Validation of the Body in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Psychotherapists can improve verbal psychotherapy by adding a bodily perspective. Different approaches can be situated on a continuum from verbal to nonverbal, and body-oriented interventions can be directed to different aspects of the body. The body as sensed from inside is one source of information. This is different from working with the body as perceived from outside and paying attention to nonverbal communication. In the next stage, major methods are working with the body in action and in movement and other nonverbal expressions. At the end of the continuum, attention goes to touching the body. Different ways of validating the body in psychotherapy are illustrated with clinical vignettes. Effects of body-oriented interventions on the client’s process are greater awareness, engagement in the present, deepening of experience, opening the body memory, cathartic release, resolving blocks, and exploring new possibilities.

Knowing hands converse with an expressive body – An experience of osteopathic touch

“…While some of the more traditional fields of psychotherapy, such as Freud's psychoanalysis, primarily relied on the verbal interchange between client and practitioner to gain intellectual insight, 9 some of the more contemporary fields of psychology are adding a bodily perspective into their existing methods, either through greater awareness of a client's physical presentation or through touch (Field, 2001;Greene, 2001;Jones, 1994;Leijssen, 2006;Milne, 1995;Toronto, 2002).…”

“…Following these early advances made by Reich, a number of other somatic psychotherapies have developed including bioenergetics, biosynthesis, biodynamics and Gestalt therapies (Milne, 1995;Nathan, 1999). 9 Currently the non-tactile view of psychoanalysis is being questioned by some authors (Toronto, 2002) In her paper Validation of the Body in Psychotherapy Leijssen (2006) describes a psychotherapeutic continuum from verbal to non-verbal forms of therapy. At one end of the spectrum are therapies that work predominantly with verbal communication while at the other end are therapies that favour body work and physical contact, usually by touch.…”

“…At one end of the spectrum are therapies that work predominantly with verbal communication while at the other end are therapies that favour body work and physical contact, usually by touch. Along with other authors Leijssen believes that appropriately used touch in psychotherapy can be both a strategic means of providing nurturance and support, encouraging openness, self-expression, and a natural expression of genuine caring (Jones, 1994;Leijssen, 2006).…”

Therapists’ experiences of alliance formation in short-term counselling

“…Body language is defined as "the conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated" (Oxford English Dictionary, 2005) and has been studied (e.g. Leijssen, 2006;Mehrabian, 1981;Wachtel, 1967) and extensively described in the popular press (e.g. Fast, 1971;James, 2009) over several decades.…”

“…Wachtel noted that there was a need for therapists to be trained in the skills of observing clients' body signals, and more recently Leijssen (2006) recommended that therapists add the body perspective to their work.…”