Why work with the body? The body tells the story.

Many of our idiomatic expressions suggest the bodily dimension of experience.  For example, we talk about being able to take a stand, being grounded, having a gut feeling about something. We talk about having an open heart or putting up a wall.  In body-psychotherapy, these are not just metaphors.  They are truths of our experiences manifested in our bodies. They are often keys to self-defining decisions we have made or messages handed down unconsciously through family and culture.  Many of us, for example, had to hold ourselves together to deal with chaos in our early lives.  Or we learned to hold back expressions of feeling that weren’t allowed in our families. Some of us tend to collapse, shut down or turn away from challenges because we have been overwhelmed in the past. (See other frequently asked questions.)

In body-psychotherapy, we explore these postures, patterns of tension or weakness, as they relate to the key themes and experiences. We work directly with the body patterns to develop self-knowledge and open up new ways of moving in life.
        
For example, a woman who never had a voice in her family might explore how she learned to tighten up her throat, shoulders and jaw in order to keep quiet.  As she works through her feelings about her family, she might learn how to let more energy come through her upper body to give her power to speak up for herself. 
        
Similarly, a man who has a hard time slowing down and allowing himself to rest might explore how he speeds himself up on the body level.  He might then realize that he learned to do this in order not to feel the pain of not being responded to as a child.  He then has the possibility of exploring new ways to be, with himself and with others.
        
Here are some more examples of people working with their embodied patterns:
        
“I have a really hard time with conflict. I tend to expect things to spiral into violence like they did when I was growing up. In the therapy I’ve been working with my tendency to turn away and try to make myself small.  I can feel what I’m doing, literally turning away and not facing things.  The therapist is helping me work with this pattern, find out what helps me feel safe, and work with my body to be able to turn and face things head-on. I’m working with my arms and legs and back and getting a feeling of my power and competence back.”
        
“I realized I had to defend myself so much that it’s hard for me to soften and open my heart up to someone else.  Now I’m developing more discrimination and choice. The therapist is helping me literally use my eyes and ears more deliberately to check things out and see if it’s safe to share more of myself with someone. I can keep up my wall when I need to, but I’m also beginning to be able to let down, let go of some of the holding in my body, and have my tender feelings when I want to...”
 
 

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