Einführung in Body-Mind Centering

(Dis)embodiment in Psychology and Psychotherapy: A Critical Historical Analysis and Clinical Implications

“…Psychology and psychotherapy have been closely related to academic and medical institutions since their formation. Hartley (2004) asserts that "modern psychology's roots grew out of the ground of the biological and dualistic medical model of nineteenthcentury psychiatry" (p. 14). Freud earned his medical degree and worked in hospital as a medical doctor in Theodore Meynert's Psychiatric Clinic (Walker, 1957).…”

“…For the present discussion, a relevant definition of embodiment is an awareness of one's internal experience, or "the body experienced from within," (Hartley, 2004, p.12); thus, felt and physical experiences are centered in the processing of one's environment. Thomas Hanna (1970) is credited as introducing the (Dis)embodiment in Psychology and Psychotherapy Graduate Student Journal of Psychology term "somatics" into the field of psychology, providing a name for body-based techniques, such as breathing exercises, that have been used by practitioners since the mid-1800s (Hartley, 2004). Of course, holistic approaches that acknowledge the integration of body and mind as inherent to wellness have existed long before then, through practices such as yoga, vipassana, and other meditative techniques (Hartley, 2004;Johnson, 1995).…”

“…Thomas Hanna (1970) is credited as introducing the (Dis)embodiment in Psychology and Psychotherapy Graduate Student Journal of Psychology term "somatics" into the field of psychology, providing a name for body-based techniques, such as breathing exercises, that have been used by practitioners since the mid-1800s (Hartley, 2004). Of course, holistic approaches that acknowledge the integration of body and mind as inherent to wellness have existed long before then, through practices such as yoga, vipassana, and other meditative techniques (Hartley, 2004;Johnson, 1995). Despite the historical significance of embodied healing practices, and efforts to maintain embodiment within psychology, body-based work has not held a consistent presence in mainstream psychotherapeutic practice throughout the 20 th century.…”

“…Humanistic psychology still holds great influence, perhaps in part due to Rogers' "move away from a clinical phenomenological approach in the 1980s" (Moreira, 2012, p. 51). While humanistic therapies have no doubt made a lasting and continuing impact on psychological practice, somatically-based methods associated with humanistic psychology, such as Alexander techniques, Rolfing, and the Feldenkrais method (Moss & Shane, 1999;Posadzki et al, 2010;Taylor, 1999), to name a few, remain on the sidelines of therapeutic practice (Hartley, 2004).…”

“…Given the predominance of cognitive and behavioral approaches in Western therapy, adoption of meditation and mindfulness-based practices in third-wave cognitive therapies (MBCT in particular) represents a significant shift in general practice due to adoption of an embodied perspective. Meditation and mindfulness practices are historically rich and deeply embodied practices (Hartley, 2004;Mruk & Hartzell, 2006); MCBT itself was drawn from mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a method originally developed for psychosomatic conditions (Messer & Kaslow, 2020). In clinical practice, techniques which encourage clients to use mindfulness techniques, somatic anchoring points (i.e., focusing on one's breath, feeling one's feet on the ground), and body scanning are now commonly used alongside traditional CBT techniques (Aloneftis, 2017;Barlow et al, 2017;Hayes & Hofmann, 2017).…”