Feeling safe and lovable despite any possible limitations and difficulties… that is the key unlocking the full potential of a human being. Healing Game is an open space to be filled with authentic expression of an individual. Inviting the present action/emotion, we seek for the sense of belonging and competence. Making the deep experience of one’s own authenticity possible. The space of spontaneous play allows children to perceive their own feelings, to express them through authentic play and thus integrate them into the story of their own life.
Play is the safest way to interact and explore the world. In play we have the opportunity to share and physically experience the world of others, to feel empathetic. At the same time, play represents a way of expressing relationships with other people. Everyone is safe while playing. There is no rating, rivalry, competition or dunning in play. There are no rules on the outside. Play is the space between beings. A space of mutual openness and love, through which we perceive a sense of safety and belonging. Authentic play allows you to be free in experience, expression and relation to the world.
We believe in the power of physical contact. Every person needs touch just like he/she needs water or air. Being open to touch and having touch accessible gives us a feeling of belonging and safety, allows us to open up and can also correct past traumas. A physically rooted sense of peace and security is a condition for us to be able to interact with others without fear, be more communicative, establish deeper relationships, respond adequately to the environment, and learn more effectively. A gentle touch opens the way to communication, and at the same time through touch we can directly convey emotions or feelings and define interpersonal relationships.
“Martin began work with my son age 9years after I was struggling to know how to help him. I knew he had some attachment difficulties and there were also concerns about neurodevelopmental problems. My son struggled to relate and to play, and felt unsafe in his body having had a major operation when he was 5yrs old. Martin engaged my son in play sessions very skilfully. His reflections to me as a parent helped me to also understand some new perspectives that I hadn’t considered and I began to adopt some new practices at home e.g with massage, -something that he had never previously been open to receiving. I believe the work Martin did with my son enabled Him to be more open in his relationship with me and also to feel more at ease in himself. My son for the first time was able to start participating in martial arts classes, something that he continued for many years to come. Martin has an amazingly open attitude and aptitude for this kind of work as well as a true depth of compassion and capacity for empathy which was what my son truly needed, having tested so many other professionals to their limits. I believe he has a natural talent for this kind of work with children and would highly recommend him. Unfortunately our work ended prematurely due to covid and my son then having grown so much older, but I feel my son’s experience with Martin has left him with some very valuable deep knowledge that will help him as a resource, as he goes forward in life.”
(Rhea, mother)
What matters to me is the experience of spontaneous, playful and creative communication with each other, whatever the communication channel. Since 2014, I have worked in institutions providing social care to people with mental disabilities and psychical illness, then I worked with children from a socially disadvantaged community. Practice has brought me to the subject of physical and emotional closeness and safety as the cornerstone of each person’s self-esteem. Since 2016 and the discovery of intuitive approach of Original Play, I have been learning the most from Fred Donaldson, who is for me a model of the embodied sense of acceptance, security and immediate enjoyment of belonging to others.I am grateful to share my life and values with my wife Kateřina (www.somatichealing.cz), with whom I also cooperate on our program Healing Game.