Your body is just the place your memory calls home.
~ Deepak Chopra ~

What is Body-Centered Psychotherapy?

The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP) defines body-psychotherapy as “a psychotherapy that views the body as an essential key of assessment and treatment. It promotes the unified function of the self by engaging in an integration of verbal and somatic theories and techniques.” This branch of psychotherapy is based on the premise that memories, emotions, and feelings are imprinted in every cell of the body and that this imprinting in turn affects how we perceive and live our life. There is a functional unity between body and mind; what affects one also affects the other. Some people say that the body knows more than the mind, knows it more directly, and expresses it more honestly than the often muddled, deceitful and fearful mind.

Our body tells our story. When our life experience is positive and the pulsation of energy is free flowing we are happy, joyous and healthy. However, we experience and react to life’s frustrations, disappointments, difficulties and traumas by blocking our life force. It is this constant day-to-day repression stored in the body and the psychosomatic memory that is at the root of many of our problems. This shows up in the body as a tightening, squeezing, rigidifying and holding of our breath, muscles, and feelings. It affects our health mentally, emotionally and physically forming postures, behaviors and beliefs that are used for protection and adaptation but blocks our true essence.

 

What does a body-centered psychotherapy session look like?

There are many different techniques and approaches within the field of body-psychotherapy integrating both cognitive and body-oriented methods in the treatment of various psychological issues. The interventions used are specifically designed to help clients tap into the wisdom of their bodies and regain access to their instinctive abilities. Body awareness and mindfulness techniques may be used to help the client become aware of bodily sensations, breathing, thoughts, feelings and sounds. Grounding and centering, conscious breathing, physical and expressive exercises along with vocalizations are used to facilitate movement of energy. With this movement of energy, the unconscious is made conscious and able to be resolved; the person is then free to choose life scripts rather than replaying the past or being catapulted into the future. This approach to healing brings together talk therapy, working with the body and energy field, and spirituality in a process that supports personal growth and healing.