What is Integrative Psychotherapy?

As you have read through my website, you may have come across several references regarding the ‘body’. Some of you may have heard of ‘body-psychotherapy’, or perhaps ‘somatic psychotherapy’ but my guess is that many of you have not. My belief is that in the next 10-20 years, the general term ‘body-psychotherapy’ will be much better understood by the public. The advances in mind-body medicine, psycho-immunology, trauma studies, and stress research as well as many forms of alternative approaches to health (such as yoga, meditation, and massage) demonstrate more and more how the stored knowledge of the body affects both physical and emotional health.

There are many established forms of integrative psychotherapy. Most of these body-centered psychotherapies aim to utilize the client’s physical sensations, awareness, and energy field, in addition to their words and thought processes, as a means to deepen their course of personal growth and consciousness. Movement of the body or ‘parts’ of the body, sometimes subtle and sometimes vigorously, is encouraged and supported by the therapist and integrated with the traditional medium of speech, voice, meditation, and insight-oriented work to achieve deep change.

It should be understood that a client is never thrust into this type of work, though many choose the creative nature of the work to further their own journey. At this point in time, the body-centered psychotherapies are on the ‘edge’ of some changes in the field of therapeutic emotional work. They have been around for the past 40-50 years but have only recently been approached by greater number of clients. So, believe it or not, many people in the creative arts, healing professions, and those who feel as though ‘talk therapy’ by itself does not ‘affect’ or go deep enough into their concerns seek body-psychotherapy.

What is CoreEnergetics Body Psychotherapy?

I integrate into my practice a particular type of integrative, body-centered psychotherapy called CoreEnergetics. I chose this training and way of working for several reasons.

First, CoreEnergetics, like it’s sibling therapy BioEnergetics, helps the client to feel their own body and true self through both gentle and wildly energetic exercises in addition to traditional insight modalities. Via these exercises and the consciousness that often arises as a result, CoreEnergetics offers an avenue for the person to go behind the social or mask ‘self’ they present to the outer world in a rather rapid and clear manner.

Second, and as important, there is a ‘spiritual’ nature to the Core Energetics training that is compelling for me personally and for many of my clients who need a place to figure out a very important part of themselves, their spiritual self. At this point, I have completed both a four-year intensive training program (2005) and a one-year post graduate program in CoreEnergetics (2006). I am a certified as a CoreEnergetics Practioner by the CoreEnergetics Institute of New York. I completed these programs to deepen my knowledge of body-centered somatic psycho-therapeutic work. It has provided me greater access to my