Lifespan integration

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Peggy Pace · 2003 · near Seattle

What it is

Two treatment tracks

Format

• Typical course
• Within-session structure (Standard protocol, Pace 2012 via Rensch 2015)

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Two treatment tracks
• Self-structure building ('self-consolidation'). Use Baseline (and its variations), Birth, Attunement, Preverbal Attachment Repair and Cell Being. These suit early trauma or neglect, weak affect regulation, low self-esteem, insecure attachment and dissociative presentations. French LI practice runs self-consolidation protocols before repair protocols for these clients, and alternates the two across treatment. LI…
• When to change track: if each new event re-destabilises the client, or regulation is poor, return to self-consolidation sessions. Smith did this after a fresh violent event.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• As for 4.3.
• Shame on seeing the pattern; keep the focus on the body rather than self-criticism.
• The caregiver's own activation, which needs managing; the child's play themes shifting from danger to safety.
• Increasing ease and a 'denser' life story over sessions. Very early start points can stir non-verbal distress; keep within WOT.
• Clients who expect to 'find' hidden memories; correct this at the outset. Also watch for current abuse or a crisis, and treat safety first.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.