WHAT IS BODY BASED PSYCHOTHERAPY?
We now know that every part of our body records all of our experience – both positive and negative. This is why so many memories are non-verbal and evoked through a sound, smell or image. Sometimes these sensory experiences may be all we remember from an event. At other times we may not remember the details of an event, but our reaction is encoded into our nervous system and laid down in patterns of movement and posture, thus affecting our emotions, reactions and thoughts. This in turn affects our relationships and the way we see and interpret the world. The latest research indicates that we must include body awareness in effective psychological counselling.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a non-touch body based therapy. In this type of therapy, clients are asked to mindfully explore their bodily experience. Movement, five sense perception, posture, and paying attention to internal sensations are all used to heal maladaptive defensive patterns and other natural physical cycles that may have been disrupted or disturbed by past events.
By incorporating the body, clients are able to access a deeper part of themselves that talk therapy alone cannot always reach. Through this type of counselling clients are able to release themselves from long held patterns of behavior that were impeding their ability to fully engage with life.