During body-psychotherapy sessions, we focus not only on verbal processing, but also on bodily experience.
The body can hold deep truths about our emotions. In fact, it acts as a kind of memory bank, where unprocessed experiences are stored as physical pain, chronic muscle tension, or discomfort in other tissues. As a result, our breath may become restricted. We may also notice that the shape and posture of our body often reflect what’s going on inside us.
Moreover, both the body and the psyche have a natural desire to release unnecessary burdens. They also have an incredible ability to heal. When we offer this inseparable pair the right conditions—time, space, safety, recognition, support, and a suitable therapeutic setting—they will often find their own way toward healing.
Depending on the therapeutic intention, the direction of the process, and the client’s individual needs, we explore how the body responds in certain situations or emotional states. We look at what it is expressing or holding—and continue working with that experience.
Methods
This process may involve non-touch methods. For example, role-play, family constellation work, focusing, biorelease monologue, guided imagery, drawing, or various movement sequences.
In other cases, we incorporate therapeutic touch. This can provide safe emotional nourishment through physical contact. Sometimes, it has a deeper impact than words. For instance, it may intensify an emotional experience, help connect it to its source, or bring about a needed response. In addition, it can deepen the breath, promote relaxation, and help ground the client in their body. At times, it also enhances the ability to feel and connect with bodily sensations.
A more dynamic approach might involve vegetotherapy. In this method, physical resistance is used to help release emotional charge held in the body. Conversely, even the gentlest touch can bring surprisingly deep inner processes.
Ultimately, everything unfolds in harmony with the client’s current physical and emotional impulses and needs. This allows emotions to safely surface, be freely expressed, and processed in the most natural way.
Naturally, all of this work takes place within clear and well-defined therapeutic ethics.
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