My body my self

Abstract

This article represents a brief overview of 40 years as a therapist, from my first role in the NHS to my work today. It describes my struggle to become embodied and to learn to understand and integrate my body’s messages over time. It suggests that the body is a vital part of the therapeutic process, encompassing concepts of embodiment and body identity, the body as character and messenger of the unconscious, the keeper of the psyche’s secrets, dreams and memories. In reflecting on our current global climate crisis it suggests how psychological insights and connection to our embodied selves can assist us to come to terms with our future on a critically endangered planet.