Body Psychotherapy with Tim Brown

I offer individual body psychotherapy sessions in Ashburton, Devon (from June 2024), and online.

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​In a session, we start with the issues, feelings and body sensations you bring on any particular day. These are explored using a spectrum of options, including dialogue, body awareness, breathwork and movement, as well as the possibility of working directly with the body. Some clients prefer to talk, some like to explore process work, others value ‘hands-on’ bodywork, and a typical session might include a mix of approaches. Therapy is undertaken in an atmosphere of deep awareness - adding the aspect of spirit to the body-mind. Attention is given to breath, posture and body energy. We explore how these are linked to beliefs, memories and feelings. Body Psychotherapy does not necessarily involve direct contact – sometimes this is not helpful or appropriate. If we choose to work directly with the body, great care is taken to ensure that you are comfortable - both physically and emotionally.

See Bodylistening for an explanation of the therapeutic approach.

Postural Integration

I also offer Postural Integration – either as a separate therapeutic process, or as part of body psychotherapy sessions.

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PI provides a framework for visiting the main muscular and fascial systems of your body, first stretching and opening, and later probing more deeply into the mysteries they contain. We will look at your overall posture, work with parts of your body that seem to hold particular interest, and link these to the body-held feelings and beliefs that emerge. Final sessions are concerned with integrating the new understandings and ways of being into a wider and more inclusive sense of your body, mind and spirit.

The work involves deep, strong strokes which can be painful, particularly in areas where stuck energy may be held and released. However you have the veto on where we choose to work, and how deeply. 

PI was originally developed by the bodywork therapist Jack Painter in the US. It is a progression of Rolfing, using deep tissue manipulation, breathwork, energetic and gestalt techniques to work with the body-mind as an integrated whole. More information on PI is available on www.posturalintegration.info.

Working outdoors 

Traditionally, psychotherapy takes place inside. The therapeutic space is secure, contained and predictable, forming part of the ‘frame’ which holds the work. For many clients, that’s an essential prerequisite for the safe processing of traumatic material. 

However, the very containment and predictability which offers safety may at some point become stale and stifling. Meeting for sessions outdoors – simply strolling, sitting or standing together – can allow new openness, spontaneity and fresh perspectives into embodied relational work. Literally, it brings a breath of fresh air to the therapeutic dialogue. It also has the effect of reintroducing therapy back into the ‘real’ world. Rather than splitting off therapy into a mysterious and secretive encounter which takes place behind closed doors, we are out in open space, moving our bodies in a more complex ecosystem. There’s more to take in, to discover, to encounter, to share, to enjoy. In nature, we’re open to the elements, chance encounters, and a wider network of connection.

I’m influenced by Nick Totton’s concepts of Wild Therapy, inviting the ‘other-than-human and more-than-human’ into our experience. I trained in Wild Therapy with Nick and the body psychotherapist Emma Palmer as part of the Embodied Relational Therapy training programme. 

Outdoor sessions can be arranged instead of, or in addition to, indoor sessions, subject to my availability. I'm hoping to offer these again from June 2024

Let me know if you’d like more information about working outdoors.

 

Booking a session...

Before agreeing to work, I like to have an initial phone or online conversation. I recommend an initial commitment to a series of four sessions, to help you to gain a full sense of the approach.

For online sessions, the cost is:

1 hour: £60
1½ hours: £80

I work to a two-week cycle, so clients tend to come weekly or fortnightly, but I can be flexible if your schedule is unpredictable.

If you'd like to organise a conversation, please email using the contact form

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Let me know what sort of times and days might work and I'll come back with some suggestions for a meeting.

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