CHOOSING A BODY PSYCHOTHERAPIST – The body psychotherapy approach and the particular body psychotherapist you choose depend on your own assessment of what you feel you want or need. There is no one right way to have body psychotherapy any more than there is a one right method of psychotherapy.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SESSION – Several things occur during most body psychotherapy sessions. The initial sessions include an inquiry into what the client hopes to gain from the entire undertaking and a history of the client’s life. During each session, there may be questions about what is currently happening in the client’s life and what he or she hopes to work on during the present session. Some type of work with the body is included usually during most sessions. There may be fewer words and more bodywork, or more words and less bodywork, depending on what is happening at the time. All will help the client become more fully aware of his or her body and feelings and way of functioning. Whatever comes up will be integrated into the total picture of the client’s way of being in life.

​DEFINITION OF BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY – Body Psychotherapy is a distinct branch of the main body of psychotherapy with a long history and a large body of knowledge based upon a sound theoretical position. At the same time, it involves a different and explicit theory of mind-body functioning that takes into account the complexity of the intersections of and interactions between the body and the mind, with the common underlying assumption being that a functional unity exists between mind and body.

DEFINITION OF THE WORK OF A BODY PSYCHOTHERAPIST – The body psychotherapist works directly or indirectly with the person as an essential embodiment of mental, emotional, social and spiritual life. He/she encourages and facilitates both internal self-regulation and the accurate perception of external reality. ​

​A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY – Body psychotherapy helps people deal with their concerns not only through talking, but also by helping people become deeply aware of their bodily sensations as well as their emotions, images and behavior. Clients become more conscious of how they breathe, move, speak, and where they experience feelings in their bodies. People seek body psychotherapy for the same reasons they seek talking or any form of psychotherapy (e.g., nxiety, depression, relationship problems, sexual difficulties), but also for physical problems (e.g., headaches, lower back pain).

​HISTORY OF BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY – Yes, Body Psychotherapy has been both inspired by Reich’s work and has suffered from it. However out of the shifting political morass of the late 1930’s and in work in Norway until 1939, came a number of streams of Body Psychotherapy that are still very much alive today.

​BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY VERSUS SOMATIC PSYCHOTHERAPY