Deep Bodywork
Deep Bodywork starts from the understanding that early experiences, trauma, and suppressed emotion are stored in the body, and can manifest in the form of tension, pain or dis-ease. My clients tend to come with specific psychological, physical or emotional concerns, but usually there is also a sense of something deeper, below the surface, just out of awareness, ready to move. They often describe a sense of stuck energy, or a desire to ‘get more in touch with my body’.
Deep Bodywork is a simple, safe and effective way to work with such issues. Using body awareness, touch, movement and deep tissue massage, we work to discover the unconscious blocks and deeply-held old patterns which are ready to be released, and find new ways to let your energy flow more freely.
Many everyday problems - anxiety, depression, physical tensions, emotional difficulties, can be traced to early life experiences. This is particularly true when there isn’t an obvious cause for your symptoms (although something in your life may currently be triggering them). Talking therapies don’t always get to the root, because some shocks and traumas are ‘somatised’ - held in the body. We have no words or memories to access them. Recent research in psychotherapeutic neuroscience emphasises the importance of involving the body in processing trauma and ‘frozen’ emotional states which are held out of consciousness .
Clients often express amazement at the depth of feelings and hidden fears which lie in the body. Deep Bodywork allows these to come gently to the surface and be recognised. By focussing directly on parts of the body where chronic holding is happening, we encourage a softening and loosening of the muscles and body tissues. Letting go of these tensions often brings insights into how we can live more fully in the present and find more vitality. The mind begins to understand the wisdom held within the body – and the spirit is nourished as a result.
Could Deep Bodywork help me?
I’m generally low, a bit depressed, numbed out…
I’m too much in my head, out of touch with feelings…
I can get overwhelmed, over-emotional…
I’m stressed out…
I seem to hold a lot of tension in my body…
I’m often tired, exhausted for no obvious reason…
I’m not sure what I’m doing, where I’m going in life…
I feel something in me is holding back…
I sense a core fear, a deep anxiety, I can’t really explain…
I want to grow, open up, be more creative…
I know there is more to me than this…
If you answer “Yes” to any of these…then yes, it probably could. It can also help address the underlying issues around ‘traditional’ psychotherapeutic issues: addictions, phobias, relationship difficulties, eating disorders, etc. Click here
for information about individual sessions.
Therapeutic Approach
My psychotherapeutic approach is humanistic and process-oriented. It combines here-and-now Gestalt techniques with a psychodynamic curiosity about how early development is carried in the body. I have a particular interest in how very early traumatic experiences around birth, and in pre-verbal development, can be released gently through bodywork.
The work follows the client’s own instincts and impulses. It can include dialogue, body awareness, breathwork and movement, as well as the possibility of working directly with the body. It is not a ‘quick fix’ solution to acute problems, rather a way of re-aligning and re-connecting our bodymind at a deep level. It’s a creative process.
This way of working is often termed Neo-Reichian. It has its roots in the body-centred psychotherapy approach pioneered by Wilhelm Reich and developed by Alexander Lowen (Bioenergetics), Ida Rolf (Rolfing), Ron Kurtz (Hakomi), Jack Painter (Postural Integration), Silke Ziehl (Deep Bodywork), and Linda Hartley (Somatic Psychology) among others.
I have trained with Silke, Jack, and Linda, and fully recommend their work (see links
page).
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