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Over the course of the last decade a growing number of clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate and demonstrate the efficacy and clinical utility of body psychotherapy for various mental health problems. The statutory provider landscape for psychological therapies does however rarely provide these therapies for patients; several factors have been identified for this mismatch and among those the lack of university-accredited academic training schemes constitutes a major limitation for wider dissemination and implementation within highly regulated health care systems. This paper explores an innovative pilot to establish a master's programme in clinical psychology with a focus on embodiment in Turkey/Istanbul. The curriculum represents an integration of perspectives from various body psychotherapy schools. Findings of the pilot are encouraging and may serve as a template for the development of similar schemes with support from professional bodies such as the European and United States associations of body psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working therapeutically with and through embodiment is a topical issue in the psychoanalytic literature. Vice versa, body psychotherapy is deeply rooted in psychoanalytic theory and practice. This paper will explore corresponding themes, historic developments, and recent literature with reference to their actual and potential mutual influences, aiming to demonstrate: (1) that contemporary body psychotherapy practice continues to be informed and influenced by psychoanalytic theory, in particular the relational emphasis in psychoanalysis; and (2) that psychoanalytic psychotherapy, in turn, can be enriched and furthered while utilizing the theoretical paradigm of embodiment and body-oriented, experiential intervention strategies developed in body psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychotherapy practice and research are supposed to complement each other; however, links between them are usually only weakly developed. This study was designed and conducted with the aim of collecting information about body psychotherapy (BP) practice, and about research resources among body psychotherapists (BPs). A total of 404 body psychotherapists from 36 countries participated in an online survey. The findings revealed a great diversity of BP modalities currently practiced within and across different countries, especially diversity in respect to body psychotherapists' socio-demographic characteristics: 66.4% of participants were over 50 years old, suggesting a shortage of young people involved in both BP practice and research. Most therapists provide BP for adults in the format of individual sessions in private practice. Only a few BP practitioners work in mainstream healthcare settings. The results also suggest significant research knowledge, experience, and interest in research among BP practitioners; however, a lack of application of these research resources in body psychotherapy is noticeable. Results are discussed with an emphasis on the practical implications: i.e., the possible role for BP training schools to strengthen the research culture among practitioners, the importance of sharing BP experiences and research among different countries (and languages), and the need to develop collaborations between practitioners and academic groups in order to strengthen research capacities and accumulate knowledge about the intriguing construct of applied embodiment in BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evidence base for the effectiveness of body psychotherapy (BPT) in the treatment of severe mental disorders has improved much over the last decade; both methodologically robust randomised controlled trials and also qualitative studies demonstrated how BPT can contribute substantially to the treatment portfolio and help address chronic conditions and disorder-specific psychopathology. This paper summarises how BPT is utilised for the treating a range of severe mental disorders including mania and schizophreniform psychosis, personality disorder and severe anxiety as well as depressive disorders. The intervention strategies are related to specific body-oriented phenomena, i.e. disturbances of body experience and body-mind regulation disorders; the approaches are described in the context of a new theoretical paradigm of BPT as embodied and embedded relational psychotherapy, aiming to facilitate improved self/affect regulation. For each specific illness, a short sketch of the cardinal symptoms and body image phenomenology is followed by a summary of disorder-specific intervention strategies of BPT for severe mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Body-oriented psychological therapy (BOPT) has been described as effective in addressing depressive symptoms. There is, however, a paucity of research into the processes leading to change and the actual experience of the patients and the therapist in delivering BOPT interventions.Method: Secondary qualitative analysis of data obtained within an exploratory randomised controlled trial of manualised body psychotherapy (BPT) for patients with chronic depression, analysing qualitative aspects of change processes during therapy, was conducted.Results: At the beginning of therapy, most patients presented with a restricted, emotionally dissociated and inwardly directed range of expressive behaviours, associated with isolation of emotions from self-awareness. Clinically relevant changes in body postures and gestures were associated with feelings of empowerment; connecting repressed anger with feelings of sadness appears to have resulted in enhanced levels of self-confidence and improvements of depressed mood. Body satisfaction scores improved slightly.Conclusion: Patients with chronic depression may benefit from specific BPT interventions. These interventions appear to be particularly effective in assisting patients to identify and express a wide range of feelings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New approaches in the philosophy of mind defend the idea that basic forms of cognition and human intersubjectivity are deeply and inextricably embodied and embedded. In its more extreme forms this approach to mind and cognition opposes the idea that cognition is always or primarily a matter of forming mental representations of that environment (Gallagher & Hutto, 2008; Hutto & Myin, 2013). Taking these ideas seriously in the context of therapy directs us to the way therapy can be enhanced by modifying environmental and social affordances and the way clients interact with them as opposed to how they represent them. These conceptual and methodological paradigms encourage a rethinking of existing applications, inspired by reformulating the theoretical foundation that underpins practice in body psychotherapy (BPT; e.g. Geuter, in press). Given the emerging evidence base for BPT in the treatment of severe mental health problems (e.g. Röhricht, 2009) it is timely to question whether its intervention strategies can be better understood as a kind of applied embodied cognition. In this paper we only explore BPT practice from a framework of its more radical variants. We explore new ways that effective therapeutic embodied engagements might be realised, while casting fresh light on how therapists can successfully venture into the everyday life of their patients and their interactions with significant others. This includes discussing a revised version of encounter groups and "marathon" workshops as well as experimental solutions such as "Virtual Reality" clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Persistent negative symptoms are an ongoing challenge in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. Evidence from randomised controlled trials suggests that arts/non-verbal therapies may be effective in treating negative symptoms of schizophrenia. These treatments have not yet been evaluated in open clinical settings. The present uncontrolled clinical trial examines the therapeutic processes and clinical outcomes of group body psychotherapy (BPT) on marked negative symptoms in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Changes in symptom scores, subjective quality of life, social functioning and emotional processing between baseline and post-treatment were assessed. The ratings from clinical assessments of independent researchers were compared with the post-therapy summary assessment of the therapists. A total of 39 eligible patients were referred, out of which 18 patients agreed to participate and received BPT in addition to treatment as usual within three therapy groups run by different therapists. Patients had high symptom levels and low psychosocial functioning at baseline. Negative symptoms and general psychopathology significantly reduced during treatment. Positive symptoms and other outcomes did not change. Researcher ratings of psychopathology were in line with the assessment of clinical outcome by therapists and qualitative observations on changes in movement behaviour during therapy. The results of this study are consistent with findings from a RCT (), indicating that BPT is associated with reduced negative symptoms even when administered in routine clinical settings. Therapists’ qualitative judgements may be considered as a valid source for assessing treatment outcomes. Future studies should explore effects of longer term treatments on other outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The heterogeneous field of body oriented psychotherapy (BOP) provides a range of unique contributions for the treatment of mental disorders. Practice based clinical evidence and a few empirical studies point towards good efficacy of these non-verbal intervention strategies. This is particularly relevant for those disorders with body image aberration and other body-related psychopathology, but also for mental disorders with limited treatment response to traditional talking therapies, e.g. somatoform disorders/medically unexplained syndromes, PTSD, anorexia nervosa or chronic schizophrenia. However, the evidence base is not yet sufficiently developed in order to get BOP recognised as suitable mainstream treatment by national health services and their commissioning bodies. Strong academic links are urgently required in order to support practitioners in their efforts to evaluate the clinical work in systematic research. The field would greatly benefit from the development of international higher education training in integrated clinical body psychotherapy, enabling practitioners to obtain a master's degree. From a scientific perspective, projects on the interface between neuroscience and psychotherapy research should be conducted in order to understand more fully the therapeutic processes in BOP, particularly with regard to emotional processing, movement behaviour and body/self perception. Qualitative research is needed to further investigate the specific interactive therapeutic relationship, the dynamics of touch in psychotherapy and the additional self-helping potential of creative/arts therapy components. Provided that these requirements will be fulfilled, BOP could be established as one of the main psychotherapeutic modalities in clinical care, alongside other mainstream schools such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural and systemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Depression and bodily dissatisfaction are associated with personal construing. • This study explores this association and the effects of body psychotherapy. • During body psychotherapy the bodily self became more salient to participants. • There was evidence of impact of the intervention on self-construing. Abstract The frequent association of depression with somatic symptoms suggests that body psychotherapy may be an appropriate therapeutic intervention for people with chronic depression. Using a subset of twenty-three participants from a randomized controlled trial that had demonstrated the effectiveness of such an intervention in reducing depressive symptoms, the present study investigated whether it may also impact aspects of construing which have been associated with depression. Patients presenting with chronic depression were randomly allocated to a treatment group or a waiting list group, which received body psychotherapy after a period on a waiting list. Correlations between repertory grid, questionnaire, and visual analogue measures indicated that depression and bodily dissatisfaction were associated with features of the content and structure of construing. There were no significant changes while patients were on the waiting list, but during treatment reduction in depression and bodily dissatisfaction, together with increase in self-esteem and quality of life, were accompanied by an increase in the salience of construing of the bodily self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]