Sophrology : the regular sessions
What to expect during a regular session of sophrology?
One classic session of sophrology lasts approximately one hour. Most of the time, one session a week is recommended. In case of a short-term care objective, several sessions a week would be scheduled; in some other cases, one session every two weeks would be considered. They follow the customised protocole created by the sophrology therapist.
The start
The session opens with a small recap: the patient would speak about his/her daily life and training since the last appointment (cf. the next article to be published « How does a sophrology care work through? Part 3: The training »), he would share potential improvements or issues he/she had to deal with in the meantime.
The running
Then, the therapist informs the patient about the session intension of the day, and presents the planned exercises sequence, as well as the intention attached to every single one of them.
The second step consists of the sequence, composed of 1 to 4 dynamical relaxation exercises and of 1 to 2 sophronisation exercises.
The dynamical relaxaton are series of soft moves, ponctuated with controlled breathing and sometimes, coupled with muscular-nervous contractions/tensions, especially configured for the patient beforehand ; led by the therapist, they are often executed in a standing posture. However they would be adjusted to any kind of mobility.
The sophronisations are rather looking like hypnosis, as they call for mental imagery ; the patient is sitting and the therapist guides him/her through personalised visualisations.
Along the whole process, the goal of the sophrology therapist is to help the person to reach a conscious level leading to a drop of psychological filters and mental blocks, with the aim of offering him/her an improved availability of his/her mind conciousness.
The conclusion
When the sequence is over, the therapist proposes an exchange with the person for him/her to debrief his/her experimentation.
To conclude, they define a training program together, in which the patient will reproduce the exercises of dynamical relaxation he/she preferred and will listen to a sophronisation by him/herself if he wants to.