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.