Introduction to Body Based Psychotherapy

Venue (9.00-13.00): Wolfson Lecture Theatre

13:00 Lunch break (lunch not provided)

 Venue (14.00-16.00): various TBC

Booking - Online Store (click link)
-Full day (£50)
-Student rate full day (£25) – proof of student status required

-Morning talks only (£30) book on the Online Store

Biographies, presentation outlines and workshop summaries

A historical introduction to body psychotherapy

Courtenay Young trained originally in Body Psychotherapy at the Gerda Boyesen Centre, London (1979-1983), with people like: Gerda Boyesen, David Boadella, John Pierrakos, Jim Healey, Eva Reich, Jack Lee Rosenberg, Ebba & Paul Boyesen, Clover Southwell, and the trainers then at the Boyesen Centre. He has been working as a Psychotherapist since then: Humanistic, Body-Oriented, Transpersonal. He has worked as a resident psychotherapist, in adolescent hostels, psychiatric hostels, at the Findhorn Foundation, with people in crisis and spiritual emergencies. Since 2003, he has been living and working in the Central Belt and the Borders of Scotland, working in the NHS, as well as a private psychotherapist. He has also been involved in the politics of psychotherapy, with professional associations, in the UKCP, in the European Association of Body Psychotherapy (EABP), and in the European Association of Psychotherapy (EAP). He is currently the Editor of the International Journal of Psychotherapy, he writes and edits articles, edits books like 'The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy & Somatic Psychology' and also publishes edited books in 'Body Psychotherapy Publications'.

In this presentation, Courtenay Young will present an overview of the history and the development of Body Psychotherapy. He will try to show where Body Psychotherapy currently stands in the wider field in psychotherapy and psychology both in Europe and America. There are also interesting new developments in neuroscience that impact in the field. Finally, he will also try to define the scope -- and limitations -- of bodily-oriented psychotherapy and somatic psychology.

The state of the art in body psychotherapy

Frank Röhricht obtained his Medical Qualification at the Free University of Berlin. He did specialist training in Psychiatry, Neurology, and Psychosomatic Medicine, also training in Integrative Body Psychotherapy. He works as a Consultant Psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust, where he is also Medical Director for Research, Innovation & Medical Education. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and an Honorary Professor of  Psychiatry, at the Wolfson Institute, Centre for Psychiatry, at Queen Mary University of London.  He is the Chair of the research section of German Association for Body Psychotherapy (a constituent organisation of the European Association of Body Psychotherapy). He also holds an Honorary Professorship of Psychiatry, at St George's Medical School in Cyprus, and is a Patron of the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK.  

Frank Röhricht will present an outline of research in body based therapies, including also clinical outcome studies, and touch on how such therapies can be integrated with existing models of care.

A clinical session in biodynamic body psychotherapy

Elya Steinberg, trained as a Medical Doctor, and then went on to train in body psychotherapy. She is now the head of training and co-director of the Centre for Biodynamic Psychotherapy in London, and is a Biodynamic Psychotherapist who integrates Biodynamic psychology, bioenergy, neurofeedback, psychological trauma work, martial arts and integrative medicine. 

Body-psychotherapy is an interface between soma and psyche, medicine and psychology. In this talk, I will explore the commonalities, differences and bridges between the two fields, focusing on the assessment methods and the possible interventions that may be required.

Spontaneous tremors and their integration

Riccardo Cassiani Ingoni is a neurophysiology researcher, and bodyworker, with degrees from the University of Pisa, and Sapienza University, Rome. He worked for six years as a research fellow at the Neuroimmunology branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, then for the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, and latterly for the Italian National Olympics Committee. He has received two honorary achievements: The Integrative Neural Immune Award from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Mangrella Award in Neuroscience from the Italian National Council of Research. He has also trained with experts in the fields of regenerative medicine, neuromodulation, bioenergetics, biofeedback, and trauma recovery, and since 2007 has been lecturing and training professionals on bodywork and biofeedback approaches for managing post-traumatic stress, as well as chronic physical and emotional pain.

Neurogenic tremors are commonly experienced during or following traumatic events. The physical manifestation of these tremors can range from a very gentle shaking of small muscles, up to a vigorous trembling of certain areas of the body or of the entire body, and are generally perceived as a pathological expression of disease, stress or trauma. However, the etiology, purpose, and potential therapeutic value of neurogenic tremors have received little attention. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we investigated changes in cortical rhythms during stress-induced and exercise-induced tremors. The data shows how neurogenic tremors exhibit feedback phenomena, influencing cortical brain rhythms. The use of somatic intervention strategies involving neurogenic tremors for anxiety and stress management is discussed.

Movement based psychotherapies

Jane Bacon is a UK based Jungian Analyst with the Independent Group of Analytical Psychologists (UKCP, IAAP), is a teacher of the Discipline of Authentic Movement (www.disciplineofauthenticmovement.com), a Focusing Practitioner (www.focusing.org) and Professor of Dance and Somatics (University of Chichester). She has a long-term interest and commitment to the role of creativity and awareness in the healing process, particularly the ways in which embodied consciousness and imagination might heal our deepest wounds and enliven our lives. This process calls us to explore how we feel in the here and now in relation to what has happened in the past and is foundational to practices such as mindfulness, Focusing, Authentic Movement, Somatic Experiencing.

In this talk Jane Bacon will discuss Janet Adler’s Discipline of Authentic Movement, Mary Starks Whitehouse’s inner-directed movement, Gene Gendlin’s ‘felt sense’, C.G. Jung’s ‘active imagination’, and the relatively new field of practice-as-research in dance and movement. She will then discuss how these concepts and practices inform her work with trauma and deep psychological wounding.

Working in body psychotherapy - Workshop with Courtenay Young

In this workshop, we will look at more specifically how one can work as a psychotherapist in Body Psychotherapy - both with and without techniques involving touch - and whether or not one is working from the perspective of being a Body Psychotherapy, or from another psychotherapeutic modality. We will look at body awareness, somatic resonance, body-oriented psychotherapeutic relationships, mindfulness practices, the interface with other body-oriented techniques and other fields of somatic awareness.

Getting in touch with touch - Workshop with Elya Steinberg

Touch is a powerful tool for emotional and physiological regulation in psychotherapy and integrative medicine, and those professionals who use touch therapeutically continuously evaluate how to touch their clients/patients and what constitutes the ‘right’ touch. A deep understanding and moment-to-moment dynamic assessment of the possibilities of the level of contact, connection and context must be considered when getting in touch with touch. Touch is not a singular phenomenon. There are many ways to touch, which have multisensoric impacts upon human neurobiology and psychology. At the same time, there is a multiplicity of meaning in the ways in which two people in the therapy room, the psychotherapist and the client, perceive touch. Therefore, touch in the psychotherapeutic context is a complex phenomenon with a long history of debate, prohibition and taboos. In this workshop we will explore a spectrum of methods of touch, as well as how to develop trauma-sensitive approaches to safely interact with clients and patients. 

Physiological tremor activation - Workshop with Riccardo Cassiani Ingoni

In this experiential workshop we will experiment with different sets of physical exercises to self-activate and facilitate a physiological tremor reaction. We will learn the basic principles for self-application of this movement-based embodied contemplative practice. Please wear comfortable clothing.