Body and touch in psychodynamic psychotherapy

Abstract

Several surveys undertaken in the last decade reveal that work on the physical (and physiological) levels within the psychotherapeutic process has been gaining ground and that physical contact is very impor­tant for the client. This implies that in their work psychotherapists include touch in addition to non-verbal communication and physical sensations. Being able to exert an impact on memory, touch is efficient in establishing a connection between the body and the mind as well as in releasing traumatic material buried in our bodies. This article deals with body-oriented psychodynamic psychotherapy, which approaches the body on the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic levels. It discusses the influence individual psychothe­rapists in history have had on the use of touch in psychodynamic psychotherapy, the perception of touch and the ethics of the use of touch in the psychotherapeutic process.