The value of embodiment
Self care and client work
As a counsellor or psychotherapist, you know the value of embodiment for your clients in terms of healing trauma and learning to self-regulate. Like many in the profession, you might be looking for ways to enhance your own embodied awareness in order to support your relational availability for clients and as a method of self-care. You might also have a desire to feel more centred in yourself, more grounded and move through the world with more ease and joy.
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Benefits of exploration
In his work on self-care for psychotherapists, Professor Brett Kahr has said therapists need 'thin skin and a strong spine' to work effectively otherwise we risk burn out. This metaphor really spoke to me because I realised that the Feldenkrais Method offers the perfect way to both open up to your sensory experience and develop a 'thin skin' and also to discover that your skeleton can be a resource which offers a solid support for feeling centred and grounded.
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As our embodied experience can be wordless, somewhat formless, diffuse or the mysterious place which is home to the seeds of deeper realisation and understanding, it can be hard to know how to delve into it. The Feldenkrais 'awareness through movement' method offers a clear and structured way to open up an organic space to explore the body through movement.
Options for exploration include:
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feeling more grounded, centred and 'in your body'
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comfortable sitting
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feeling centred and connected to your body while working online
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movement as a support for experiencing more joy
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'coming back' to the body when you feel you've become too absorbed in someone else's experience
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how your voice feels in your body
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Embodied work online
At the moment I am working only online due to the covid situation. There is an advantage to online work in that for many of us, there is an every-increasing demand to engage with the world via computer screens. Working with awareness through movement online gives you an opportunity to explore how you use your body whilst using the computer or interacting with screens. You can explore how to stay more connected with your body and also consider what pulls your awareness away from it.
What happens in a session?
My role as a Feldenkrais practitioner is to support you on the journey of feeling your body more deeply, with greater clarity and discernment. We look at this in the context of what you wish to develop in terms of your own practice and consider how you can integrate the learning in a session into your life.
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We'll spend a bit of time talking about what you want to get from the session (e.g.more centred ness, better sitting, staying connected with your body online). Then, taking into account what you are looking for, I will guide you through a set of movements designed to develop your awareness of and sense of ease in your body. We will spend some time relating what you have learned through the movements to your self-care and self-support in your practice.
I work both as a Feldenkrais practitioner and Gestalt therapist and I am very excited about the potential of the Feldenkrais Method to support counsellors and psychotherapists.
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If you would like to explore more, please get in touch
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Price
Sessions last 1hr 15 mins. A one-off session is £65 and a block of 5 is £250