TRAINING IN BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY

WHAT DO WE OFFER?

Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre (CBPC) formerly Cambridge Personal Development trains students to practise individual, in depth Body Psychotherapy. We draw on the main body psychotherapies currently available and bring them together in a comprehensive framework equipping the psychotherapist to work with the sorts of issues that individuals currently bring to the attention of body psychotherapists. Our training in body psychotherapy prepares candidates for application for accreditation as a body psychotherapist by the Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners(AHPP) and then registration by AHPP with the U.K. Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

THE TRAINING STRUCTURE

The training is run in Cambridge and is clustered around weekends to make it accessible nationally. The Cambridge tourist office is also a useful resource www.tourismcambridge.com Telephone 01223 322640. Weekends are non-residential and details of local accomodation are available. We are also able to offer some of the first year training in your locality. Please ask for details.

CAMBRIDGE BODY PSYCHOTHERAPY

Body psychotherapy explores what it means to be fully alive and what hinders this. Health is more than just being well - i.e., not being ill, and being only averagely tired. Health means reconnecting with the "essential self". When this occurs the individual has a zest for life, feels connected with others and the environment; their skin has a bloom to it, their eyes shine, and they live with more ease. Body psychotherapy sees a functional unity between mind and body; mind and body are interactive aspects of the whole. Body psychotherapy addresses the connections of this whole both individually and in relationship with others. Antecedents for modern day body psychotherapy are found in the search for the psycho-physiological basis of neurosis by doctors such as Freud and Ferenzci. However, it is Wilhelm Reich who laid the foundations of body psychotherapy. He found in his clinical work as an analyst working with Freud that attitudes were embodied and revealed themselves in posture, subtle movements, muscle tone and breathing patterns. He came to see that conflicts and stress both past and present become encoded in the structure of the body in the form of muscle tensions, restricted breathing patterns and habitual thinking processes and that discussing problems was not always the way to resolve them. Moreover, in the last thirty years non-dualistic thinking from Eastern philosophy has been incorporated into body psychotherapy, in particular the notion that embodiment is the grounding for spiritual development. This is a major focus in the training. Within a body psychotherapy session language forms a central part to the process as it is the main form of communication in our society. However, Reich realised that the way someone communicates is more reliable and gives more indication of unconscious processes. So the body psychotherapist encourages a gentle curiosity to the "how" of communications in addition to heeding the content. The body psychotherapist slowly guides awareness to direct experience of oneself and especially to bodily communications. Often simply by bringing awareness to tensions and holding patterns without forcing something to happen or change, there will be a release of restrictions. This release gives a sense of more space inside the body, and within daily life there will be more choice and flexibility. Sometimes the release of tensions or letting the breath move into hitherto restricted areas of the body will be accompanied by memories, images or emotions connected with past events. There may be sadness, anger, shame, humiliation or a long forgotten joyful moment. Often in finding these emotions there is a relief and sense of coming home. The presence of the body psychotherapist sharing the experience of the other's past and present suffering is in itself healing. Body psychotherapists believe that the body moves naturally towards healing and self regulation, and the task of the body psychotherapist is to foster conditions of safety, acceptance and kindness towards oneself for healing to occur. As the body and its energy moves more freely, the possibility for deeper journeying arises.

PRINCIPLES UNDERPINNING THE TRAINING

The training is rooted in the following principles:

• mind and body are not separate;
• there is a fundamental interconnectedness in the world mediated by energy flow;
• the focus of attention is on intrinsic health or the "essential self"; pathology arises out of loss of connection with the essential self;
• clinical practice of body psychotherapy focuses on embodied, present experience;
• this experience is verbalised descriptively;
• body psychotherapy is practised in relationship with the psychotherapist; it is both interpersonal and intrapersonal;
• body psychotherapy is a joint exploration, which is done with curiosity; both psychotherapist and client will be changed by the experience; there is no prescribed end goal;
• given a suitable climate, individuals find their own process of healing and self regulation.

Broader descriptive terms for the training are: humanistic; transpersonal; psycho-spiritual; integrative.

CLINICIANS STUDIED

The main focus is on the theory and clinical application of body psychotherapy. This includes the work of the Boyesens and Southwell (Biodynamic Psychology), Kurtz (Hakomi therapy), Sills (Core Process Psychotherapy), Boadella (Biosynthesis), Reich (Character Analysis, Vegetotherapy), Lowen (Bioenergetics), Pierrakos (Core Energetics), Rosenberg (Integrative Body Psychotherapy), and Rothschild (Somatic Trauma Therapy). The training is held within a psycho-spiritual framework and authors are studied who are working from this perspective e.g. Welwood, Wegela. Body psychotherapy is also set within the broader context of psychotherapy and key authors within psycho-analytic psychotherapy, Jungian psychology, humanistic and existential psychotherapy are also studied. Experiential learning, including reflexive practice is central throughout the training, and supported by required reading and essays.

THE TRAINING OVERVIEW

The first four years of training prepare the student to apply for the Certificate in Body Psychotherapy. Then advanced level/post-certificate students begin to work with clients, are intensively supervised, and continue with post certificate training. This prepares the student to apply for the Diploma in Body Psychotherapy. This preparation takes a minimum of 2 further years. Altogether the training takes a minimum of six years. It is possible to pace training to the student's own circumstances and so fewer modules may be taken than the year requirements. Throughout the training there are three aspects to it, which are present in all of the courses. These are the teaching of Skills and Techniques, which are used to provide structures within which psychotherapy process occurs; exploring and deepening Being or Presence, which is the ground of the therapeutic relationship in body psychotherapy; and finally skills and presence are put into a Conceptual and Contextual framework.

CERTIFICATE LEVEL TRAINING

The modules are:

THE FIRST YEAR

The first year develops body awareness and embodiment. Self regulation and healing is fostered through coming into relationship with the "essential self" and gaining a sense of restrictions which hinder self regulation. The use of skilful touch and the recognition of somatic resonance is explored and how to use these in the psychotherapeutic relationship. Practice sessions are done mostly in pairs followed by reflexive exploration on self as client and self as therapist. Successful completion of the Foundation Biodynamic Massage and Holistic Anatomy and Physiology modules leads to the Certificate in Foundation Biodynamic Massage and entitles the holder to join the Association of Holistic Biodynamic Massage Therapists. See AHBMT This association is a member of the British Massage Therapy Council. First year modules require two to five days per month, (usually at weekends) depending on numbers of modules taken.

THE SECOND YEAR

The second year deepens training from the first year and skills are learned to anchor contact with the essential self more securely and to take this relationship with oneself into relationship with another. A variety of physical awareness practices are taught for students to use to further embodied presence and to foster self care in daily life. The study of biodynamic massage in the service of psychotherapy is continued. To this is added the study of vegetotherapy, a form of "free association" of the body. Different levels of therapeutic presence are also explored. The theory and clinical application of different psychotherapies and political, social, cultural and spiritual issues surrounding the practice of psychotherapy are discussed. Practice sessions are done in threes and fours, followed by reflexive inquiry with the focus more on self as psychotherapist. These modules involve 10 weekends per year and some additional weekend days and Friday evenings spread over 10 months.

THE THIRD YEAR

The third year moves from a relative focus more on intrapersonal relating to one of more interpersonal relating. The psychotherapeutic relationship is explored in terms of resonance and reaction (somatic transference and somatic countertransference). Existential thinking on relationship is also studied. Regressive and imaginal work is explored, and psychotherapeutic themes such as working with sexual issues, aggression and negativity, and birth process are examined. The study of vegetotherapy is continued and deepened. Skills are also taught drawn from recent developments in gestalt psychotherapy and used as vehicles for exploration. Psychotherapy theory and the clinical application of different psychotherapies is continued, but with emphasis on the different schools of Body Psychotherapy. The time commitment is as for second year: 10 weekends per year and some additional weekend days and Friday evenings spread over 10 months.

THE FOURTH YEAR

The fourth year consolidates the learning of previous years and prepares the student for work with clients. A large part of the training year is spent with students working in small groups, giving sessions and receiving live supervision. A form of contemplative self and peer supervision is formally introduced and becomes honed to reflect on psychotherapeutic process. There is opportunity to revisit some of the topics from previous years and within seminars the clinical application of Body Psychotherapy is discussed using in particular the theory of Character Strategy (Reich, Lowen, Brennan, Kurtz).

PSYCHOTHERAPY REQUIREMENT

Students must be in individual psychotherapy with a UKCP registered body psychotherapist approved for training for the duration of the training. Students are expected to have weekly, hour long sessions totalling 40 hours per year.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants are likely to be qualified in a helping profession or to have experience of working with people in a caring capacity. This could be voluntary work. They should be able to cope with academic material, but relevant personality, life experience and maturity are given importance. Previous training as a counsellor, and experience of individual body psychotherapy are valued. We also train those wanting to make a career change, who are working in commerce, teaching etc. Equivalents for all criteria are viewed sympathetically.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION

Applicants should complete an application form and return it to the training director. Suitable applicants will be invited for an interview and informed shortly after this of the outcome. If accepted the applicant will be asked to confirm acceptance of the place by paying a deposit for the relevant courses. Subsequent payments are made at monthly intervals on course commencement. A student manual is available at this stage with fuller details about the syllabus and structure of the training.

THE TRAINING STAFF

The Training Director:

Gill Westland, BA, DipCOT, SROT, UKCP Registered Body, Humanistic, and Integrative Psychotherapist (AChP, AHPP), full member of the European Association of Body Psychotherapy worked for 10 years in mental health as an Occupational therapist and was Deputy Head and Clinical Supervisor at Fulbourn hospital, Cambridge. She trained in Body Psychotherapy at the Boyesen Institute, the Chiron Centre and at the Karuna Institute. She is the founder of Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre (CBPC), is currently the External Examiner for the Karuna Institute and co-editor of the Journal Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy .

Guest Trainer:

Clover Southwell, MA (Cantab), UKCP Registered Biodynamic Psychotherapist.

Other Trainers:

Janet Croft, BA (Hons), AAPP, UKCP Registered Core Process Psychotherapist had a first career in computing management. As well as her psychotherapy training at the Karuna Institute she has also trained in Biosynthesis, Imagery and Trauma work. She is a committed Buddhist and is currently learning Chi Kung. She works as a staff member at CBPC.

Deirdre Gordon, Dip.COT, SROT, UKCP Registered Core Process Psychotherapist worked as Head of Forensic Occupational Therapy at St Bernard's Hospital, London. She worked for a number of years as a staff member of CBPC, is a trainer for the Karuna Institute and also a qualified Cranio-sacral therapist.