The Embodied Psychotherapist: The Therapist's Body Story

by Robert Shaw

The therapist's body is a vital part of the therapeutic encounter, yet there is an inherent inadequacy in current psychotherapeutic discourse to describe the bodily phenomena. Until recently, for instance, the whole area of touch in psychotherapy has been given very little attention. The Embodied Psychotherapist uses accounts of therapists' own experiences to address this inadequacy in discourse, and provides strategies for incorporating these feelings into therapeutic work with clients. Drawing on these personal accounts, it also discusses the experiences that can be communicated to the therapist during the encounter.
This description and exploration of how practitioners use their bodily feelings within the therapeutic encounter book will be valuable for all psychotherapists and counsellors.

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First published January 1, 2003