What is
Body Therapy and Body Psychotherapy?
Body Psychotherapy is a distinct
branch of Psychotherapy, well within the main
body of Psychotherapy, which has a long history and a
large body of literature and knowledge based upon a sound
theoretical position.
It involves a different and explicit theory of mind-body functioning
which takes into account the complexity of the intersections
and interactions between the body and the mind. The common
underlying assumption is that the body is the whole person
and there is a functional unity between mind and body. The
body does not merely mean the “soma” or that this
is separate from the mind, the “psyche.” Many other
approaches in Psychotherapy touch on this area. Body psychotherapy
considers this fundamental.
It involves a developmental model, a theory of personality,
hypotheses as to the origins of disturbances and
alterations, as well as a rich variety of diagnostic and
therapeutic techniques used within the framework of the therapeutic
relationship. There are many different and sometimes quite
separate approaches within Body Psychotherapy, as indeed
there are in the other branches of Psychotherapy.
Body Psychotherapy is also a science, having
developed over the last seventy years from the results of
research in biology anthropology, proxemics, ethology, neuro-physiology,
developmental psychology, neonatology, perinatal studies
and many more.
It exists as a specific therapeutic approach with
a rich scientific basis with an explicit theory.
There is also a wide variety of techniques used within Body
Psychotherapy and some of these are techniques used on the
body involving touch, movement and breathing. There is therefore
a link with some Body Therapies, somatic techniques, and
some complementary medical disciplines, but while these may
also involve touch and movement, they are very distinct from
Body Psychotherapy.
It recognizes the continuity and the deep connections in
which all psycho-corporal processes contribute, in equal
fashion, to the organization of the person. There is not
a hierarchical relationship between mind and body, between
psyche and soma. They are both functioning and interactive
aspects of the whole.
adapted from the European Association
of Body psychotherapy‘s
definition of Body Psychotherapy
— United States Association of Body Psychotherapy |
