Body work techniques in psychotherapy. Educational program in body-oriented psychotherapy. Body Psychology: General Principles

Even Socrates said that it is impossible to treat eyes without a head, a head without a body, and a body without a soul. Every person has not only physical body, but also intense mental life Therefore, he also has physical and mental illnesses. Back in the early 50s of the last century, the founder of psychosomatic medicine, F. Alexander, identified a third class of diseases - psychosomatic, that is, such bodily diseases that are caused by psychological reasons. And a little later, the famous Austrian psychotherapist, a student of Freud, Wilhelm Reich, laid the foundations for a new direction of psychotherapy, which later became known as body-oriented therapy (or BOT).

Later, exercises and techniques aimed at working with the body continued to be developed and improved by psychotherapists such as Ida Rolf (founder of Rolfing), Gerda Boyesen (founder of biodynamics), Marion Rosen (creator of the Rosen Method) and Alexander Lowen (founder of bioenergetic analysis). In Russia, body-oriented psychotherapy today is represented by many excellent psychotherapists. One of them is Vladimir Baskakov, who offered his own techniques and exercises within the framework of innovative method"Thanatotherapy".

Characteristic

The main idea that body-oriented psychotherapy preaches is that all our experiences throughout life affect the characteristics of muscle dynamics and form chronic muscle clamps, by acting on which neuroses and various psychosomatic disorders can be treated. Sometimes, in addition to the name "body-oriented psychotherapy", you may hear the name "somatic psychology", which will also be true. In addition to purely psychotherapeutic purposes, body-oriented therapy is used to solve prenatal and perinatal problems of a person.

"Soma" in Greek means "body". Somatic psychology is always focused on the study of the interaction of body and mind, the relationship of our physical matter and our energy, the interaction of our psychophysical structures with our thoughts and actions. The body exercises and techniques of this branch of psychotherapy are based on philosophy, medicine, physics, other branches of psychology, countless thousands of hours of observation of people and clinical experience. Body-Oriented Psychotherapy sees the body and soul as an inseparable whole, creating opportunities for healing, growth and transformation. human body. She seeks to shift the focus from cognitive/analytical processes to issues that relate to the physical condition of the person, as well as to the prenatal and perinatal spheres.

body orientation

Body-Oriented Psychotherapy primarily focuses on physical states and symptoms, considering them a way of manifesting human existence. Before the emergence of this direction of psychotherapy, the splitting of the body and mind, in which the body was considered the area of ​​\u200b\u200binfluence of doctors, and the mind and emotions were the prerogative
psychotherapists was so strong that this idea of ​​body/mind unity was at first perceived by the public as something strange and suspicious. It is only in the last twenty-five years that this concept of the interaction of physiological, psychological and spiritual processes has become very popular. Today there are many various forms body psychotherapy, which offer the most different techniques and exercise. All of these methods seek to draw our attention to the fact that each person has an inalienable right to healthy and optimal functioning, using the direct physical experience of our body as remedy. Body-Oriented Psychotherapy also promotes continuous growth and transformation of the individual through the realization of our integrative essence as it was intended.

Let's look at the basic concepts that body-oriented therapy operates with.

Influence on spiritual development

What do we know about human nature? What are our views on health and disease? How does early childhood experience and direct life experience affect our condition? How do people change? Can we change by using techniques and exercises to increase our awareness and understanding? What happens to us when we let go of old energy patterns? Do we change by changing our behavior and habitual movements?

Body-Oriented Psychotherapy claims that our health is directly dependent on how we manage this reality. Diseases of the body and soul arise when we are forced to go against our true nature. These kinds of beliefs form the basis of bodily therapeutic effect. All body-oriented psychotherapists work differently. Some of them work with groups, others focus on therapy. couples and still others are interested in individual psychotherapy. In addition, body-oriented therapy can be aimed at resolving conflicts, improving work efficiency and other community projects. Some exercises and techniques of this area of ​​psychology focus on creative self-expression. Sometimes body techniques focus on narrow healing, while other times such exercises allow the person to work on their spiritual growth and transformation.

Development of spirituality

Perhaps one of the most important contributions of somatic psychology is its influence on the development of the spirit and spirituality. We usually think of spirituality as a disembodied part of ourselves, free from the shackles of the flesh. Body-oriented psychotherapy claims that this understanding of spirituality is very far from the truth.
The word "spirit" among the Slavs was identical to the concept of "breath". It is through proper breathing that we can find ourselves and go beyond the usual boundaries of consciousness, many of which are fixed in the experience of intrauterine and infant development.

When we experience our bodies through breathing techniques and other bodily exercises, we are able to balance our thoughts, develop our imagination, and get rid of physical or emotional suffering. Somatic psychology views the human body as a temple, a sacred place. Unfortunately, many of us have heard that we must give up the pleasures of the flesh, for they will lead us into sin. Such a perverse idea of ​​one's body still causes great suffering for many people, so somatic practices seek to rid people of such prejudices, restoring the body as an integral part of the personality, which takes care of filling our body with energy. If we take care of our body, live in accordance with its laws, we are able to heal ourselves and the whole world.

Influence on the body of external events

Any event that occurs during outer life affects our entire being: physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual. Each event enters our body through sensory systems, reflecting on the state of our entire body, including the mind. Thus, any event changes physical structure body, as well as emotions and thoughts. If we think positively, our muscles and organs also feel great. Any physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral experience affects the entire human body. Therefore, the task of body-oriented therapy is to identify these influences and work them through special exercises.

Energy

Man is unique energy system. Our energy determines the content and manifestation of our life. Energy is the driving force of our body, which can be increased or balanced using bodily techniques and exercises. Energy is a kind of fuel with which we progress through life. Energy is the divine spark through which we come to know ourselves as a person. We can feel our energy pulsating like a sine wave, or completely overwhelming us like an ocean wave. Our energy comes and goes, causing our emotions to wax and wane. Energy, matter and space are the three components of the universe.

Somatic psychology pays close attention human energy. The forms and methods of our energy interaction with the outside world determine our idea of ​​who we are and how we should act. Will a person shrink under stress, or rather explode? What events can completely squeeze out your energy, and what events can cause it to surge? It is through energy patterns that we begin to realize what the world around us and ourselves are like. All life events are considered within body-oriented therapy as a way to stimulate our energy flow.

Traffic

Movement is central to somatic psychology. It is movement that is a manifestation of life - this is the beating of the heart, and the breathing of the lungs, and the pulsation of brain neurons. The absence of movement is called death or the transition to an inanimate state. Any movement is considered as a certain type of vibration. Any pulsating process (expansion or contraction, inhalation or exhalation) is considered as primary manifestation life. One of the most important tasks of body-oriented therapy is the restoration of systemic motility and pulsation in the body.

Some body-oriented therapy exercises are classic and almost unchanged - this is the expression of oneself through breathing, vocals and movement. These methods effectively restore a healthy vibration of energy, and allow a person to realize its presence in himself. Most body-oriented psychotherapists believe that the body can be divided into several energy segments or zones. They claim that different segments have different form and functions, as well as store different memories, emotions, problems and traumas. Thus, the analysis of body segments proposed by W. Reich can be correlated with the Eastern teaching about chakras (or energy centers in the human body). Energy blocks in different segments characteristically manifest themselves through mental affects, postures and movements, causing specific physical and mental ailments.

These are the areas, from top to bottom:

1. Ocular segment (clamps around the eyes) - reflects the problems associated with what we see.
2. The oral segment (mouth, jaws, throat) reflects a person's problems associated with the inability to be heard, as well as problems of nutrition and acceptance.
3. Thoracic segment (chest and diaphragm) - anger and sadness, rejection and longing.
4. Segment of the abdomen - fear, digestive problems.
5. Pelvic segment (reproductive and excretory organs) - sexuality, vitality, survival and support.

Some body-oriented psychotherapists also pay attention to the feet, as they are connected to the grounding of a person.

The body as a metaphor

Somatic psychology sees the body as a template, blueprint, or metaphor for everything. life experience. This idea is reflected in our speech. When we say that some person is sitting on our neck, this means that we are responsible for him. “I'm so tired that I can't feel my legs,” says a person who needs to be grounded.
Body-oriented therapists always pay attention to the person's words and ideas about their body in order to evaluate and organize their experience.

When we are under the influence of another person, our whole being is rebuilt. Our stance, posture and gestures are modified to match the performance. significant person. The child learns to express his emotions in ways that suit the emotional climate of his family. Therefore, all the symbols, stories and archetypes of our childhood are fixed in our body, and we continue to use them even as adults. Body Focused Therapy exercises allow these imposed patterns to be removed, allowing the individual to experience their own energy and movement directly.

Energy flow and society

The flow of energy determines all of our active actions. When someone praises us, blood rushes to our cheeks and makes them hot. When we are afraid, we feel empty in the stomach. If we are criticized, then this is reflected in spasms in the chest area. All this energy then manifests itself in the form of behavior, for example, expressed in the form of emotions. One of the important concepts of body-oriented therapy is that our energy cannot be bad. Most pathologies of the body arise as a punishment for the inability or impossibility of expressing energy. How many problems arise from being told that we are being too excited, too loud, too sexy, too active?

Wilhelm Reich called modern society the basic overwhelming force that underlies all disease. Modern body-oriented psychologists believe that the inability to control one's energy is potentially dangerous for society. That's why bodily exercises and practices are aimed not only at returning a person to a feeling of pulsing energy, but also tracking it, as well as checking sensory awareness. Although early practitioners tended to use explosive and intense exercises (such as kicking and punching, screaming and groaning), other, more social options are now being considered to release old clamps and inhibitions, such as limiting or reducing movement, speech, and other manifestations. . Many therapists now prefer to use exercises that allow the person to become more aware of their inner experience.

12 months ago

There is an opinion that any person reads all the information about the interlocutor in 10 seconds. The fact is that the body is like a cast from our psyche. All our traumas, stresses, fears are deposited in the so-called muscle clamps, which form signals recognizable to others: aggression, insecurity, fear.

In the form that it is now, body psychotherapy arose on the basis of psychoanalysis. A student of Freud, a certain Dr. Wilhelm Reich noticed that all neurotics are very similar. They have similar movements, body structure, facial expressions and gestures. A hypothesis arose that emotions create a corset, a kind of human muscular shell. Reich began to treat people through the body, removing the clamps one by one, and people began to feel happier. Destructive emotions left, neurosis receded.

It turned out that any physical and psychological traumatic events are deposited in the body. On the one hand, muscle clamping is a consequence of injury, and on the other hand, protection from negative emotions. The muscular shell helps a person not to feel, not to be aware of unpleasant emotions. They pass, as it were, past consciousness, settling in the muscles in the form of spasms. With time muscle corset begins to generate emotion. Then we feel unconscious anxiety, fear, although external causes for them no.

So what is Body Oriented Therapy? Who is it for? This is a non-verbal technique that is gentle on the client's psyche, restoring his contact with the body, turning a person to face himself and his needs. The method will be useful primarily to those people who are not used to talking about themselves, are poorly aware of their emotions and feelings, often do not understand what exactly is happening to them, but characterize their condition with one word: “bad”.

Characteristics of therapy

The characteristic of therapy in the body-oriented approach is determined by its general objectives. They are the same stages that a specialist works on in order to help a person overcome trauma and improve the quality of his life:

1. De-energization of impulses that provoke a feeling of unhappiness, rupture of neural connections that support negative complexes, expectations, fears.
2. Purification of the human psyche from negative accumulations.
3. Recovery of CNS reflexes.
4. Teaching methods of self-regulation, the ability to withstand psychological stress.
5. assimilation new information about yourself and the world.

To achieve these goals, body therapy uses different methods and approaches.

These include:

• Reich's Vegetative Therapy.
• Rod energy.
• Bioenergetics Alexander Lowen.
• Breathing exercises.
• dance therapy.
• meditation techniques.
• Massage.

All body oriented therapy and exercises, various methods of body therapy are body oriented. Activation occurs through the body and movements different centers brain. Thus, emotions and stresses begin to be processed, which for many years were driven deep into the subconscious and were manifested by outbursts of anger, addictions, physical illnesses. The bodily oriented therapeutic effect pulls them out, helps to survive and clean out the memory of the body.

Body Therapy Techniques

Applying the techniques and basic methods of body psychotherapy, the therapist focuses on the person himself and his individual characteristics. According to principle individual approach a set of exercises is selected for each individual person. Some methods work in the treatment of this particular client, others do not. But there are exercises in the body oriented psychotherapy who help everyone. They can and should be applied independently.

grounding

When we are stressed, we do not feel supported. The grounding exercise is aimed at returning the energy connection with the earth. You need to focus on the sensations in your legs, feel how your feet rest on the ground.

We place our legs a quarter of a meter, socks inward, knees bent, bend over, and touch the ground. Straighten your legs, feel the tension and slowly, slowly unbend.

Breathing techniques

We never think about how we breathe, but we often do it wrong. Constantly nervous, we begin to breathe shallowly, preventing the body from being saturated with oxygen. “Breathe,” the therapist often says in psychotherapy sessions, because the client freezes and breathing becomes almost imperceptible. Meanwhile, breathing techniques help to relax muscles, remove muscle clamps and turn on the recovery mechanisms of the body.

Breathing in a square

We count: inhale - 1-2-3-4, exhale - 1-2-3-4. Repeat for 3 minutes.

Breathing for relaxation

Inhale - 1-2, exhale - 1-2-3-4.

Breath to activate

Inhale - 1-2-3-4, exhale - 1-2.

Healing breath

Close your eyes and concentrate on the process of breathing. Breathe deeply and confidently. Start mentally moving around your body and imagine that you are breathing. different bodies and body parts. Track your feelings. If you feel discomfort in any organ, imagine that you are breathing healing sparkling healing air and watch how the discomfort leaves this organ.

Relaxation

Helps release muscle tension. There are many relaxation techniques, but the most accessible and simple is the alternation of tension and relaxation. You need to lie down comfortably and strain all the muscles with all your strength, including the muscles of the face. Hold it for a couple of seconds and relax completely. Then repeat again and again. Already after the third repetition, a person feels laziness and a desire to fall asleep.

The next relaxation method is auto-training. Lying or sitting with eyes closed, imagine how the muscles of the body alternately relax. This method works well in combination with breathing techniques.

How does a body-oriented psychotherapist work?

While some of the exercises can be used on their own, their benefits are like a drop in the ocean compared to the work of a body-oriented therapist. Specialist uses deep methods body-oriented therapy, allowing you to remove the muscle shell forever. In addition, a therapist is needed in order to be close to a person when an emotion imprisoned in a compressed muscle breaks free, because it will somehow need to be accepted and experienced. Professional therapeutic techniques body-oriented therapies are very effective. They remove even the strongest clamps and restore the normal flow of energy in the body.

Vegetotherapy Reich

The classical vegetative therapy of Reich, the founder of the method, uses several techniques:

1. Massage is the strongest impact (twisting, pinching) on ​​an inadequately clamped muscle. It increases the voltage to the maximum and starts the process of prohibitive braking, which dissolves the shell.
2. Psychological support for the client at the time of the release of emotions.
3. Abdominal breathing, saturating the body with energy, which itself, like water in a dam, demolishes all the clamps.

The first experiences of Reich's Body Oriented Therapy showed high efficiency directions. But the followers of the Reich exercises were not enough and, like mushrooms after the rain, new interesting methods began to appear.

Bioenergetics by Alexander Lowen
The symbiosis of Western and Eastern practices is the bioenergetics of Alexander Lowen. To the legacy of the founder, Lowen added a special method of diagnosing clamps with the help of breathing, the concept of grounding and many interesting exercises to accelerate the movement of human energy, relax the abdomen, pelvic muscles and release expression (getting rid of the squeezed negative emotions.

Bodynamics

Bodynamics, which is now fashionable, with the help of simple exercises, works out very serious things: boundaries, ego, contact, attitude and even lifestyle. Bodynamics has learned to test a person by studying his muscle clamps, the so-called hyper and hypotonicity. Practical experiments have shown that by influencing certain muscles, certain emotions can be evoked. It is on this that all bodynamic exercises are based. For example, if you want to evoke a feeling of confidence, strength and healthy aggression, hold something in your fist. This will help you get through the tough times. That is how, with clenched fists, man has always met danger and emotion has helped him to survive.

Biosynthesis

The next method of body-oriented therapy - biosynthesis attempts to bind together human feelings, actions and thoughts. Its task is to integrate the experience of the perinatal period into the current state of man. This method continues the improvement of grounding, the restoration of proper breathing (centering), and also uses various types of contacts (water, fire, earth) in working with the therapist. At the same time, the therapist's body is sometimes used as a support, thermoregulation is worked out and voice exercises are applied.

thanatotherapy

Yes, that's right, the concept of death is encrypted in the word thanatotherapy. It is believed that only in death is a person most relaxed. Thanatotherapy strives for this state, of course, leaving all participants in the action alive. The method uses group exercises when one is in a static state, for example, lies in a “star” position, and the other manipulates some part of the body, moving it as slowly as possible to the side. Participants talk about experiencing a transcendent experience of floating above their body and feeling completely relaxed.

Meditation

Meditative psychotechnics take their origins from Buddhism and yoga. It will take some time to master them, but the result is worth it. Meditation makes you focus on your body and makes it possible to feel the energy flows inside it. It allows you to restore integrity to the loose psyche and forms new missing psychological qualities.

Meditation is a great relaxation method. If you focus on any one thought or point of the body, all other muscles will lose tension and negative energy will go away.

What is the difference between body-oriented psychotherapy and other methods? From the very beginning of the use of the method, ever since the appearance of the Reich exercises, it was clear that this was a phenomenon unique to psychotherapy. Firstly, there was no need for long conversations, discussion of dreams, immersion in childhood memories. You could do without words. The psychotherapist got to the patient's trauma through the body.

All the exercises of the body-oriented therapy acted carefully, quickly, and as sparingly as possible on the client's psyche. This is the main advantage of body psychotherapy. In addition, the Reich technique killed two birds with one stone - along with mental health, it also returned bodily health.

Psychotherapy is always a conversation. But not always traditional, with the help of words. There is a psychotherapy based on a conversation with the body, or rather, working with a person's problems and diseases through bodily contact.

The history of the development of body-oriented psychotherapy has almost 100 years. Wilhelm Reich is considered to be the founder of this method. He was a student of Sigmund Freud, but gradually moved away from psychoanalysis and began to develop psychotherapeutic methods of influencing the body.

While working as a psychoanalyst, Reich noticed that in patients who lie on a psychoanalytic couch, some strong emotions are accompanied by severe reactions from the side of the body.

For example, if the patient wants to contain his feelings, then he may begin to grab his neck, as if squeezing his throat and pushing emotions back.

Continuing his observations, he described how chronic tension arises in response to stressful situations. individual groups muscles - "muscle clamps". “Muscular clamps”, when combined, form a “muscular shell” or “character armor”. In the future, this "armor" creates problems, both in the body and in mental sphere.

In the bodily sphere, there are restrictions on mobility, poor blood circulation, and pain. In the mental sphere, “armor” does not allow strong emotions to naturally manifest itself, and hinders personal growth.

Emotions suppressed since childhood (anger, fears, sadness, etc.) require an outlet and cause many problems: from panic attacks and insomnia to psychosomatic disorders and relationship difficulties.

So, the following key ideas formed the basis of body-oriented therapy (hereinafter - BOT):

• The body remembers everything that has happened to us since birth: significant situations, emotions, feelings and sensations. Therefore, through the body it is possible to work with any negative experience of a person, as well as with his attitude towards himself and the world.

• Unreacted emotions and traumatic memories of a person are restrained and imprinted in the body (this is the result of the work of psychological defense mechanisms). Stagnant emotional arousal is accompanied by somatic changes (failures occur in the work of the autonomic nervous system).

• The protective shell subsequently prevents a person from experiencing strong emotions, limiting and distorting the expression of feelings.

In our country, thanatotherapy by V. Baskakov and AMPIR by M. Sandomirsky arose.

Since 1998, body-oriented therapy has been included in the list of psychotherapy methods recommended by the Russian Ministry of Health.

By the way, in addition to the TOP, this list includes another 25 methods:

• art therapy,
• autogenic training,
• gestalt psychotherapy,
• hypnosuggestive therapy,
• group dynamic psychotherapy,
• dynamic short-term psychotherapy,
• cognitive- behavioral psychotherapy,
• personality-oriented reconstructive psychotherapy,
• logotherapy,
• non-directive psychotherapy according to K. Rogers,
• NLP,
• behavioral psychotherapy,
• psychodrama,
• classical psychoanalysis,
• rational psychotherapy,
• systemic family therapy,
• therapy creative expression,
• transactional analysis,
• transpersonal psychotherapy,
• emotional stress psychotherapy,
• ericksonian hypnosis,
• clinical psychoanalysis,
• continuum psychotherapy,
• existential psychotherapy,
• socio-psychological training.

How does this happen?

As part of the diagnosis, the therapist gets to know the client's body, which "tells" about his problems and character, often this is information that the person simply does not realize about himself. This acquaintance occurs with the help of external observation, definition and decoding of bodily sensations.

Actually used in therapy various techniques: respiratory, motor, meditative, contact ( special system touches).

The therapist helps the client to experience not only simple bodily sensations, but also those associated with strong emotions. This allows you to live through the feelings that have been suppressed and release them. As a result, a person becomes closer to his experiences and, accordingly, more resistant to life's difficulties.

Case from practice:

(All examples are given with the consent of the patients, after the end of therapy, names and details have been changed).

Olga, 42 years old, came to me because of breathing problems. There was often shortness of breath outside of serious physical exertion, especially in emotionally significant situations, for example, while playing with a child.

The problems began about four years ago, but they had little effect on daily life, so she had not previously asked for help. He does not note any significant stressful situations during that period (“everything was solvable”).

When we are talking about breathing problems, the thought of a strong suppressed feeling always arises, so I carried out the work with the help of TOP. In the third session, a critical moment occurred - while working with the breath, the patient recalled a situation that occurred five years ago, when she was deprived of a promotion, under very "ugly" circumstances (the betrayal of a friend).

I remembered the situation and, after that, feelings surfaced - resentment and anger. In the past, they were suppressed with a rational reaction - she pulled herself together, continued to work there, then moved to another company.

The feelings that have now surfaced in therapy have been acted upon (the therapist in this case creates an atmosphere of maximum security and acceptance, where the patient can cry, scream, and express emotions in any other way). After this session, the breathing problems stopped (for 2 years the patient periodically got in touch, the symptoms did not reappear).

Working through chronic bodily tension is not always aimed at releasing feelings. Many problems are associated with the elementary inability (more precisely, the loss of the ability) of a person to relax the body.

For example, spasmodic muscles play a key role in causing headaches or, as in the following example, sleep problems.

Case from practice:

Yuri, 46 years old. He asked about sleep disorders (difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking up), which had previously arisen against the background of the regimen and nature of work (resuscitator), but remained for a year after changing activities.

The idea to use TOP arose from the fact that the problems were not obviously related to thoughts - “winding up” is often the cause of insomnia, but not in this case. In addition, according to the observations of his wife, the patient always slept in the same tense position, "as if ready to jump up at any moment."

Chronic muscle tension, especially the muscles of the neck and back, leads to the fact that signals “be alert”, “get ready to move” constantly go to the brain. As the saying goes, "no sleep." The therapy was aimed at relaxing spasmodic back muscles and changing body memory associated with sleep. While working as a doctor, you really had to be on the alert, but now the situation has changed and you can start sleeping “for real”. Stable results were achieved by the sixth session.

As already mentioned, our body, parallel to the psyche, experiences everything that happens to us. And some processes, for example, the completion of something, proceed much more clearly on the sphere of the body, because even at the cell level we have a “dying-birth” scheme. Particularly well with the experience of grief, loss or other major changes V. Baskakov's thanatotherapy works.

Case from practice:

Xenia, 35 years old. Went in for difficulties in going through a divorce. Legally and in everyday terms, everything was decided, and, according to the client, “I agree that divorce the right decision I understand everything with my head, but something prevents me from letting go.

At the level of behavior, this manifested itself, for example, in inaction regarding the search for new housing. Thus, it was about the need to "complete and move on." This topic is a very frequent request for work in thanatotherapy.

During the fifth session, the client had an image in which she was present at the funeral ceremony (I will not describe the details), and experienced great sadness. After the session, she had a dream on the same topic, in which the ceremony was completely completed. The very next day, the client felt changes in her condition - there was a feeling of completeness. New housing was found within a week.

The third aspect of working in TOP is patient education independent use some techniques. As a rule, they are aimed at relaxing and normalizing their emotional state through the body.

The methods used in TOP are quite specific, and this imposes certain requirements on the training of therapists.

If, for example, the study of cognitive or Gestalt therapy is possible on an independent basis (with basic education, of course), then training in body-oriented methods is possible only “from hand to hand”, with direct contact with the teacher and receiving personal experience as a patient.

Who is Body-Oriented Therapy for?

The second is the development of the potential of the individual: increasing stress resistance, improving contact with your body and accepting yourself, establishing more trusting relationships with people and much more.

The real values ​​in life are health, grace, satisfaction, pleasure and love.
We realize these values ​​only when we stand firmly on our own feet. Alexander Lowen "Psychology of the Body"

BODY-ORIENTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

The term "psychotherapy" I use very loosely. After all, this term itself is taken from medicine and implies the presence of a therapist and a patient. "Patient" in Latin means "passive". And it turns out that in this format, by default, the situation of the therapist's dominance, the lack of equal interaction, is laid.
And this is completely inconsistent with the work that we do in our sessions.
No dominance on my part and no passivity on the part of the person who came to this session is implied. This is a very lively, contact, interactive work. Rather, I would call it "in-depth self-exploration" than any kind of therapy.

But since the term "body-oriented psychotherapy" is now quite widely known, understood, and even popular somewhere, I left it.

In addition, this term contains a very important indication of working with the body. After all, our work is really very "body-oriented".
Whatever we talk about, whatever we consider or explore, we constantly listen to the body, work with breathing, periodically switch to some kind of massage, visceral or soft manual techniques. Bodywork is intimately woven into this deep self-exploration.

And therefore, let "body-oriented psychotherapy" remain for the time being, although with all the above clarifications :)

First, let's show how a standard session of body-oriented psychotherapy looks like in my system:

Soul and body: a close relationship

Any psychological problems can be divided into two main categories. The first category includes those problems that are caused by purely external stress or physical injury. The second category includes problems generated by super-heavy events of personal history, mental trauma, shocks, stress, as well as simply character traits - insecurity, restlessness, anxiety, irritability, resentment, self-pity or self-flagellation, etc.

Problems of the first category, as a rule, are obvious to us - a person lived normally, got into a traumatic situation (catastrophe, accident, attack), was injured, and as a result - pain, stiffness, etc.
Or a less extreme version of the same thing - a person began to constantly work at a computer, and after a while his neck and shoulders began to hurt ... In both cases, the cause and effect is obvious.

But the problems of the second category are obvious, unfortunately, not to everyone, but only to those people who have at least some idea of ​​the psychosomatic connection between the psyche and the body.
And that connection is great!

Take a very common example: the standard trauma of loss. Let's say that a beloved person suddenly passed away - a friend, relative, etc.
Grief washed over my head.
And so, day after day, month after month, a person lives, internally not accepting, not agreeing with this loss.
Internally, subconsciously, he shrinks and somewhere in the depths, stubbornly repeats "no, no, no, this is not, this is not, I do not agree, I do not agree" ...
He stubbornly does not want to admit, he refuses to accept this fact, despite the fact that he understands everything perfectly with his mind ...
And six months later, he suddenly discovers, say, tachycardia ...
Or some other obvious physiological failure in the body ...

Will a person be able to trace, catch, intuitively track this connection or not be able to - she still exists!
And this has been known to all true healers since ancient times.

Our body very psychological!

Or you can say otherwise - our psyche is very physiological.

All mental trauma experienced by a person, severe mental shocks and stresses remain in the form of tension in the nervous system, which in turn creates tension in the muscles of the body, smooth muscles. internal organs, and gradually enslaves them.

And it turns out that a person goes to masseurs for a long, long time and manual therapists so that they finally relieve him of muscle pains or backaches in the spine, and the cause of these problems may lie in some kind of mental shock, severe stress that happened very recently or far in the past ...

The same applies to many diseases, including chronic ones - a person goes to doctors, takes mountains expensive drugs without any special results, and the cause of the disease lies in the subconscious, because post-traumatic nervous tension affects not only muscles, but also physiology.

Appeal to doctors and massage therapists without working through this causal level problems, does not fundamentally solve anything, and even vice versa, complicates the situation, because modern drugs themselves are rather ambiguous...

What to do with this hidden tension of the nervous system? How to remove it, how to get rid of the effects of stress stuck in the subconscious?

Methods of modern body-oriented psychotherapy.

Moreover, it should be noted that, unlike other psychotherapeutic approaches, when solving problems within the framework of this therapy, it is possible to work even with UNSPEAKABLE PROBLEMS - those that a person is not able to talk about.

Usually, when coming to a psychologist, a person should talk about his problem, describe it, identify ...

What if the person is uncomfortable talking about the problem or describing the situation that caused the problem?
If a person's throat intercepts at the mere thought of what happened to him or is happening now?
If, at the first words about this problem, his heart starts to falter and the pressure jumps sharply?
If shame, fear, despair, pain suffocates?...
And, in the end, if, by the nature of his activity, a person does not have the right to talk about his problem?

And the problem sits in the throat, in the shoulders, in the back, in the nerves and does not allow you to live normally ... You have to take medications that essentially do not solve anything, but only drive the problem deeper ...

Body-oriented psychotherapy allows solving such problems as well.

To get started, in principle, no information about the problem is required, it is enough to say "Doctor, I have THIS"(in what sense - there is a symptom) - and you can work ...

So, body-oriented psychotherapy works through the subtle interaction of the body and mind to reduce negative activation in the nervous system.

This approach has a clear neurobiological basis, and relies on the intrinsic ability of the nervous system to respond flexibly to stress.

At any period of a person's life, some super-heavy events for him can lead to a change in the nervous system, which will negatively affect the person's feelings and his relationship with the outside world. Body-Oriented Psychotherapy allows the nervous system to internally integrate(in other words, "digest") these super-heavy events and restore the balance of the mental and physical life of a person.

What does "teleska" work with?

1. Witness trauma- when the person not involved in a catastrophic event, but was or is a direct witness to it. For example, a person witnessed an air, car or railway accident, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster.
This also includes situations when some difficult event or process occurs before a person’s eyes, for example, the illness of a relative or loved one, the death of a loved one (for example, sluggish oncology, when even a simple stay in an oncology or tube dispensary leaves a heavy mark on the soul) . Or it could be prosecution, imprisonment of someone close to you.
To the same category injuries refers to the situation when a person lives next to a dependent relative - a drug addict, alcoholic, gamer, etc.

2. The trauma of loss- the death of people who are infinitely close and dear to us, who literally “sprouted” in us (or in whom we ourselves “sprouted”). Despite the fact that the mind understands everything, and even accepts (if, say, it is the natural death of a very elderly relative), the emotional plane, the nervous system, the body are overwhelmed with pain. And this pain does not disappear with time, but only loses its external sharpness.
This also includes situations rubbed andfriends or loved ones as a result rupture of relations parting (especially if the parting happened as a result of deceit, slander, betrayal, etc.).
When a loved one leaves, and even more so leaves, then the wound from such an event can be no less long and painful than death. This is exactly what, in fact, is sung in famous song: "parting is a little death " ...
To the same category injuriesgenerally refers to the loss of something very valuable: some kind of social-career-cultural status, lifestyle, social circle, occupation, business, i.e. any serious loss. It might even be banalmoving to another place residence.
And the same with This includes the loss of some habitual "pillars" of existence, to which a person is accustomed, which are already firmly included in the exchange cycle, but which he decided to give up: smoking, alcohol, and other addictions. When a person "quits" or "quits", realizing on the mental plane all the harm that he brings to his health, the body inevitably goes through a period of "breaking", when the void that has arisen has not yet been filled with anything positive. Accordingly, the stronger and longer the attachment, addiction, the deeper and more painful the breaking will be.

***I want to note important point- here we mean the situation when a person has ALREADY DECIDED AND ALREADY DROP, and not the situation when he still wants to quit or, moreover, the situation when someone (relatives, acquaintances, etc.) wants the person threw. My sphere- this is exactly the situation when a person has decided by himself and made a step by himself- then there is precisely this trauma of loss - a loss that has already taken place.***

3. Injury strong impact : man-made disasters (auto, motorcycle, air, industrial, etc.), natural disasters. Syndromes of compression, falling. Strong fright.
This also includes the feeling of shame (say, when a child is shamed in front of the whole class), states of humiliation / contempt / mockery and sexual harassment.

4. Assault injury: armed attack, hostage taking, rape, robbery.

5. Medical and dental trauma Key words: surgery, anesthesia, intoxication, poisoning, hospital syndrome.

6. Global activation: perinatal distress, birth injury, drowning, suffocation, the use of hallucinogens, etc. This also includes nightmares, problems of terrible dreams.

The list of traumatic events that leave wounds in a person’s soul can be continued.more and more. But for the overall picture, it is quite possible to limit ourselves to the above list.
We only note that even if there were no super-heavy events and powerful shocks associated with them, in a person’s life in his memory, many of his muscle clamps and tensions can occur from forgotten incidents, as well as simply from a stressful environment in which a person long time is (hard work, busy business, service in hot spot, imprisonment, etc.)

Except mental trauma, body-oriented psychotherapy can work just as consciousness correction.
AT this case the term "therapy" itself, in general, does not even fit, since a person, in principle, does not need any treatment, no therapy. He is healthy, but he needs a mild correction, to feel more fullness and harmony of life, for a brighter, creative and creative lifestyle.

The main breathing technique that I practice in my work is rebirthing.
In English it sounds like rebirthing, and since in Russian phonetics there is no complete equivalent to the sound " th", then in Russian transcription this technique is called by different people in different ways: "rebirthing", "rebesing", rebirsing", etc.
I'm used to the "rebirthing" option and therefore I use it, although someday I will certainly develop my own concept of breathing and, accordingly, the name will be different.
My practical and theoretical developments in this regard have long gone beyond the classical rebirthing, but so far my hands just don’t reach large-scale theoretical work, because I’m still too passionate about practice and work almost non-stop :)
And therefore, for the time being, in terms of terminology, I remain with this old, familiar terminology.

In general, you can see how the rebirthing session looks like in this video (although a training session was filmed there, when I also explained to the student the nuances of working with the breather:

Now a little more:
This really wonderful, unique healing technique was developed by the American psychologist Leonard Orr in the 70s of the last century. It is currently widely used throughout the world.

I studied this technique in 1993 with Doctor of Psychology Vladimir Kozlov at Yaroslavl University. That's where I got my certification.
But the most big influence L. Orr’s student, New Zealand rebefer Hoyt Drake, who taught me personally when he visited me during his trip to Russia in the summer of 1993, had a great influence on me as a practice.

The main focus of this technique is release of energy locked in the body.
Thanks to the practice of rebirthing, a person is freed from stress accumulations and the consequences of various psychological traumas, as a result of which vital energy is released.

As you know, the muscle layer of a person becomes more rigid and tense with age (by the way, this is why the term “muscle corset” appeared in body-oriented psychology).
Even without any special studies, there are many confirmations of this in our Everyday life. For example, we know that in the morning, after sleep, a person's height is 2-3 cm more than in the evening - i.e. we see that during the night a certain percentage of muscle tension goes away. And the other known fact consists in the fact that after death a person is stretched by as much as 8-10 cm. This is what kind of tension we carry in ourselves if the muscles relax so much when we leave the body!

How does this tension build up in us?

First, it is, of course, our daily workload. Monotonous movements, hypodynamia (which, as you know, enslaves muscles no weaker physical activity), carrying briefcases, bags on one shoulder, uncomfortable posture when sitting, etc., etc.
And secondly, these are stronger and deeper psychological stresses, shocks, traumas, dramatic life situations, losses, disappointments...
In our everyday view, it is believed that the situation of psychological stress, shock is completed and resolved when a person psychologically forgot, turned off, calmed down.
But the whole point is that the human body also at your level experiencing stress, and therefore the consequences of this stress must be eliminated on the same physical level which is usually not done.

At the moment (or period) of stress, a lot of physiological changes occur in the body: breathing, heartbeat, spasms, tension, muscle clamps, etc.
A person, whose attention is absorbed by the current situation, registers with his consciousness only the largest physiological changes, which is commonly referred to as “a lump in the throat”, “the heart sank”, “the breath caught”, “knees buckled”, etc.
But at the same time, many other, less noticeable, but no less significant changes for the body, remain outside the sphere of consciousness, and that is why a person in most cases does not consciously engage in physiological harmonization after stress.
Of course, there is a certain percentage of people in whom the necessary regulation occurs spontaneously, but usually this level of the problem is solved by us on the principle of “prick and forget”: tranquilizers, alcohol, drugs, or milder forms, such as travel.
Of course, all these methods do not solve the problem in essence, but only distract our consciousness from it, drive this tension deep into the body, displace it into the unconscious

As a result, many different microclamps, spasms, and muscle constrictions remain, many failures in the functioning of organs, glands, body systems also do not go anywhere, not to mention the general loss vitality, energy, lightness and mobility.
Rebirthing technique directly works with the above-described physiological consequences of stresses previously experienced by a person.

All the details and nuances of this technique are discussed with the client before the session, but speaking in general, the principle of operation of this technique is as follows.

Special types of breathing that a person breathes during a session, include those parts of the brain that are not involved in everyday life, including the parts associated with the body's self-regulation system.
As a result of this, micro-clamps, spasms, tensions hidden from everyday consciousness appear, become clearly conscious and through a specially designed system of actions, there is a liberation from these negative phenomena.

Many human diseases are caused precisely by these subconscious layers, which are practically not subject to any chemical preparations: whether artificial (medicines) or natural (phytotherapy, nutritional supplements, etc.)
Many human neuroses have the same cause.
Uncertainty, various fears, phobias, various inferiority complexes, general emotional enslavement and even weight changes are also often the product of accumulated over many years. physiological consequences stress and psychological trauma.
The so-called "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" - a very common diagnosis today, is very effectively solved through rebirthing.

Another the most important property rebirthing - it fills the chronic "hunger for sensations" that we have in our stressful city life ...
Harmonious, voluminous, deep sensations are also a kind of food for our body - as important as the physical food that we eat by mouth.
Without enough, and more importantly - bodily sensations Our body starves and suffers no less than without physical food. Just us we do not recognize this hunger We don't recognize him by sight...

In more detail, this topic - the topic of "hunger for sensations" - is considered by me in this material.

And finally, rebirthing may well be practiced outside of any therapeutic, healing context. It can be practiced simply as a wonderful general health technique.
It is just like a massage: we may well go for a massage, not because something hurts us, but simply because it is pleasant and good for the body.
Like good massage, rebirthing has a high general health and tonic effect.
By the way, the duration of one rebirthing session is basically the same as the duration of a good one. general massage- an average of 1.5 hours.

On the this moment I developed my individual training program for rebirthing.

The purpose of this course is, firstly, to teach a person about rebirthing, so that he gets this most powerful tool of self-regulation in his hands, secondly, to get all the benefits that rebirthing gives for the health of the body and psyche, and thirdly, to get an unforgettable, vivid experience self-knowledge.

In terms of its healing effect, this course is in no way inferior to a full-fledged massage course. And in its renewing, revitalizing effect on the nervous system, it even surpasses the course of massage.
The fact is that muscle tension accumulates both as a result of external physical exertion and overload, and as a result of our psychological, mental ups and downs in life.
The latter can enslave the muscles even more strongly and deeply than simple physical activity.
So, muscle blocks generated by psychological reasons cannot be treated with any massage, or they will be removed only by some small, completely insignificant percentage.
Rebirthing with such muscle blocks works very effectively.
Often my clients and I combine a massage course and a rebirthing course with very good results.

Breathing technique during this course is fully developed.
And besides, a person receives a good set of integrative psychotechniques that can be used both in a rebirthing session and at any other time, even when we are in public.

Read more about this rebirthing training course -.

In addition to rebirthing, in some rare cases, I use another breathing technique - holotropic breathing.
This breathing technique was developed by an American psychologist, now a world-famous scientist S. Grof.

The theoretical basis of this technique is transpersonal psychology, the creator of which is S. Grof.
I learned this technique in 1994 from one of the first Russian students of S. Grof, Dr. philosophical sciences V. Maikov, now the head of the Moscow Transpersonal Center. I passed the certification program in transpersonal psychology at the Moscow Institute of Integrative Psychology (MIIP), with German Karelsky, a student of V. Maikov
The main focus and principle of action of holotropic breathing practically coincides with what was said about rebirthing, but the way of breathing itself, its structure and rhythm are different.
This technique is harder and more intense. Compared to rebirthing, I would even say rough...
This is a kind of "total shake-up" of the whole organism.
It requires from a person much more physical strength, endurance, as well as a sufficiently high general level health.
In addition, she has much more contraindications and "side effects".
In its biochemical essence, this is an anti-physiological technique and is in no way suitable for constant practice - at least in terms of health. And therefore I consider positioning it as the main technique in transpersonal psychology a fundamental methodological mistake.
But with all this, I can’t deny the fact that in some cases it still works.
I use it quite rarely, only in case of special need, and only with clients who have passed my rebirthing course, i.e. people who already have a good skill in integrative work.
You can listen to more about the differences and nuances of rebirthing and holotropic therapy on my audio recordings, where I, in particular, touch on this issue.
In the same place, on the records, the difference between group therapy, as is mainly practiced in the holotropic, and individual work is analyzed in some detail.
These audio recordings are on the rebirthing page, .

INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTECHNIQUES

Integrative psychotechnics are very diverse. But with all the external diversity, they have the same meaning and direction - integration, i.e. gathering man, restoring his integrity.
All that, due to the multitude life circumstances turned out to be repressed, suppressed - all this must be consciously and experienced if we want to get rid of the "burden" that we feel in ourselves over the years and from those diseases into which all this suppressed material inevitably pours out over time ...

The state of wholeness, integrity is lightness both in the soul and in the body.
Lightness, joy, inner light...

And this is not superficiality, not "indifference", from which, at first glance, it seems to be easy too. But this is really only at first glance, because indifference, by definition irresponsible.

The man simply threw off the responsibility.
But after all, it is impossible to dump responsibly just like that, to nowhere! If someone dropped it, then it will definitely fall on someone else! Nature, as you know, does not tolerate emptiness ...

That is, a person, as they say, faded from responsibility, it became easier for him, but it became easier for him only because the one on whom he dumped this responsibility - it became harder!
And it doesn’t matter who exactly is the one on whom this responsibility fell - parents, grandparents, husband / wife, lover / lover, friend / girlfriend, child, or is it some kind of external organization: a team, a circle of friends, the state, monastery...

No matter where, the person "delegated" responsibility for himself. It is important that someone definitely took it - and it doesn’t matter consciously or unconsciously (as, by the way, children who sincerely love their parents often do) ...

So this "lightness of indifference" - it is not real, incomplete!

Such an approach to life is justified for a child, or at least for a teenager.

And for an adult, it is absolutely unacceptable, because an adult’s indifference is almost always someone’s additional load, someone's additional responsibility.

Integrity is not superficial.

And the lightness that we feel when we are whole is the lightness with all that responsibility what we have as adults...
And despite all this burden, responsibility, the complexity of many problems - our own and those people who depend on us (children, elderly parents, subordinates, etc.), we feel lightness and light inside. We feel the depth of meaning and the deep joy of life - a quiet, calm, bottomless joy, which, like the sky above our heads, gives a feeling of inner freedom, inner volume, inner space ...

In household tradition, this is called " happiness". In the philosophical tradition, this is called " Meaning"(precisely with a capital letter). In religious tradition, this is called" grace". In the esoteric tradition it is called " self-existence".

This is how you can describe integrity, integration.

Well, integrative techniques help us with this.

We use these techniques both in combination with rebirthing and independently, as separate practice, separate work, which, in fact, is called "integrative work", "integrative practice" or simply "integrative".
In more detail and expanded about it and about the techniques that are used there - on the relevant page .

*****

BINAURAL RHYTHMS IN BODY-ORIENTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

AT recent times the topic of binaural beats has become quite famous among people who are passionate about self-knowledge and self-development. On the Internet you can find a lot of different, sometimes conflicting information about binaural beats. There are opinions both "for" and "against". Moreover, both of them are based on someone's living experience. I also use this technology in my practice, I have already fully studied, mastered and put into practice a lot of it. And so the picture of the phenomenon is more or less defined.

The term "binaural" comes from Latin: "bini" - "two" and "auris" - "ear"

* * *

Further, I will note some more special, specific areas of application of body-oriented psychotherapy.
Firstly, it is work with specialists whose work is connected with people and their problems. These are doctors, psychologists, massage therapists, cosmeptologists, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and various social services.
Secondly, it is work in the field of psychology of self-knowledge, that is, with people focused on spiritual search, self-knowledge and self-improvement.

Since this does not apply to all people, I will talk about this in more detail on separate pages. So,

Body-oriented psychotherapy is a way to get rid of emotional experiences through interaction with the body. Everything we experience is reflected in our body. Negative and traumatic experiences are fixed in the body in the form of clamps and tensions.

The body therapist helps to pay attention to the tense points of the body, and through them - to identify the experiences that caused them. Having understood the reason, it is already possible to work with it - to learn to get rid of the past and its binding influence.

Thus, the goal of body therapy is to get rid of the influence of past negative experiences on the present.

The founder of body therapy is Wilhelm Reich. He was a student of Z. Freud, but concentrated his attention on the study of effects on the body. His work was continued by many scientists in different countries peace. Today, body-oriented psychotherapy has many directions and continues to develop rapidly.

Advantages of the method:

• The main advantage of body-oriented psychotherapy is high efficiency.
• This type of therapy allows you to interact with the unconscious. Our subconscious mind is 90% non-verbal, that is, not through speech, but through the body. Bodily clamps are a reflection of negative experiences, conflicts that have not been released and are "fixed" in the body.
• The body psychotherapist reads these signals, helps to uncover their causes, let go negative emotions from the soul, and as a result - free the body from the clamps.
• Body psychotherapy can prevent the development psychosomatic diseases , which are caused just by internal conflicts and negative experiences that have not received an outlet.

Sometimes tightness, lack of contact with one's body reaches the point where a person loses the ability to catch his true feelings. In this case, consciousness replaces feelings - it “tells” a person in which situation one should experience admiration, interest, sympathy, and in which one - rejection. At the same time, the true feelings of a person can be completely different from those that consciousness imposes on him. Such a contradiction can lead to serious internal conflict. Therefore, it is important to work with your body and respond to its silent signals.

Oksana Barkova, psychotherapist, gestalt psychologist:

In my work, I always pay attention to the Body, since it is impossible to work through any emotional, psychological difficulty without removing the body block.

Any difficulty has an imprint in the body, creating a kind of bodily and emotional "shell", not allowing you to more fully experience and realize your emotions, distorting them.

The body remembers everything from the moment of birth: emotions, situations, memories, so through the body you can work with any human experience.

The study of muscle tension, which underlies the psychological difficulty, allows not only to solve the problem, but also to proceed to the correct bodily regulation, to rely on the resources of the body. This is the main difference and advantage of body therapy over other psychotherapeutic methods.

In what cases can physical therapy help?

• severe stress (loss, divorce, separation and other life situations);
• conflicts in the couple and in the family;
• career difficulties: difficulties in relationships with colleagues and superiors, inability to defend and defend one's opinion, lack of job satisfaction;
• constantly bad mood, apathy, restless sleep, tearfulness, depression;
• loss of the meaning of life;
• fear, obsessive anxious thoughts;
• aggression, irritability;
• frequent colds, prolonged illness.

It is important to note that body-oriented psychotherapy is not a substitute for conservative or surgical treatment diseases, but serves as its complement.

Why is bodywork important?

Man perceives reality only through the body. When the connection between the soul and the body is broken, a person feels the world of his own experiences and illusions more realistically than the surrounding reality. As a result, the brightness and fullness of feelings and emotions are lost, nothing brings pleasure, something is constantly missing in life. Some characterize this state as follows: “I live like a zombie”, “Like in a dream”, “Like frozen”.

To "return" to real world To feel it fully, you must first free your body. Muscular "armor" makes it very difficult not only to enjoy life, but even to breathe and walk. Imagine that you were put on two sheepskin coats and shod in heavy felt boots with galoshes. And you live 24 hours a day, even sleep in such attire. And now take and throw off this burden, remaining in light summer clothes. It got better, right? But no external conditions have changed, only your body has got rid of heaviness. Therefore, body-oriented therapy, working with muscle clamps and returning the body to its original, harmonious state, contributes to the solution of psychological problems.

SELF center specialist's comment:

A man came to the consultation, his name was Ivan, 32 years old, with a request about the relationship with his wife - there was a betrayal. During the meeting, the man, describing his situation, lowered his head down, breathed superficially and periodically clenched his jaw. I drew his attention to how his body behaves when he describes his difficulty. It turned out that he had been in pain for several months. right shoulder, constantly, nothing helps, the pain radiates to the shoulder blade and spreads along the spine.

We began to explore this pain and its connection with what the man was experiencing and thinking.

What word is associated with pain?

- Sharp, sharp, furious.

At the same time, Ivan began to clench and unclench his fists, breathing became more "heavy".

“What emotion is begging to be noticed?” I asked. The man, restraining himself, replied that it was anger, rage, a desire to break something and hit someone.

Then I asked, “What are these emotions trying to protect, what feeling or image?” The man, with tears in his eyes, replied that it was impotence, despair and the inability to return the previous relationship with his wife.

After these words and allowing himself to be with feelings of sadness, powerlessness, anger, despair, he was surprised to notice that the muscles relaxed and the pain disappeared. emotional stress The energy generated by this feeling affected the muscles, causing them to spasm, blocking natural movement. And they immediately relaxed as soon as the emotion was identified and lived.

Body Oriented Therapy Techniques:

There are different methods of body therapy:

• massage,
• breath,
• various exercises that can be done standing, sitting, lying down.

The purpose of the techniques is not to "correct" the body. They are aimed primarily at the awareness of the body, the return of communication with it.

Often " side effect» body-oriented therapy is to improve the figure.

The fact is that lowered shoulders, poor posture, sunken chest are often associated not with poor physical shape, but with psychological problems. Unfulfilled desires, fears driven inside, complexes, experiences, emotions that do not find a way out accumulate in our body, make it bend and stiffen. When negative energy is released during therapy, the body straightens out, becomes plastic and relaxed.

How are physical therapy sessions going?

The first task of the body therapist is to determine what internal problems prevent you from fully enjoying life and freely controlling your body. To do this, he reveals problem area- a part of the body where the muscles are constantly and unnaturally tense, there are pain. This is an indicator that allows you to understand what worries a person - after all, this reason caused a muscle clamp. When it is possible to determine the cause, the body psychologist suggests special exercises, which help to re-experience the stressed state in order to let go of it forever. A sign that old problem really released, the body will become - it will relax, getting rid of the clamps.

Physical contact when communicating between the therapist and the patient is not necessary - its presence or absence depends on the wishes of the patient. Work can also be done verbally, without touching.

It should be noted that touch has a high psychotherapeutic effect, but only if the patient is disposed to this form of communication with the therapist.

How to choose a body therapist?

To choose "your" body therapist, pay attention to the following points:

• Techniques used by the specialist. Everyone has their own preferred body-oriented psychotherapy techniques. Someone works with breathing, someone uses massage. Choose a therapist who knows the technique that is comfortable for you.
• Where do therapy sessions take place? It is important that the room is cozy, that it has a comfortable temperature, good, but not too bright lighting. These are the necessary conditions in order to relax and concentrate on your feelings.
• subjective impressions. The specialist with whom you will work should evoke positive emotions in you. Do not try to analyze your feelings - just feel whether you want to go to this therapist or not. A positive attitude is the basis for building trust, which is essential for effective therapy.