# Body psychotherapy

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Body_psychotherapy
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Body_psychotherapy.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_psychotherapy
> Source revision: 1355548404
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Academic discipline}}
{{Alternative medicine sidebar|expanded=fringe}}
'''Body psychotherapy''',<ref>Totton, N. (2003) ''Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction'' Open University Press. {{ISBN|0-335-21038-4}} (pb); 0-335-21039-2.</ref><ref>Staunton, T. (Ed.) (2002) ''Body Psychotherapy'' Brunner Routledge. {{ISBN|1-58391-115-4}} PB0; 1-58391-116-2 (pb)</ref><ref>Macnaughton, I. (2004) ''Body, Breath and Consciousness: A Somatics Anthology'', ed. Macnaughton, North Atlantic Books. {{ISBN|1-55643-496-0}} {{ISBN|978-1-55643-496-9}}</ref><ref>Courtenay Young (2010) article [http://www.courtenay-young.co.uk/courtenay/articles/The_Science_of_Body_Psych_Part_1.pdf The Science of Body Psychotherapy Today]</ref> also called '''body-oriented psychotherapy''', is an approach to [psychotherapy](/source/psychotherapy)<ref>Sharf, R.S. (2011) ''Theories of Psychotherapy and Counselling'' p. 600</ref> which applies basic principles of [somatic psychology](/source/somatic_psychology). It originated in the work of [Pierre Janet](/source/Pierre_Janet), [Sigmund Freud](/source/Sigmund_Freud) and particularly [Wilhelm Reich](/source/Wilhelm_Reich) who developed it as [vegetotherapy](/source/vegetotherapy).<ref>{{cite web|title=What is Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology?|url=http://usabp.org/|website=USABP}}</ref> Branches also were developed by [Alexander Lowen](/source/Alexander_Lowen), and [John Pierrakos](/source/John_Pierrakos), both patients and students of Reich, like '''Reichian body-oriented psychotherapy'''<ref name="Smith2000">{{cite book|author=Edward W. L. Smith|title=The Body in Psychotherapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rrlcR8u_2UC&pg=PA16|date=1 January 2000|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-8181-1|page=16}}</ref><ref name="sharf2011">{{cite book | last = Sharf | first = Richard | title = Theories of psychotherapy and counseling: concepts and cases | url = https://archive.org/details/theoriespsychoth00shar | url-access = limited | publisher = Brooks/Cole | location = Belmont, CA | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-8400-3366-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/theoriespsychoth00shar/page/n621 594]}}</ref><ref name="bodypsych.com">{{cite web|title=History of Bioenergetics The Body Mind Therapy|url=http://www.bodypsych.com/history|website=Body Psych}}</ref> and [Gerda Boyesen](/source/Gerda_Boyesen).<ref>The ‘New’ Collected Papers of Biodynamic Psychology, Massage & Psychotherapy: 2022 edited by Courtenay Young, {{ISBN|978-1-908729-23-1}} (eBook)</ref>

==History==
[Wilhelm Reich](/source/Wilhelm_Reich) and the post-Reichians are considered the central element of body psychotherapy.<ref>Totton, N. (Ed.). (2005). ''New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy''. London: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill p.3</ref> From the 1930s, Reich became known for the idea that muscular tension reflected repressed emotions, what he called 'body armour', and developed a way to use pressure to produce emotional release in his clients.<ref name="Totton, 2005 p.3">Totton, (2005) p.3</ref> Reich was expelled from the psychoanalytic mainstream and his work found a home in the 'growth movement' of the 1960s and 1970s and in the countercultural project of 'liberating the body'.<ref name="Totton, 2005 p.3"/> Perhaps as a result, body psychotherapy was marginalised within mainstream psychology and was seen in the 1980s and 1990s as 'the radical fringe of psychotherapy'.<ref>Totton (2005) p.3</ref> Body psychotherapy's marginal position may be connected with the tendency for charismatic leaders to emerge within it, from Reich onwards.<ref>Eiden, B. (2002) in Staunton, T. (Ed.) ''Body Psychotherapy'' p.27</ref>

[Alexander Lowen](/source/Alexander_Lowen) in his ''Bioenergetic analysis''<ref name=bioenergetic>{{cite journal |first1=Alexander |last1=Lowen |title=Bioenergetic analysis |journal=Current Psychotherapies}}</ref> and [John Pierrakos](/source/John_Pierrakos) in ''Core energetics''<ref name=coreenerg>{{cite book |last1=Pierrakos |first1=John |publisher=Life Rhythm |title=Core Energetics}}</ref> extended Reich's finding of the segmented nature of body armour: "The muscular armour has a ''segmented'' arrangement...always ''transverse'' to the torso, never along it".<ref>Reich, (1976) ''Character Analysis'' p. 370-1</ref><ref>Eiden, p. 39-40</ref> Lowen claimed that "No words are so clear as the language of body expression".<ref>Cited by Schutz, W.C. (1973) ''Joy'' p. 26</ref> Subsequently, the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy added influences from [Gestalt therapy](/source/Gestalt_therapy) to their approach.<ref name="Sharf, p. 600">Sharf, p. 600</ref>

The early 2000s saw a 'renaissance of body psychotherapy' which was part of a broader increased interest in the body and embodiment in psychology and other disciplines including philosophy, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.<ref>Totton (2005) p.4-5</ref> [Object relations theory](/source/Object_relations_theory) has arguably opened the way more recently for a fuller consideration of the body-mind connection in psychotherapy.<ref>Eiden, p. 38-9</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=HOW CAN BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY HELP?|url=http://cbpc.org.uk/|website=Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Therapy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Time|title=Body Psychotherapy – a short guide to the art and science of Bodylistening|url=http://www.bodyworks.org.uk/body_psychotherapy.htm|website=Bodyworks.org|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044003/http://www.bodyworks.org.uk/body_psychotherapy.htm|archive-date=2018-03-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Branches==

There are numerous branches of body psychotherapy, often tracing their origins to particular individuals: for example, 'Bioenergetic analysis' to the work of Lowen and Pierrakos; 'Radix' to the work of Chuck Kelley; Organismic Psychotherapy to the work of Malcolm and Katherine Brown;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brown|first=Malcolm|title=Organismic Psychotherapy: Our recent Italian workshop|journal=Somatic Psychotherapy Today|year=2013|issue=Spring|pages=52–54|url=http://issuu.com/somaticpsychotherapytoday/docs/spring_2013|access-date=22 December 2013}}</ref> 'Biosynthesis' to the work of David Boadella;<ref>Boadella. D. (1987) ''Lifestreams: An introduction to Biosynthesis''. Routledge & Kegan Paul. {{ISBN|0-7102-1145-7}}</ref> 'Biodynamic Psychology' to that of [Gerda Boyesen](/source/Gerda_Boyesen); 'Rubenfeld Synergy' to Ilana Rubenfeld's work;<ref name="Somatic soulmates">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/17432970500410960|title=Somatic soulmates|year=2006|last1=Steckler|first1=Laura Hope|journal=Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy|volume=1|pages=29–42|s2cid=218601199}}</ref> 'Body-Mind Centering' to Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's work, and 'Body-mind Psychotherapy' to Susan Aposhyan;<ref>Aposhyan, S. (2004) ''Body-Mind psychotherapy: Principles, Techniques and Practical Applications''.  W.W. Norton. {{ISBN|0-393-70441-6}}</ref> the development of Jack Painter's 'Postural and Energetic Integration' into a psychotherapeutic modality.<ref>Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar. (2014) ''Touching the Relational Edge: Body Psychotherapy'' pp.43-44 ''[Postural Integration](/source/Postural_Integration)''. Karnak Books Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1-78220-094-9}}</ref>

Many of these contributors to body psychotherapy were influenced by the work of Wilhelm Reich, while adding and incorporating a variety of other influences.<ref>Marlock, G. & Halko Weiss (Eds) (2006) ''Handbuch der Körperpsychotherapie'' (''The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy''). Schattauer.  {{ISBN|978-3-7945-2473-0}}</ref> Syntheses of these approaches are also becoming accepted and recognised in their own right (e.g. The Chiron Approach: Chiron Association of Body Psychotherapists).<ref>Hartley, L. (Ed.) (2009) ''Contemporary Body Psychotherapy''. Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-43939-8}}</ref>

Alongside the body psychotherapies built directly on the work of Reich, there is a branch of post-Jungian body psychotherapies, developed from [Jung](/source/Jung)'s idea of the 'somatic unconscious'.<ref>Totton, N. (2003). ''Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction.'' Berkshire, England: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill House. {{ISBN|0-335-21039-2}} (p.28)</ref> While many post-Jungians dismiss Reich and do not work with the body,<ref>Heuer, G. (2005). "In my flesh I will see god": Jungian body psychotherapy. In N. Totton (Ed.), ''New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy''. {{ISBN|978-0335-21592-8}} (pp. 102–144). London: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill. (p.106,107)</ref> contributors to Jungian derived body psychotherapy include [Arnold Mindell](/source/Arnold_Mindell) with his concept of the 'dreambody' and the development of [process oriented psychology](/source/process_oriented_psychology).<ref>Caldwell, C. (1997) 'Dreams and the dreaming body. Amy and Arny Mindell' in  C. Caldwell (Ed.) ''Getting in touch: The guide to new body-centered therapies''. Wheaton, IL: Quest. {{ISBN|978-0835-60761-2}} (p.61)</ref><ref>Totton, N. (2003). ''Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction''. Berkshire, England: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill House. {{ISBN|0-335-21039-2}} (p.107-108)</ref><ref>Audergon, J.-C. (2005). The body in Process Work. In N. Totton (Ed.), ''New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy'' (pp. 153–167). London: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill. {{ISBN|978-0335-21592-8}}</ref><ref name="Young 2011"/> Process oriented psychology is known for its focus on the body and movement.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/17432970500468117|title=Tracking the web of interconnectivity|year=2006|last1=Payne|first1=Helen|journal=Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy|volume=1|pages=7–15|s2cid=145077139}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Modern Body Psychotherapy|url=http://www.bodypsychotherapist.co.uk/body-psychotherapy.htm|website=bodypsychotherapist}}</ref>

Body psychotherapy and dance movement therapy have developed separately and are professionally distinguished, however they have significant common ground and shared principles including the importance of non-verbal therapeutic techniques and the development of body-focused awareness.<ref name="Somatic soulmates"/>

A review of body psychotherapy research finds there is a small but growing empirical evidence base about the outcomes of body psychotherapy, however it is weakened by the fragmentation of the field into different branches and schools.<ref>Röhricht, F. (2009). Body-oriented psychotherapy: The state of the art in empirical research and evidence-based practice: A clinical perspective. ''Journal of Body, Movement & Dance in Psychotherapy'', Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 135-156.</ref> The review reports that one of the strongest studies is longitudinal (2 year) outcome research conducted with 342 participants across 8 different schools (Hakomi Experiental Psychology, Unitive Body Psychotherapy, Biodynamic Psychology, Bioenergetic Analysis, Client-Centred Verbal and Body Psychotherapy, Integrative Body Psychotherapy, Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, and Biosynthesis).  Overall efficacy was demonstrated in symptom reduction, however the study design limited further substantive conclusions.<ref>Koemeda-Lutz, M., Kaschke, M., Revenstorf, D., Schermann, T., Weiss, H., & Soeder, U. (2006). Evaluation der Wirksamkeit von ambulanten Körperpsychotherapien—EWAK. Eine Multizenterstudie in Deutschland und der Schweiz. Psychotherapie Psychosomatik medizinische Psychologie, 56, 1–8 cited by Röhricht, p.146</ref>

The review of outcome research across different types of body-oriented psychotherapy concludes that the best evidence supports efficacy for treating somatoform/psychosomatic disorders and schizophrenia,<ref>Röhricht, p.147</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2020}} while there is also support for 'generally good effects on subjectively experienced depressive and anxiety symptoms, somatisation and social insecurity.'<ref>Röhricht, p.149</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2020}} A more recent review found that results in some of these domains were mixed or might have resulted from other causes (for example, somatic symptoms in one study improved even after therapy had ended, suggesting that the improvements may have been unrelated to the therapy).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=May |first1=John |title=The Outcome of Body Psychotherapy |journal=The USA Body Psychotherapy Journal |date=2005 |volume=4 |issue=2}}</ref>

==Trauma==

Body psychotherapy is one modality used in a multi-modal approach to treating psychological trauma, particularly [post-traumatic stress disorder](/source/post-traumatic_stress_disorder) (PTSD) and [complex post-traumatic stress disorder](/source/complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder) (C-PTSD).<ref>Levine, P. (1997) ''Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma''.  North Atlantic Books. {{ISBN|1-55643-233-X}}</ref><ref>''Victims of Cruelty: Somatic Psychotherapy in the Healing of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder''. Eckberg M. Levine P.</ref><ref>Levine, P. (2005) ''Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body'' Sounds True, Har/Com edition. {{ISBN|1-59179-247-9}}; {{ISBN|978-1-59179-247-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Integrative Body Psychotherapy|url=http://www.ibponline.org/|website=INTEGRATIVE BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY - IBP}}</ref> Other body-based modalities, such as [Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises](/source/Tension_and_Trauma_Releasing_Exercises) (TRE), are utilized within these frameworks to assist with autonomic regulation and stress recovery.<ref name="DCoE2011">{{cite report |last1=Moore |first1=Melanie |last2=Bono |first2=Catherine |last3=Asay |first3=Debra |title=Mind-Body Skills for Regulating the Autonomic Nervous System |publisher=Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury |date=2011 |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/194340964/Mind-Body-Skills-for-Regulating-the-Autonomic-Nervous-System}}</ref>

Recovering a sense of physical [boundaries](/source/Personal_boundaries) through sensorimotor psychotherapy is an important part of re-establishing trust in the traumatised.<ref>Ogden, P. et al., (2006) ''Trauma and the Body'' p. xxv</ref> Blending somatic and cognitive awareness, such an approach reaches back for inspiration to the pioneering work of Janet, as well as employing the more recent work of [António Damásio](/source/Ant%C3%B3nio_Dam%C3%A1sio).<ref>Foreword, Ogden, p. xxix-xxxii</ref>

The necessity of often working ''without'' touch with traumatised victims presents a special challenge for body psychotherapists.<ref>Rothschild, B. (2002) 'Body psychotherapy without touch', in Staunton, Ch. 5</ref>

==Organizations==
The European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) and The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP) are two professional associations for body psychotherapists.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is EABP|url=http://www.eabp.org/what-is-eabp.php|website=European Association for Body Psychotherapy|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320043905/http://www.eabp.org/what-is-eabp.php|archive-date=2018-03-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The EABP was founded in 1988 to promote the inclusion of body psychotherapy within a broader process of professionalisation, standardisation and regulation of psychotherapy in Europe, driven by the [European Association for Psychotherapy](/source/European_Association_for_Psychotherapy) (EAP).<ref name ="Young 2011">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/17432979.2010.545189|title=The history and development of Body Psychotherapy: European collaboration|year=2011|last1=Young|first1=Courtenay|journal=Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy|volume=6|pages=57–68|s2cid=145018589}}</ref>  The EABP Board committed to meeting the EAP standards for establishing the scientific validity of psychotherapy modalities and achieved this in 1999/2000 for body psychotherapy as a whole, with various individual modalities subsequently also achieving this recognition.<ref>Young, C. 2011 p.61</ref> It was accepted as a European-Wide Accrediting Organisation in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|title=European Wide Accrediting Organisations|url=https://www.europsyche.org/about-eap/european-wide-representations/ewao/|website=EAP}}</ref>

EABP has a bi-annual conference; organises a Council of ten National B-P Associations; supports a FORUM of Body-Psychotherapy Organisations, which accredits more than 18 B-P training organisations in 10 different countries; the EABP website also provides a list of research papers; a searchable bibliography of body-psychotherapy publications, containing more than 5,000 entries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eabp.org/bibliography |title=EABP bibliography |access-date=2009-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503173209/http://www.eabp.org/bibliography/ |archive-date=2017-05-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The USABP was formed in June 1996<ref>{{cite web |url=http://somaticperspectives.com/usabp/ |title=USABP &#124; Somatic Perspectives on Psychotherapy |access-date=2013-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730052747/http://somaticperspectives.com/usabp/ |archive-date=2013-07-30 }} Retrieved 29 September 2013.</ref> to provide professional representation for body psychotherapy practitioners in the United States. The USABP launched a peer-reviewed professional journal in 2002, the ''USA Body Psychotherapy Journal,'' which was published twice-yearly from 2002 to 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usabp.org/displaycommon.cfm?an%3D9 |title=USABP |access-date=2013-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003003905/http://www.usabp.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=9 |archive-date=2013-10-03 }} Retrieved 29 September 2013.</ref> In 2012, the sister organisations, EABP and USABP, together launched the ''International Body Psychotherapy Journal''.<ref>[http://www.ibpj.org/ ''International Body Psychotherapy Journal'']</ref>

There is also an Australian Association of Somatic Psychotherapy Australia.<ref>[http://www.somaticpsychotherapy.asn.au/ Somatic Psychotherapy Australia]</ref>

==Cautions==

The importance of ethical issues in body psychotherapy has been highlighted on account of the intimacy of the techniques used.<ref name="Sharf, p. 600"/>

The term [bioenergetic](/source/bioenergetics) has a well established meaning in biochemistry and cell biology.<ref name="nelson2016">Nelson, David L., Cox, Michael M. ''Lehninger: Principles of Biochemistry.'' New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2013. Sixth ed., pg 24.</ref> Its use in RBOP (Reichian body-oriented psychotherapy) has been criticized as "ignoring the already well established universal consensus about energy existing in Science."<ref name="arias">{{cite journal|last1=Arias|first1=A. G.|title=Use and misuse of the concept energy|journal=Latin American Journal of Physics Education|date=August 2012|volume=6|issue=1|page=400|citeseerx=10.1.1.669.3285}}</ref>

There is a group of psychotherapists who believe that psychotherapy should be thought of as a craft and evaluated based on the effectiveness of the treatment, rather than evaluated based on scientific validity.<ref name="young1">{{cite web|last1=Young|first1=Courtenay|title=What Is Body-Psychotherapy? A European perspective|url=http://www.eabp.org/docs/WhatIsBodyPsychotherapy.pdf|website=eabp.org|access-date=8 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819052626/http://eabp.org/docs/WhatIsBodyPsychotherapy.pdf|archive-date=19 August 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="young2">{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=C.|last2=Heller|first2=M.|title=The scientific what!' of psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is a craft, not a science!|journal=International Journal of Psychotherapy|date=2000|volume=5|issue=2|pages=113–131|doi=10.1080/713672057}}</ref> However, efficacy studies of body psychotherapy have been few in number and, although the results are supportive of the use of body psychotherapy in some contexts, this trend "is not overwhelming".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=May |first1=John |title=The Outcome of Body Psychotherapy |journal=The USA Body Psychotherapy Journal |date=2005 |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=64}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [American College of Orgonomy](/source/American_College_of_Orgonomy)
* [Expressive therapy](/source/Expressive_therapy)
* [Health applications and clinical studies of meditation](/source/Health_applications_and_clinical_studies_of_meditation)
* [Neuroscience](/source/Neuroscience)
* [Orgastic potency](/source/Orgastic_potency)
* [Psychoneuroimmunology](/source/Psychoneuroimmunology)
* [Process-oriented psychology](/source/Process-oriented_psychology)
* [Somatics](/source/Somatics)
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Heller, Michael C. (2012). ''Body psychotherapy: history, concepts, methods''. (M. Duclos, Trans.) New York: W.W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN|978-0-393-70669-7}}
* Lowen, Alexander. (1958). ''The Language of the Body''.
* Marlock, G., Weiss, H. with Young, C. & Soth, M. (2015). ''The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy & Somatic Psychology.'' Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-58394-841-5}}
* Cimini, Giuseppe; Ferri, Genovino (2018). ''Psychopathology and Character: Psychoanalysis in the Body and the Body in Psychoanalysis. Reichian Analysis''. Roma: Alpes Editore. {{ISBN|978-8-86531-514-9}}
* Ferri, Genovino (2017). ''Body Sense: Stories of Psychotherapy Supervision''. Roma. Alpes Editore. {{ISBN|978-8-86531-414-2}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Wilhelm Reich|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Body psychotherapy
Category:Manual therapy
Category:Wilhelm Reich

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Body psychotherapy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_psychotherapy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_psychotherapy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.