Interview #1

Andrea Cordova-Caddes

Somatic Movement Therapist:

Question:

Would you say having a better understanding of culture and cultural diversity helps you with your job?

Answer:

“A good population of clients that I see are women that are 50 plus, and I do have some men, but the predominant population of people that are interested in this kind of mind body exercise are women. I think that although usually see clients that are well acclimated to American culture, it is always useful to have certain understandings because if I get someone from a different cultural background, touch might not be something that is so easily or readily accepted… Now with my training I was always taught that you ask to touch, and let them know what you’re doing which is always useful… I think that we as a culture in the U.S., touch is taboo or has a sexual component and I think that understanding that and making sure there isn’t ever that cross and there isn’t a particular intention with touch is really important especially when I’m working with male clients… I sometimes work with kids too, and I think therefore it is really important to have an understanding of boundaries and what is acceptable.”

Question:

Now do you educate yourself on these cultural aspects? Is this something they teach you in the classes that you’re taking?

Answer:

“There is a component in the classes, although it’s not a formal class there definitely is a component… In my masters program at the University of Utah, we did talk about culture, but more about identity and individuality and all of the possibilities… Like how people develop their identities and roles… It wasn’t’ necessarily this culture might have these values versus this culture has these values, it was more like each person is going to have all of these social factors that influence them.”

Question:

Do you think just understanding a person’s dynamics helps assess what they really need?

Answer:

“Yes absolutely… I think disorder patterns at certain points in my life, as a teenager, and as a young adult when I first started living on my own, will help me be able to see it in other people… Even though we have this image that skinny is better, you see this in all sorts of magazines, that’s not necessarily the healthy approach. I remember one client where we actually just talked for two hours on how to think about things differently because I believe that a lot of life is about our expectations and our perceptions so if we have a certain idea of what we’re supposed to be, that maybe isn’t serving us, it might not be the best option. So we talked about what do you eat and what do you do that makes you feel good and we thought about it a little bit differently.”

Question:

What tips do you give your clients about what they should look out for and possibly avoid to help them get into shape?

Answer:

“Eating for comfort, and comfort food actually has a nervous system response that produces saliva flow allowing for more effective digestion. So comfort food does provide that relaxation for us, but if this is someone who is already overweight, and might have certain risk factors (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.) then we need to evaluate their nutrition lifestyle, as a professional I need to see what is it in their social context that are encouraging them to eat this comfort food, so you might think of are they happy in all aspects of their life, or do they go out with their families for celebration because in many cultures food is celebration, so I need to evaluate how often their eating these foods, and how often they’re snacking.“

Question:

Have you ever worked with an individual who has had body alterations (breast implants, or other implants)? Do you notice anything different with them as opposed to your normal clients?

Answer:

“Yes…People who have had plastic surgery seem to have a more open appearance, they have better posture, not cross legs or cross arms, almost a proud posture, and because of that reason they have more self-confidence. With that self-confidence comes more willingness to do more to create change.“

Question:

Have you ever had a client who’s in great physical shape yet still feel uncomfortable with themselves?

Answer:

“Yes… I think that because we have this impossible expectation of what is ideal, like the airbrushed photos and hours of hair and make-up in the media that we see on a day-to-day basis, we always set the bar higher and higher, and even when you’ve achieved what you thought you wanted ‘it can get even more perfect.”

Martial Arts and Myself

Being a practitioner of martial arts for over half of my life, I realized how important it is to keep in shape, especially in such a physically demanding sport/discipline. I started out teaching new students basic forms and techniques of Kempo, but after my ninth year as a practitioner, I took my martial arts expertise and made it into a career. Later in my career, I started to worry about my physical shape and appearance. I noticed that many of my students were not only participating in Martial Arts to learn how to defend themselves, but also to lose a weight and/or to get into shape. As time went on, I learned that there are many differences between men and women, in the sense of what their wants or needs. There was an array of desire to participate in Martial Arts that ranged from being in a friendly environment, to acquiring weight loss and improving flexibility. Many times, the weight loss and the friendly environment aspects of Martial Arts went hand-in-hand. In my experience, when a student felt uncomfortable with their body, it helped them to be in a friendly environment because they felt comfortable with the other students and the instructor (myself). This is something that I noticed a much more often than anything else while instructing. My students would agree that a comfortable surrounding helped push them to get into shape better than anything they’ve ever tried before, simply, because they do not feel insecure due to the fact that other students were going through the same thing.