In my late teens, one of the therapists I saw was a woman who specialized in treating the "reptilian brain".

Rather than the purely talk therapy, or giving supplements/medications, what she would do is have me talk about the sources of my issues, and then have me describe what physical effects remembering or speaking of those memories made me feel. So tightened chest, shallow breathing, tight muscles, legs shaking, etc. Once identified she would have me concentrate on those physical effects to try to reduce or eliminate the negative ways in which my body reacted to those memories.

Now a big trigger for me has always been close physical proximity to others. I'm uncomfortable sitting on a couch with someone even if there is an empty cushion between us. Merely being in the same room as someone makes my muscles tense up. That (and bullying) had resulted in me being home schooled for most of my high school, since I couldn't handle being in that setting surrounded by people. This was the main thing I was working on with the therapist, with the goal of returning to public school.

However, after a couple months she began using her own body to trigger those physical effects. She would move her chair closer and have me describe how I was feeling, then would have me address those negative effects. I never really made progress, but as the weeks went by she kept pushing ahead this way. Eventually it was no longer just her seated close, but now initiating physical contact. A knee touching my leg, an arm sharing my arm rest, a hand on my knee or shoulder. I would literally be shaking during these sessions and could barely breath, and I couldn't wait for them to be over so I could race out of there. She seemed to think this was normal though, saying that the reaction would decrease over time, and that I needed to reach the core of the response in order to be able to address it.

In the final session I had with her she had moved her chair as close as she could in front of mine, sat on the edge of the seat, then put my legs between her thighs. She remained like that for 15-20 minutes while having me describe how I was feeling. Not only was I extremely uncomfortable because of my own issues, I felt it was completely inappropriate contact between a therapist and patient.

When I described what had happened to my parents they both flipped out and got in an argument with the therapist over the phone, and that was it for my sessions with her.

The memory is still uncomfortable over a decade later, but I still don't know if that reaction is the right one or not. Is that kind of thing what is usually done in therapy dealing with the "reptilian brain", or was I correct in thinking it was totally inappropriate?