“A tree grows taller to the degree that its roots go deeper and wider. If we wish to jump high, we must first bend close to the ground to get the impetus for the spring. Like a jet engine, we move forward by thrusting backward. In therapy each backward move provides the energy for the leap forward. Regression and progression go on side by side.”
― Alexander Lowen, Fear of Life: The Wisdom of Failure
Bioenergetic Analysis
Bioenergetic Analysis is a holistic form of psychotherapy that works with the physical, emotional and mental patterns of the body-mind, to reduce emotional stress and help with the problems of living. It is a way of understanding personality in terms of the body and its energetic processes.
Bioenergetic theory is based on the premise that there is no fundamental separation between the mind and the body; that psychological states reflect and create what is happening physically; and physical/somatic events both reflect and create mental and emotional states. Emotional stress from many areas--relationships, family crises, jobs, health, et cetera---produces tension in the body. Contractions in the muscular system are often the result of carrying unresolved emotional tension. These contractions can have a direct effect on the energy level of the individual, on the capacity for spontaneous and creative self-expression, and on feelings of well-being.
In our work together, I may introduce interventions designed to assist you in increasing your body awareness and supporting you in noticing and attending to your experience of your body. The focus is on areas of muscular tension, posture, breathing patterns, and the ways in which physical and emotional tensions, behavioral patterns, and mental states are related. My intention is to help access and relieve emotional pain by identifying and relieving chronic muscular tension.