How do I organize my body to move’? As babies learn to master their body, they can reach further and adapt their posture, specifically their Core, as they learn about the relations between their Intentions, their body parts, gravity, and directions in space.
A car accident, for example, could cause an injury on one side, leading to e-symmetry between the left and right. This can cause a constant imbalance that affects how we respond to our environment. The body organizes itself around the e-symmetry, imbalance, or compromised Left-Right Connectivity and could manifest in decision-making, relationships, and planning.
Cross-Lateral Connection: At this stage (about 18-36 months), the baby masters running, jumping, spinning, and other movements that require shifting weight and vertically disconnecting from gravity. A healthy practice and exploration create a sense of competency, control, and ability to influence the environment.
The cross-lateral movement invites rotations and spiraling movements. Rotation translates to a wider range of movement, a broader perspective, and more options.
At this stage, the child begins to have a time perspective. They are interested in ‘when’ and begin to use it as they make decisions.
To rotate efficiently, our body organizes itself around the Axis Of Length. If done correctly, we feel centered, stable, and safe.
When safe, we can Rotate and be curious about exploring options and perspectives. We can attend to the big picture, which allows us to make healthier decisions by considering many components.
Developmental Patterns Of Body Organization and Trauma:
‘Neurons that fire together wire together’ Donald Hebb.
Even if early childhood development is optimal, trauma at a later age can interfere with how we organize our bodies by creating new patterns.
Complex childhood trauma creates many lairs of compensation throughout the Developmental Patterns.
Developmental Patterning might be compromised even with loving, caring parents due to issues such as birth complications, tongue tie, child’s sleeping problems, and parents creating an over-protecting environment, limiting the child’s ability to explore.
Compromised body organization affects physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral functions, creating a circle of compensation-based re-organization.
Here are some examples:
Physical: Digestive issues (not necessarily related to eating disorders), poor balance, grounding, and centering due to difficulty connecting to Core and gravity. Chronic pain, rigid or limited range of movement, limited Reach.
Emotional: Attachment issues, difficulty creating healthy boundaries and connections, trust issues, identity issues, and a poor sense of self.
Cognitive and behavior: Difficulty focusing, indecisiveness, struggle with time management, and trouble identifying danger and social situations (‘reading the room’).
In summary, a healthy and efficient body organization is one structured by our ability to connect all of our body parts to our Core, connect to gravity, and orient ourselves in Space. Trauma can disrupt this system, so by ‘healing’ the system using movement in space and attention to bodily sensations, we can process some of what happened to us without reliving the trauma to create new patterns of body organization that are more functional and supportive.
Using the Balansa Method, I integrate Laban’s and Barteniff’s work with other breathing and mindfulness techniques, stretch, touch, therapeutic approaches, and management & communication tools to create a holistic change.