There is a growing interest in embodied approaches to psychotherapy internationally. This volume focuses on the respective focal professions of dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) and body psychotherapy (BP), addressing the psychotherapeutic need for healing throughout the lifespan. Within embodied clinical approaches, the therapist and client collaborate to discover how the body and movement can be used to strengthen positive relational skills, attending to the client's immediate and long-term needs through assessment, formulation, treatment and evaluation. Both DMP and BP are based upon the capacity and authority of the body and non-verbal communication to support and heal patients with diverse conditions, including trauma, unexplained bodily symptoms and other psychological distress, and to develop the clients’ emotional and relational capacities by listening to their bodies for integration and wellbeing. In The Routledge International Handbook of Embodied Perspectives in Psychotherapy, world leaders in the field contribute their expertise to showcase contemporary psychotherapeutic practice. They share perspectives from multiple models that have been developed throughout the world, providing information on theoretical advances and clinical practice, as well as discourse on the processes and therapeutic techniques employed individually and in groups. Presented in three parts, the book covers underpinning embodiment concepts, potentials of dance movement psychotherapy and of body psychotherapy, each of which is introduced with a scene-setting piece to allow the reader to easily engage with the content. With a strong focus on cross- and interdisciplinary perspectives, readers will find a wide compilation of embodied approaches to psychotherapy, allowing them to deepen and further their conceptualization and support best practice. This unique handbook will be of particular interest to clinical practitioners in the fields of body psychotherapy and dance movement psychotherapy as well as professionals from psychology, medicine, social work, counselling/psychotherapy and occupational therapy, and to those from related fields who are in search of information on the basic therapeutic principles and practice of body and movement psychotherapies and seeking to further their knowledge and understanding of the discipline. It is also an essential reference for academics and students of embodied psychotherapy, embodied cognitive science and clinical professions.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Foreword by Don Hanlon Johnson Foreword by Vassiliki Karkou Foreword by Babette Rothchild Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction to Embodied Perspectives in Psychotherapy: Helen Payne, UK; Sabine Koch, Germany; Jennifer Tantia, USA; and Thomas Fuchs, Germany Section One: Overview of Concepts Introduction to Section Essential Dimensions of Being a Body - Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, USA Narrratives in Embodied Therapeutic Practice: Getting the story straight - Shaun Gallagher, USA and Daniel D. Hutto, Australia Towards a Clinical Theory of Embodiment: A model for the conceptualization and treatment of mental illness - Jessica Acolin, USA The Evidence for Basic Assumptions of Dance Movement Therapy and Body Psychotherapy Related to Findings from Embodiment Research - Johannes Michalak, Naomi Lyons, and Thomas Heidenreich, Germany Having a Body and Moving your Body: Distinguishing somatic psychotherapy from dance/movement therapy - Jennifer Tantia, USA Section Two: Theory and Practice in Dance Movement Psychotherapy Introduction to Section A Developmental Taxonomy of Interaction Modalities in Dance Movement Therapy - Marianne Eberhard-Kaechele, Germany Witnessing Practice: In the eyes of the beholder - Tina Stromsted, USA Somatic Body Mapping with Women During Life Transitions - Annette Schwalbe, UK and Kenya Gravity in the Development of the (Body) Self in Dance Movement Psychotherapy - Diana Cheney, UK Dance Movement Therapy: Building resilience from shared movement experiences - Rosemarie Samaritter, The Netherlands Interrupted Rhythms: Dance/movement therapy’s contributions to suicide prevention – Susan D. Imus, USA Body as Voice: Restorative dance/movement psychotherapy with survivors of relational trauma - Amber Gray, USA Playing Through Dancing Stories - Sylvie Garnero, France Psychological Re-sources in Integral Dance and Dance/Movement Therapy - Alexander Girshon and Ekaterina Karatygina, Russia Mother-Son Transgenerational Transmission of Eating Issues in a Co-treatment Method using the Ways of Seeing Approach - Suzi Tortora and Jennifer Whitley, USA The BodyMind Approach and People Affected by Medically Unexplained Symptoms /Somatic Symptom Disorder - Helen Payne, UK The Disturbance of the Psychosomatic Balance - Haguit Ehrenfreund, Switzerland Modulating Verbal and Non-Verbal Languages in Dance Movement Psychotherapy: Moving conversations with adult patients in private practice -Teresa Bas, Spain; Diana Fischman, Argentina; and Rosa Mª Rodríguez, Spain The Importance of Subtle Movement and Stillness in Japanese Dance Movement Therapy: A comparison with the Japanese traditional performing art of 'Noh' - Miyuki Kaji, Japan Embodiment of Space in Relation to the Self and Others in Psychotherapy: Boundlessness, emptiness, fullness, and betweenness - Rainbow Ho, Hong Kong From the Alps to the Pyramids: Swiss and Egyptian perspectives on dance movement therapy -Iris Bräuninger, Switzerland and Radwa Said Abdelazim Elfeqi, Egypt Section Three: Theory and Practice in Body Psychotherapy Introduction to Section Relating Through the Body: Self, other and the wider world - Gill Westland, UK Functional Relaxation in Psychosomatic Medicine - Ursula Bartholomew and Ingrid Herholz, Germany The Art of Bottom-Up Processing: Mindfulness, meaning and self-compassion in body psychotherapy - Halko Weiss and Maci Daye, Germany Embodied-Relational Therapy - Nick Totton, UK Four Forms of Knowledge in Biosynthesis Therapy - David Boadella, Switzerland The Relational Turn in Body Psychotherapy - Michael Soth, UK Emotional Regulation in Body Psychotherapy - Ulfried Geuter, Germany The Embodiment of Dreams: Exploring mind/body connecting devices - Michel Coster Heller and Gillat Burckhardt-Bartov, France The Therapist’s Body and the Intersubjectivities of the Unconscious -Tom Warnecke, UK Being Moved to Tears: Somatic and motoric aspects of self-disclosure - Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar, Israel Oppression and Embodiment in Psychotherapy - Rae Johnson, USA Micromovements: Filling out the movement continuum in clinical practice - Christine Caldwell, USA Safety in Psychotherapy: The body matters - Helma Mair, Ireland Touch and Embodiment: Body-oriented psychotherapeutic applications of clinical touch - Michael Changaris, USA Traumatic Dis-embodiment: Effects of trauma on body perception and body image - Maurizio Stupiggia, Italy Research Informing Body Psychotherapy Clinical Work: A spotlight on emotions - Margit Koemeda-Lutz, Switzerland Appendix Index