Movement and Identity - by Marcia Bonato Warren (Paperback)

About the Book

This pioneering book guides therapists and bodyworkers in how to interpret the ways in which our multi-faceted identities are manifested in the body based on culture, communication, trauma, and systems of power. Using tools unique to the book, practitioners will have the opportunity to expand their client base with much more nuance and connection.

Book Synopsis

This trauma-informed approach to counselling and bodywork explores the ways in which varying facets of identity and culture manifest in the body, allowing a much more nuanced, person-centred approach to client care. Marcia Bonato Warren, MA, MA, LPC describes how our bodies interpret our identities, often informed by cultural norms, communication styles, trauma, and systems of power and oppression.

Therapists and bodyworkers reading this book will have the opportunity to engage personally and professionally, learning to build on their own somatic awareness in order to engage with compassionate curiosity rather than resistance when confronted with identity-based differences. Each section uses the SIA Loop, a mechanism representing three entry-points we use to process information: Sensation, Interpretation, Action, which supports the deeper work offered by the Identity Expression Infinity Loop, where identities are invited to move with strength and skill.

These pioneering tools allow readers to examine their own somatic experiences, beliefs, behaviours, and choices, all of which is supplemented with journal prompts and questions. In guiding readers in how to interpret the body's expression of identity, this unique guide maximises the potential of therapists to foster change, increase empathy, and nurture connection through trauma-informed, somatically aware bodywork.

Review Quotes

A rare and important book, written from an informed heart. The daughter of a distinguished Native American father and his extended Santa Clara Pueblo family, and her mother, an accomplished scholar and professional woman from Brazil and her deep cultural exuberance, Warren grew up with a sensitivity to the richness and confusions of different languages, rhythms, expressiveness and restraints all in the same family. With her in-depth studies in graduate school and years of work as a therapist, Warren has given us a work that is both deeply personal and poetic and at the same time immediately practical for the reader. Marcia Bonato Warren's reflections and research-based discussions will resonate with readers. A gifted storyteller, Marcia engages us. And as a social scientist she offers us models that become even clearer through revealing self-assessment exercises throughout the book. Written in clear and conversational language, the book invites personal discoveries for the solitary reader that also can be shared with others in intercultural and nonverbal communication classes, to the benefit of all. I love this book.--John Condon, Regents' Professor Emeritus, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico. Author of It Goes Without Saying: Culture as Communication

As a multicultural, trauma-informed somatic therapist and trainer, Marcia Bonato Warren is uniquely qualified to provide the practical tools, exercises, and clear explanations found in her book Movement and Identity. Warren's guidance is clear, accessible, and thorough, inviting us to become more accepting and compassionate toward ourselves as we navigate a multicultural world with choice and awareness as embodied multicultural beings. An essential resource for anyone but especially for counselors and counseling educators.--Uğur Kocataşkın, MA, LPC, PhD(c), Associate Professor, Naropa University, Buddhism-Informed Contemplative Counseling Program.

Marcia Bonato Warren clearly is an expert in the field of Multiculturalism, Somatic Therapy and her work related to Embodied Code-Switching(R). She captures so powerfully the way many of us move in the world. She leads us on a rich tapestry of what it means to hold a multicultural identity. The book is beautifully written. Marcia Bonato Warren combines her own stories with such vulnerability which invites us to do the same. She eloquently interweaves teachings, stories, theory, practical tools, and exercises that facilitate our self-reflection. The book is engaging, interactive with stories, inviting us to dive deep into our own process. She provides us with practical tools that we can use for our personal work and for our clients.--Dr Olga Vera, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Somatic Therapist

Marcia Bonato Warren has brilliantly highlighted the exquisitely dynamic ways multicultural people navigate the world by introducing the concept of Embodied Code Switching(R). Through the essential cultural art of storytelling as a tool of knowledge seeking and wisdom sharing, she has opened a pathway to multi-layered ways of knowing and ways of being. Movement and Identity offers the reader a blueprint for checking in with our mind, emotions and body from a cultural perspective with mindful embodied practices to support the varied experiences of moving through the world. This seminal work will be a resource for students and professionals alike for many years to come.--Angela M Grayson, PhD, President of the American Dance Therapy Association

With love, compassion, and profound wisdom, this book gently guides the reader through the internal navigation of intersecting identities. It invites readers to trust their bodies as a vital source of information and knowledge, encouraging a deeper connection to self and community. In a world that is often fragmented, this book arrives at the perfect time - it is a beacon of light, reminding us that our strength and beauty lie in the richness of our diversity.--Wendy Allen PhD, LPC, BC-DMT, Critical Whiteness Studies/Anti-Oppression Scholar, Associate Professor, Dance/Movement Therapy, Lesley University

About the Author

Marcia Bonato Warren, MA, MA, LPC is a Somatic Counselor/Body Psychotherapist and Interculturalist with over 10 years of experience in the fields of somatic counseling and education, as well as 15 years of experience in international educational exchange and Native American policy and advocacy. She works with individuals and groups in the areas of cultural awareness, social justice, and intercultural communication through a trauma-informed lens, and is passionate about developing the potential in human beings to embrace diversity through cultural embodiment and the sharing of stories and creativity. Marcia is an enrolled member of the Santa Clara Pueblo (Tewa) in the state of New Mexico, U.S. and is of Brazilian-Italian heritage.