FIND A PSYCHOTHERAPIST
FIND A PSYCHOTHERAPIST

BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY TODAY

The singularity of Body Psychotherapy lies with the fact that it did not follow the straight line of other trends that were founded by one person and then spread wider. Because of its history, different trends developed early on in Europe as well as in the United States.

Their common feature was the fact they converge on the psychotherapeutic processing at multiple levels of body consciousness and experience, in ambiguity and interaction with the mind and the emotions. Accordingly, it is radically different from the various movements of bodywork, since it is not a technique, but instead focuses on the therapeutic relationship and its management.

Today Body Psychotherapy is expected to cope with the hard task of integration and synthesis between the various somatic-psychotherapeutic modalities that have emerged through clinical practice during the last 70 years. The results of contemporary research, neonatal observations and neuroscience support these ideas that attempt to bridge a gap which is now thousands of years old: between mind and body.

Already since 1996 ΕΑΒΡ (European Association for Body Psychotherapy) is a member of ΕΑΡ (European Association for Psychotherapy) as a recognized separate branch of psychotherapy. It has around 700 members, 11 National Associations of Body Psychotherapists, meeting once a year – COUNCIL – and 50 Schools-Training Institutes, meeting twice a year – FORUM of Body Psychotherapy Organizations.

The member states of EABP in Europe, through the COUNCIL or the FORUM, are 14: Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, while Norway is currently forming a National Association. ΕΑΒΡ has been organizing conferences every two years, starting from 1987.

In Greece, a conference was organized in 2004 at Marathonas, Attica, by PESOPS, the Greek Institute of Neuro-Vegetotherapy and Character Analysis and EABP, titled The Body at the Centre of Psychotherapy.

There are also various European and international organizations of Body Psychotherapy identifying with a particular method, such as the European Association for Biosynthesis (Boadella), the European Federation for Bioenergetic Analysis Psychotherapies, Biodynamic Psychology (Boyesen), Somatic Psychodrama (Al Pesso) etc., working with ΕΑΒΡ.

Body Psychotherapy is also being taught within the framework of Master’s coursework at the University of Naples in Italy, while something similar is being planned in the United Kingdom. In USA, it is taught as Somatic Psychology course in Master’s and Phd programs in 4 universities as yet.

Globally, 3 journals are published on the subject of Body Psychotherapy:

  1. Energy and Character
  2. International Journal of Body Psychotherapy
  3. Body, Movement and Dance Psychotherapy

In addition, ΕΑΒΡ and other professional associations publish their own newsletters.