Grainy scenes filter from ancient memory caches to conscious narrative recall: I’m chasing a gentle tide rolling in and out, somewhere off the Jersey shore, when an exuberant wave grabs […]
Read MoreFor a New Beginning
“Awaken your spirit to adventure. Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk. Soon you will be home in a new rhythm. For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”
- John O’Donohue
About Me
Nancy Eichhorn
A writing mentor
I am a writer, editor, and credentialed educator with advanced degrees in Education, English, and Clinical Psychology, specializing in somatic psychology. I work with individuals and groups, integrating embodied writing, narrative therapy, somatic psychology, body psychotherapy, body-mind practices, mindfulness meditation, and sound therapy.
My current projects include mentoring professionals in scholarly/academic and memoir writing, publishing Somatic Psychotherapy Today, facilitating writing workshops (scholarly and creative nonfiction), ghostwriting, editing, and working with students in private sessions. My specialties include writing, editing, and supporting clients as they explore their somatic and affective experiences and learn how to give voice to their embodied expression through gesture, posture, mobility, breath, sound, drawing, printed text, and dialogue.
"You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page."
Jodi Picoult
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Current Articles
Contemporary Reichian Analysis
Contemporary Reichian Analysis: Evolutive Stage, Epigenetics, and the Neuromediator Dynamic Written by Genovino Ferri and Edited by Nancy Eichhorn I recently had the pleasure of editing a fascinating article […]
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Polyvagal Prompts: Finding Connection and Joy Through Guided Explorations
Written by Deb Dana, LCSW and Courtenay Rolfe, LCPC Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD “The autonomic nervous system is at the heart of our lived experience.” (Dana & Rolfe, 2024, […]
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The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook
The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook Authored By Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD I reviewed Ryan Niemiec’s textbook, Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners, […]
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Breathwork and Psychotherapy
Grainy scenes filter from ancient memory caches to conscious narrative recall: I’m chasing a gentle tide rolling in and out, somewhere off the Jersey shore, when an exuberant wave grabs me. It’s supersized and supercharged—no, I didn’t see it coming. It tumbles me right then left, then smashes me up and down. I claw my way back to what I think is the surface, all the while gagging for air and sucking in salt water. I hold my breath when the doctor tells me to, so I won’t feel any pain as he injects a long needle into my arm. I’m confused, wheezing and gasping for air—the whistle in my lungs as I try to inhale is foreign. It’s the first spring after my fiancé was killed in a motorcycle accident. My father calmly says, “Oh, you have asthma.” The hypothesis? Grief-induced. Holding my breath, having the air knocked out of me losing the ability to breathe when the love of my ‘young’ life died. Not breathing in whatever iteration allowed me to detach from life and not feel anything. Inhale/Exhale I had never given much thought to past experiences that influenced my present-day breathing patterns until I read Jessica Dibb’s breath biography in her recently released book, Breathwork and Psychotherapy: Clinical Applications for Healing and Transformation. I realized that I frequently hold my breath in uncomfortable situations, physical or emotional, blocking any impending pain and suffering. Yet the rational cognitive part of me knows that it’s not true—it’s a myth my brain’s recordings cling to and reinforce by demanding extended pauses in airflow. I know air seeps in and out despite my urge to suppress any in- or exhalations, otherwise I’d be dead. From Past to Present Breathing, something everyone does who’s alive, is coming to the forefront in psychotherapeutic settings. It has been the crown jewel in many cultural/spiritual practices for centuries (i.e., India’s yogic traditions, Qigong, Tai Chi, ancient Egyptian practices, Chinese philosophy and medicine, Taoism, Judaism, Christian and Russian Orthodox traditions, and Jewish mysticism, to name a few that Jessica discusses). Physicians have been concerned about our ability to breathe, whether it is related to our lungs or to other organs involved in the breathing process (also discussed in this book). As far as I can recall, no one discussed breathing during my graduate school years. We discussed body awareness, somatic focusing, and pendulation (a brief point to note), but not how our breath can bring us into our body to then explore what we sense in a particular space or time. Not a negative, just a point: back then, breathwork was not as prominent as it is today. As of this writing, I have recently received articles involving breathwork for potential publication in Somatic Psychotherapy Today. I see that colleagues are offering workshops and presentations on breathwork, and Norton Publications sent me Jessica’s new book. I can safely say that breathwork is trending. When I started reading Jessica’s book, I had no idea of the
Contemporary Reichian Analysis
Contemporary Reichian Analysis: Evolutive Stage, Epigenetics, and the Neuromediator Dynamic Written by Genovino Ferri and Edited by Nancy Eichhorn I recently had the pleasure of editing a fascinating article by Genovino Ferri for Somatic Psychotherapy Today. His work stretches my perspectives in new directions, inviting me to learn new advances in the field of body psychotherapy. I’m pleased to share his article here and on SPT Magazine’s website, LinkedIn and Facebook. “Increasing awareness and understanding of epigenetics and neuroplasticity in current research has resulted in a new perspective of psychotherapy that is integrated with neurobiological information. This information is at the root of an emerging paradigm shift in body psychotherapy that I call Evolutive Stage Neuromediator Vegetotherapy. I am proposing a route for descending into the depths of Analytical Time and for re-emerging at the surface without getting lost during the analytical-therapeutic journey. This process allows greater appropriacy and permits therapists and their clients to delve into Analytical Time and re-emerge without getting lost during the analytical-therapeutic journey. Epigenetics and Psychotherapy Conrad Waddington coined the term epigenetics in the 1940s when discussing environmental factors modifying gene expression that resulted in phenotypes– observable traits determined by our genes and the environmental influences on these genes. Psychology’s interest in epigenetics arises from studies that have demonstrated that epigenetic mechanisms influence patterns of neurological development and brain function. While neurogenesis and neuroplasticity play a role in rewiring the brain, epigenetics highlights the role thoughts, behaviors, and experiences play in our gene expression, which in turn, impact our brain and body. Moving neuroscience further into the world of psychoanalysis, geneticist Eric R. Kandel demonstrated that memories can be modified by learning processes, which are translated into new neuronal circuits (Siracusano & Rubinoo, 2006). From a neurobiological (and bodily) perspective, psychotherapy may cause changes in patterns of behavior utilizing a learning process that can influence gene expression and modify synaptic connections. Thanks to developments from Kandel’s studies words have acquired the dignity of being therapeutic, by making modifications to the central nervous system’s plasticity–our words, spoken and thought, can rewire our brain and impact our genetic expression resulting in new psychodynamic behavioral patterns. Epigenetics and Human Patterning: Starting with the Arrow of Evolutive Time The perinatal period may represent a critical window of opportunity during which environmental experiences can produce long-term effects on the nervous system and behavior. In particular, the process of learning goes as far back along our arrow of evolutive time as the embryo-fetus-newborn’s earliest sensory experiences in the primary object relationship, which is to say as far back as our inter-corporeal, intrauterine pre-subjectivity. For example, insecure attachment styles favor imbalance on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the creation of an allostatic load, which is to say a condition of exhaustion of internal resources caused by prolonged stress or because of an organism’s poor adaptive capability (McEwen, 2004). In particular, stress acts not only on the prefrontal cortex but also on the hippocampus and the amygdala – central nervous system structures
Polyvagal Prompts: Finding Connection and Joy Through Guided Explorations
Written by Deb Dana, LCSW and Courtenay Rolfe, LCPC Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD “The autonomic nervous system is at the heart of our lived experience.” (Dana & Rolfe, 2024, pg. 54) Imagine a moment of nothingness. See yourself setting your phone to ‘do not disturb’, putting your computer in sleep mode, and popping out the ear pods. Heck, why not just move away from your workstation and head outside? Perhaps sit in the sunshine. Or find a comfortable spot in the shade. Disconnect from external distractions and quiet your internal chatter. Let silence float through you. Within this pause, breathe, turn your focus inward, and listen. When words ramble through, focus on the space between the thoughts. Listen. Your body will speak to you. Its language pulsates through your being, an energetic movement that guides you deeper inward. Tuning into times of connection with ourselves supports a sense of safety in the present moment; we are peaceful and calm; we can reach out and connect without fear. We resonate within so we can expand outward and be part of whatever else may be. Life is well lived. Now, looking at this pause from a polyvagal perspective (academic vocabulary alert), with enough safety, our ventral vagal energies ebb and flow, changing how we experience the world and guiding us toward connection and ease. If danger triggers our dorsal vagal energy, we may become immobilized and collapse. If our sympathetic nervous system’s flight or fight response is triggered, our energy will mobilize us for self-defense. Going back to our pause for a moment of reflection. Can you feel the energy guiding your experience? Can you tune into what state (ventral, dorsal, sympathetic) is directing your thoughts? Behaviors? Sensations? What is happening at the present moment in your autonomic nervous system? Beneath our “level of conscious awareness, our nervous system directs our movement toward and away from people, places, and experiences” (Dana & Rolfe, 2024, pg. 56). And this guidance is critical to our health and well-being. But we aren’t born knowing how to do it. Deb Dana, LCSW, and Courtney Rolfe, LCPC joined forces to write “Polyvagal Prompts: Finding Connection and Joy Through Guided Explorations.” They know we don’t innately know how to self-regulate our physiological and psychological states–we learn by co-regulating with attuned caregivers. But that doesn’t always happen. So, as adults, we can learn by reading books, attending workshops, and paying for psychotherapy. A look back before going forward: polyvagal theory and psychotherapy . . . To read the full review, please click here To listen to a conversation facilitated by Kevin Olsen (Norton Publishers) with Deb Dana and Courtenay Rolfe, please check out their YouTube video
The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook
The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook Authored By Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. Reviewed by Nancy Eichhorn, PhD I reviewed Ryan Niemiec’s textbook, Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners, in 2017. Part of my comments included the need for hands-on activities for readers to use, access to audio meditations, and so forth. And here we have it: The Mindfulness and Character Strengths Workbook is everything I hoped for and more. It is a well-written, easy-to-follow, detailed to the nth degree workbook with extensive, free online materials to support the process including audio-guided meditations. Congratulations Ryan on a much-needed workbook to support people exploring character strengths and their integration with mindfulness. Why write a workbook? The reasoning for this workbook was two-fold. The first was to fill a gap. It seems there were no books for readers (a general audience) to learn about and practice working with the integration of character strengths and mindfulness. Yep. I agree. Second, practitioners clamored for a user-friendly book for their students, clients, and employees who were studying mindfulness-based strengths practice (MBSP). I understand why after going through this workbook! Readers might wonder: why should I integrate character strengths with mindfulness? Some might even wonder what character strengths are and why they matter in our lives. According to Ryan, one without the other is “deflated” and “hollow” (pg.2). I offer two quick definitions for each, per Ryan, and then I’ll dive into the workbook. Mindfulness: open awareness and curiosity. Character strengths: the core (best) parts of you. The Set Up The workbook flows sequentially with an 8-week MBSP program. Readers are encouraged to spend one week per session giving time and space to listen to audio meditations, read the information, write responses, and be present with what is happening. The process is exploratory. Readers have the opportunity to experience mindfulness and character strengths through a series of questions, activities, and reflections on their feelings, ideas actions, and behaviors while immersed in the process. What outcomes can a reader expect? Per page 2 of the workbook: (1) Discover and understand your inner capacity to be mindful and see and use your character strengths. (2) Identify your signature strengths (the top five character strengths as determined by an online assessment–you can receive a free copy or pay for a more detailed discussion of your results) as well as your over and underused strengths and how to improve this pattern (3) Examine how mindfulness and character strengths can enhance your health and well-being and aid you in times of conflict and distress. (4) Apply the lessons/strategies to your everyday life. (5) Add practical strategies to your toolbox. (6) Take immediate action to address what’s happening in your life. To read the review, please click here
Praise
“Nancy Eichhorn is a fabulous writer, editor, and
facilitator/ally on the journey forward with whatever you
are writing. She has helped me more than I can say to put
together published chapters and articles and continues to
coach me as I stumble forward to try and rewrite one book
and complete another. Simply put, you will find no one
better as aside from her excellent skills, she is ‘with you’
as she has been and is with me in all my trials, tribulations,
stalls, blocks, and triumphs.”
Ian Macnaughton, MBA, PhD, FEA, SEP
“Nancy was intuitive and efficient in working with me to bring out
my thoughts and ideas. She was knowledgeable about my subject
matter and sensitive and skillful in helping me bring my writing
to a very satisfactory level. Nancy knew how to support my
writing without making me feel like she was taking over. Her
editing suggestions and guidance took my project to a much
better completion than if I had done it without her.”
“I highly recommend Nancy Eichhorn as editor and
facilitator. Nancy has been my consultant in a
number of writing processes – she has helped me
reach a higher level of professional writing – with
warmth and professional expertise.”
“I have worked with Nancy and found her to be an excellent
editor, but her very special gift is the way she encourages and
stimulates the creative aspect of one’s writing to emerge from
the depths of the unknown. I highly recommend her.”
Executive Director of Continuum Movement®
President of Somatic Understanding Research Foundation
(SURF)
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