Contents
Integrated body psychotherapy
Definition
For more information, you can consult the Psychotherapy sheet. There you will find an overview of the many psychotherapeutic approaches – including a guide table to help you choose the most appropriate – as well as a discussion of the factors for successful therapy. |
La integrated body psychotherapy (PCI) was developed by American psychologist Jack Lee Rosenberg (1932-) under the name Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP). In Rosenberg’s own words, “nothing new here”, because integrated body psychotherapy is a synthesis of several approaches. psychological and approaches bodily (Reichian breathing, yoga, rolfing, etc.), some of which come from the East. His main thinkers, he says, were Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Carl Jung, Fritz Perls and Donald Winnicott. The challenge, no doubt, was to judiciously integrate all these influences.
Integrated body psychotherapy relates to both the transpersonal stream and that of body psychotherapy. It is based on a spiritual self-conception and aims for the actualization of the higher needs of the human being. But she also insists onimportance of the body in the definition of self. Indeed, the body would be an emanation of “universal energy” embodied in a particular individual and made unique by the fact of this precise incarnation.
Consciousness embodied
The “self” would be the experience of sense of identity felt in the body. The objective of integrated body psychotherapy is to make this self able to overcome its existential difficulties and relational wounds, and to restore its vitality. However, according to Rosenberg, psychology alone – even if it manages to explain the phenomena – has never been able to offer real solutions to human dilemmas. As for strictly bodily therapies, if they are right to assert that the body “knows”, they have the disadvantage of neglecting the cognitive processes, essential to establish new behaviors.
By working on the 2 tables, the work in integrated body psychotherapy seeks to make aware of the original injuries of the subject that have harmed the development of the self and, at the same time, to reveal the defense mechanisms that the subject has put in place. For psychotherapy to be effective, says integrated body psychotherapy, each realization mental awareness must be accompanied by a comparable inner awakening, that is to say, by an awareness truly rooted in the bodies.
Once the therapy has revealed the main blocking points, the work of self development can restart. Concrete tools then allow the individual to create better relations and regain power over his life. The psychological well-being that follows is said to manifest itself in bodily well-being.
The original contribution of Dr Rosenberg, according to her translator, herself a therapist specializing in integrated body psychotherapy, was to grasp the energetic component of defense mechanisms which develop and crystallize in the preverbal period of life1. They are the ones that give rise to repetitive behaviors that are inappropriate and often very difficult to decode. In their bodily manifestations, the defense mechanisms are revealed through, in particular, posture, breathing patterns, contractions, etc.
The eclectic Rosenberg First trained in dentistry, Jack Lee Rosenberg obtained his doctorate in psychology in 1971 and worked these two professions simultaneously for a few years. He also followed a psychoanalysis and trained students in Gestalt. He also worked with the bodily approach of Wilhelm Reich, which relates more particularly to the “bodily unconscious” and the physical traces of psychic injuries. The body-mind junction (body-mind) that Rosenberg does also resembles that advocated by Alexander Lowen’s bioenergy, also influenced by the work of Wilhelm Reich. But unlike the bioenergeticist who is very directive in body work and who intervenes physically on the subject, the practitioner in integrated body psychotherapy plays more of a partner role and rarely touches his client. Still active in his profession, Jack Lee Rosenberg is attached to the IBP Central Institute, the “mother house” located in California. He is also the co-author, with a psychologist colleague, of a practical book on the couple relationship, The Intimate Couple2. |
Therapeutic applications of integrated body psychotherapy
La integrated body psychotherapy is first and foremost a personal development approach. Its practitioners say they are able to help their patients:
- have a better experience of the sense of self (core self experience) and a larger bodily well-being;
- increase their capacity for love, confidence, hope and fulfillment in intimate relationships;
- reach a higher degree of sexual satisfaction;
- deepen the existential and transpersonal dimensions ofexistence.
Integrated body psychotherapy practitioners also say they can treat people with health problems. concentration and hyperactivity.
Prevention of burnout Burnout being a problem at the same time corporeal et psychological, it is believed that the tools specific to integrated body psychotherapy would be able to promote a better presence to oneself and, consequently, to help prevent the “depersonalization” which causes burnout. A training program in this direction, tested with students in the master’s degree in social work at the University of Montreal, has proved to be positive.3. |
To our knowledge, no research evaluating the effectiveness of this approach has been published in scientific journals.
Integrated body psychotherapy in practice
The 3 keys to integrated body psychotherapy are :
- the quality of relation client therapist;
- theexchange verbal-cognitive;
- work corporeal (breathing, sound, movement and various techniques of relaxation and opening of the body).
A typical session lasts 50 to 60 minutes, although it can occasionally stretch. THE’verbal exchange It is predominant there, but the therapist’s listening focuses greatly on the body’s messages, which he is trained to decode in a fine way. He will therefore often bring the client back to his bodily feelings, sometimes by means ofexercices, to help him discover how he blocks his vitality.
The approach makes it possible to work in the short term on specific difficulties, in particular to manage a difficult emotional experience, but its aim rather suggests work in the medium or long term.
Integrated body psychotherapy is well established in the United States, Canada, Germany and German-speaking Switzerland. It spread to French-speaking Europe from Belgium. In addition to psychotherapists, various types of professionals (coaches, educators, caregivers, etc.) are also trained in this approach to improve the quality of their listening and their presence.
Professional training in integrated body psychotherapy
Aimed at professionals eligible for the title of psychotherapist, the training in integrated body psychotherapy is considered a specialization and lasts 500 hours spread over 4 years. There are also advanced training courses and workshops open to the general public.
About ten training centers have been accredited in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium by the IBP Central Institute. The only French-speaking centers are those in Belgium and Quebec, both run by the Institute for Integrated Body Psychotherapy (IPCI), established in 1990, with offices in Montreal.
Integrated Body Psychotherapy – Books, etc.
Rosenberg Jack L. Body, self and soul, Quebec / America, Canada, 1989.
The Dr Rosenberg explains his approach and concepts, with several examples and real-life stories. These 400 fairly dense pages constitute a good reference tool for social workers, educators or caregivers as well as for individuals on the way.
Integrated Body Psychotherapy – Sites of Interest
IBP Online
The only site specializing in integrated body psychotherapy, it comes from the parent company, in California, and only offers texts in English. In addition to a presentation of the approach, there is a list of training locations and practitioners.
www.ibponline.com
Institute of Integrated Body Psychotherapy (IPCI)
A site for the Francophonie, both European and Canadian. Several texts, information on training and the list of practitioners.
www.institutpci.com