Bodylistening: A practical approach to body psychotherapy

Bodylistening is an accessible and engaging introduction to the wide-ranging field of body psychotherapy, which encompasses healing and therapeutic approaches that aim to treat the mind, body and spirit as a unified whole. In Bodylistening, Tim Brown covers underlying theory and historical background to provide context to the origins of this growth area of therapeutic practice. He outlines what can happen in the therapy space between two people with an interest in exploring embodiment. The emphasis is on face-to-face therapeutic encounter and the text includes the sort of words and phrases which might arise between client and therapist in a session. Also woven into the book are stories of the author's own encounters with embodiment and therapy, plus examples from the world of the other-than-human. After outlining the basics of body psychotherapy, the author introduces the bodylistening approach that he practices before moving on to explore the specifics of breath, movement, touch, character, trauma and embodiment. The book features suggestions for personal inquiry, which invite the reader to pause and deepen into their own experience. As somatic practice lends itself well to groupwork, a selection of workshop experimental ideas are offered. Each chapter ends with a list of suggestions for further reading, which are some of the author's favourite resources. Finally, endnotes provide details of original sources and other background material.