Body-oriented psychotherapy

Body-oriented psychotherapy addresses both the mind and the body and how they influence each other. It is a distinct branch of psychotherapy with a long history and a large body of knowledge based upon a sound theoretical position. At the same time, it involves a different and explicit theory of mind-body functioning that takes into account the complexity of the intersections of and interactions between the body and the mind, with the common underlying assumption being that a functional unity exists between mind and body. The body does not merely mean the "soma," which is separate from the mind, the "psyche." Although many other approaches in psychotherapy touch on this issue, body- oriented psychotherapy considers this principle to be fundamental
Body - oriented psychotherapy involves a developmental model, theory of personality, hypotheses about the origins of psychological disturbances and alterations, as well as a rich variety of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques used within the framework of the therapeutic relationship. . It includes an awareness of the client's process as it evolves in their body, body language emotional expression, psychosomatics somatic resonance, and sexuality.  This way of studying the body looks at how a human being embodies and expresses one's history, emotions, beliefs and character in movement, expression and relational engagement with the world and with others.

Many different and sometimes quite separate approaches are found within this type of psychotherapy, as there are in the other main branches of psychotherapy. Body-oriented psychotherapy is also a science, as well as an art, having developed over the last seventy-five years from the results of research in biology, anthropology, neurophysiology, developmental psychology, neonatology, perinatal studies, and many more disciplines.

A wide variety of techniques are used within body-oriented psychotherapy, including those involving touch, movement and breathing. There is, therefore, a link with some body oriented therapies, somatic practices, and complementary medical disciplines, but although these may also involve touch and movement, they are very distinct from body-oriented psychotherapy. Body psychotherapy recognizes the continuity and the deep connections that all psycho-corporal processes contribute, in equal fashion, to the organization of the whole person. There is no hierarchical relationship between mind and body, between psyche and soma. They are both functioning and interactive aspects of the whole. Body-oriented psychotherapy can be used to treat anxiety, depression, sexual difficulties, or relationship problems as well as troublesome physical concerns such as headaches or lower back pain. In a body-oriented psychotherapy session, patients talk about their problems just as you'd expect in any type of psychotherapy. However, they are also encouraged to become aware of their bodily sensations, emotions, and behaviors.