The therapeutic approach to the body in psychoanalysis and its relation to movement therapy and bioenergetic analysis.

Abstract

Journal of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis 29(3), 483–490, 2001 © 2001 The American Academy of Psychoanalysis I am not a psychoanalyst; rather, I am a clinical psychologist trained in the psychoanalytic field. Fifteen years ago I became acquainted with movement therapy, and a couple of years later I started training in Bioenergetic Analysis. Those years were very enriching for my body-psyche development, but I suffered a great loneliness among my verbal colleagues. There was no way to convey to them the strength and depth of these therapeutic approaches. Whenever I tried to talk about it I was perceived as a bit “off the track.” This gap between my inner experience and my inability to communicate it to my professional environment was the main impetus for writing this article, wherein I have tried to integrate my two therapeutic identities (verbal and body). This process has not been easy. I believe that my own personal experience of this difficulty is emblematic of a universal problem among therapists. I call it the professional split.