Body Psychotherapy with Tim Brown

Body Psychotherapy is a simple, safe and effective way to work with psychological, physical and emotional issues. We aim to discover deeply-held blocks and old patterns which are ready to be released, and find new ways to let your energy and spirit flow more freely. 

Many everyday problems – like anxiety, depression, physical tensions, emotional difficulties - can be traced to early life experiences. Talking therapies don’t always get to the root, because some issues and traumas are ‘somatised’ – literally, held in the body. We have no words or memories to access them. 

New research in trauma and neuroscience emphasises the importance of involving the body in psychotherapeutic work. Body-centred approaches are particularly effective in dealing with early trauma, abuse, shock and attachment difficulty.

Clients may come with particular concerns, but often there is also a sense of something deeper, below the surface, just out of awareness, ready to move. They may describe a sense of stuck energy, or a wish to ‘get more in touch with my body’.

People can often sense the depth of feelings and hidden fears which are held in the body. Body psychotherapy allows these to come gently to the surface, to be welcomed and understood, bringing insights into how we can live more fully in the present and find more vitality.

Could Body Psychotherapy help me?

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• 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, and expressed in relationship. 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), Nick Totton (Embodied Relational Therapy) and Linda Hartley (Somatic Psychology) among others. 

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For a more detailed introduction to Body Psychotherapy, click here.