Psycho-Physical Therapy Professional Training in
Somatic Resourcing
taught by Bill Bowen
-
Berkeley, California - Beginning Spring 2008
Eight three day weekends - approximately 150 class hours -
May 2-4; June 13-15; Sept 5-7; Oct 17-19; Nov 14-16, 2008
Jan 16-18; Feb 13-15; Mar 20-22, 2009
Class hours: Friday 1:00-6:00, Saturday 9:30-6:00, Sunday 9:30-5:30
The building of physical and psychological resources is central to the Psycho-Physical Therapy process. Psycho-Physical Therapy (PPT) is a therapeutic method that actively integrates approaches of both psychotherapy and body therapy as a simultaneous process. The therapeutic work is continually integrating the physical with the psychological and vice versa. A client's physical, mental and spiritual issues are all seen as parts of a complex interactive system, where all parts are inseparable from the whole. The body is seen as the container of this interactive system. It is a primary vehicle for therapeutic exploration and transformation.
Psycho-Physical Therapy is a resourcing based model of psychotherapy. Resources are those things, actions, and qualities we can draw upon for aid in times of need. They are the awareness, abilities, and skills that support a person in maintaining a sense of self and a feeling of competency, regardless of what is occurring in his or her environment. There are many different categories of resources: psychological, emotional, intellectual, relational, athletic, artistic, spiritual, somatic, etc. In Psycho-Physical Therapy we explore the interface of two resource categories, the psychological and somatic. We ground the resourcing process in the body by focusing the therapeutic work on the building of somatic based resources and then by building psycho-physical resources which integrate the physical and the psychological. We continually explore the integration of mind and body by engaging both the physical and the psychological in a process of working across the interface of mind and body.
The body is at the heart of this method of psychotherapy. This is psychotherapy through the body. We keep coming back to the body because it is what brings us most efficiently into the transformative moment. Transformation of our limitations, wounds, and restrictive patterns requires the introduction and integration of new physical and psychological options. These options are the resources we explore in Psycho-Physical Therapy in order to make effective change.
Psychotherapists who wish to work in depth on both sides of the mind/body interface have often had to engage in long and comprehensive body therapy training programs in order to glean the information needed to work effectively with the physical patterns that accompany psychological issues. They then had to adapt this somatic understanding to a psychological framework in order to work in an integrative way with both physical and psychological issues.
This training is designed to give psychotherapists a practical understanding of the anatomy, biomechanics, and psychology of a client's somatic patterns and movements in a way that is clear, accessible and directly applicable to psychotherapeutic practice. The PPT Somatic Resourcing Training is experientially based allowing therapists to both deeply experience how the body moves as well as understand how to use movement and touch as psycho-physical interventions in their work. This training is valuable for psychotherapists who wish to deepen their ability to work somatically and for advanced body workers who have psychological training. Techniques and the underlying theoretical base for working at the interface between posture/movement patterns and psychological issues will be explored in detail. The building of new and more optimal somatic patterns and resources as they relate to psychological issues will be addressed through out the training.
The purpose of the Somatic Resourcing Training is to create a clinically useful understanding of the anatomy and movement dynamics of the human body. The training is designed to give therapists practical skills and knowledge that will allow them to assess and work with movement and touch in the building of new psychological and physical resources.
SOMATIC RERSOURCING TRAINING - LEARNING OBJECTIVES
· To gain a practical understanding of human anatomy, biomechanics and movement dynamics as they relate to psychological issues.
· To gain greater clinical understanding of the theory of somatic and psychological resourcing as it is applied to supporting clients in reaching their therapeutic goals.
· To be able to see and assess limiting and expansive physical patterns, movement patterns, and somatic themes in regards to the presence, or lack of psycho-physical resources.
· To be able to support clients in developing new psychological resources by introducing new postural and movement options.
· To gain skill and comfort in the use of touch as a useful tool in somatic psychotherapy practice.
· To be able to create somatic and psychological interventions that support clients in reaching their therapeutic goals.
· To gain practical experience and confidence in working with a somatic approach to psychotherapy.
SOMATIC RERSOURCING TRAINING - COURSE OUTLINE
Module #1 May 2-4, 2008
- Introduction to the Somatic Resourcing
- Core and periphery of the body (overview)
- The body cavities
- Touch as a psychotherapeutic intervention
- Boundaries when working with touch
- Concerns and contraindications when working with the body in psychotherapy
- General anatomy of the thorax
- Organs of the thoracic cavity
- Touch and palpation skills
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #2 June 13-15, 2008
- Building somatic resources
- The therapeutic relationship and contractual agreements
- Transference and counter transference issues in somatic psychotherapy
- General anatomy of the abdomen
- Organs of the abdominal and pelvic cavities
- Touch and palpation skills
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #3 Sept. 5-7, 2008
- Introduction to reading the body in relationship to Somatic Resource Themes
- Movement as a psychotherapeutic intervention
- Boundaries when working with movement
- Stability and mobility
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the foot and leg
- Body reading, structural and movement patterns of the foot and leg
- The psychological significance of the foot and leg
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #4 Oct. 17-19, 2008
- Therapeutic relationship when working with movement and touch
- Tensegrity
- Stability and mobility
- Core (in detail)
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the pelvis/trunk/core
- Psycho-physical resources in relationship to the core of the body
- Body reading structural and movement patterns of the pelvis, spine and thorax
- Psychological issues associated with the core of the body
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #5 Nov. 14-16, 2008
- Working at the mind/body interface
- Periphery of the body (in detail)
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder girdle, arms and hands
- Psycho-physical resources in relationship to the periphery of the body
- Body reading structural and movement patterns of the shoulder girdle, arm and hand
- Psychological issues associated with the periphery of the body
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #6 Jan. 9-11, 2009
- Working at the mind/body interface
- Physicalizing
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the throat, neck, head, and face
- Building psycho-physical resources
- Body reading structural and movements of the neck, head and face
- Psychological issues associated with the throat, neck, head, and face
- Specific clinical applications and somatic interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module # 7 Feb. 20-22, 2009
- Working with the "Somatic Sense of Self"
- Psychotherapy through the body
- Integrating the whole embodied experience
- Detailed reading of the whole body
- Creating psycho-physical interventions
- Therapeutic strategy
- Therapeutic homework
- Specific clinical applications and interventions for psychotherapists
- Demos, exercises and practice
Module #8 March 20-22, 2009
- Practice and supervision
- Body reading
- Detailed review
- Clinical applications
- Demos
Tuition: $3750 (if paid in full by cash or check by March 25, 2008). The tuition is $3,900 thereafter.
For more information about the Somatic Resourcing Training (details, dates, location, methods of payment, etc.) please contact the training organizer,
Justine K. Polevoy, MFT, by Phone: 510-888-4151 or
e-mail: EmbodiedPsychotherapy@comcast.net
CEU'S: Continuing education credits are available. Bill Bowen Trainings is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Continuing Education Provider for LCSW's and MFT in the state of CA. PCE #2731
Return to home page