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Body Psychotherapy

Body psychotherapy is the way we honour the role of the body in our wellbeing and mental health difficulties. Body psychotherapy is a way or integrating your body into your psychotherapeutic process. In any therapy modality we offer the body plays a role. Holistic therapy honours the mind, the body and the soul.

Body psychotherapy is a concept which was conceived by Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Reich. Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian doctor of mediciine and psychoanalyst. His concept of muscular armour, being an expression of the personality in the way the body moves, shaped innovations in psychotherapy specifically, body psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, bioenergetic analysis and primal therapy.

What is Body Psychotherapy?

Body psychotherapy explores the link between psychological distress and the way our body functions in response to this stress but also the role it plays in creating it. Common examples might include blocks in chakras, breathing irregularities, posture problems and holding onto trauma in the body from PTSD.

These somatic issues contribute to psychological malady and psychological malady contributes to somatic issues. Our body psychotherapy provides insight into these difficulties as well as providing practical solutions by way of body based interventions.

What techniques do we use in body psychotherapy?

The techniques we use as part of body pschotherapy include: EMDR therapy, somatic experiencing, trauma release, body based awareness, mindfulness, breathwork, bioenergetics, polyvagal mapping, body mapping and emotional freedom technique.

Body Psychotherapy

Available in London & Hertfordshire

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Body Psychotherapist

Matthew Alderton - MA, BSc, Dip, Dip Psych.
I trained for 7 years at The Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education to become a counsellor and psychotherapist. I am also an EMDR practitioner.

Working with trauma and psychological difficulties requires an integrative, holistic approach. I use body based techniques to assist with psychological difficulties. Examples incluse EFT, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, TRE and Mindfulness. 

Body Psychotherapy Techniques

Mindfulness

Mindfulness gives us an easy way in, to bring our attention to our present experience moment by moment. It enables us to appreciate our state of being and relax and slow down. Bringing mindfulness into our lives can increase our ability to feel content and relaxed.

Somatic Experiencing

Living a hectic lifestyle with family and work commitments can lead to us going for long periods of time with very limited body awareness. Increasing this awareness increases our ability to feel relaxed and happy.  

Breath Work

Breath work is one of the few ways in which we can access and calm our body and our nervous system. Breathing is the basis of our existence. Working with the breath can transform psychological and somatic difficulties. 

Emotional Freedom Technique

Living a hectic lifestyle with family and work commitments can lead to us going for long periods of time with very limited body awareness. Increasing this awareness increases our ability to feel relaxed and happy.  

Trauma Release Exercises

TRE is a great way to help release tension held within the body and the body's nervous system. It is a set of practical exercises which you can carry out yourself with practice. It could be likened to an internal massage and helps to release tension from trauma held in the body. 

Polyvagal Therapy

Living a hectic lifestyle with family and work commitments can lead to us going for long periods of time with very limited body awareness. Increasing this awareness increases our ability to feel relaxed and happy.  

Body Psychotherapy Benefits

Safety

When we are experiencing a psychological or somatic difficulty we feel unsafe. There is no better indicator than the body, as to whether we feel safe. Somatic intervention can help you to regain a sense of safety and balance.

Homeostasis

Body psychotherapy helps to restore the body back to a state or balance, equilibrium or homeostasis. It is important to work on the body as well as the mind because of the influence they have on each other.

Grounding

Difficulties in life, particularly trauma, might make the body feel like an unsafe space to be in. Learn to feel safe and grounded in your body.

Connection

Trauma or psychological difficulty can make it difficult to make a connection between what is going on in our minds and our bodies. Body psychotherapy can help you make this connection so that they are able to work in synchronicity.

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Client Comments Following Body Psychotherapy Interventions

"I feel much more at peace in my body after body psychotherapy"

"I am now more in tune with my body and how I actually feel. I am able to check in with it to see how i am doing"

"I never realised how much of a role my nervous system had in contributing to my psychological difficulties. It is such a relief to know why I have felt the way I did for such a long time"

"I have developed some really easy practical exercises to help me feel relaxed and deal with the difficulties life throws as me"

Body Psychotherapy FAQ's

What does a body psychotherapy session involve?

A body psychotherapy session might involve a specific therapy like EMDR or body based interventions as a specific approach to a difficulty. This might be as part of a traditional psychotherapy session or make up the entire session. An example might be body mapping, practicing EFT techniques or releasing trauma held in the body

How long does body psychotherapy last?

Body therapy is used as part of an integrated approach in conjunction with counselling and psychotherapy. Each person is different in relation to the difficulties which they might be having. We strive to work with a client until they regain a place of safety and relaxation and can negotiate life with confidence.

What are the Benefits of Body Therapy?

Body therapy has a number of key benefits. When working with trauma our somatic autonomic nervous system drives our experience. Body work will help you to gain insight, find connection and regain homeostasis and safety in your body. It can also help with emotional flexibility in terms of coping with difficult experience.

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Body Psychotherapy London

Come and see me in picturesque Little Venice Paddington London for body psychotherapy.

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Body Psychotherapy Hertfordshire

Come and see me in leafy green Hertfordshire for body psychotherapy.

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Contact us

The best way of reaching us is via our contact form at the below link. We look forward to receiving your therapy request.