Therapy & Supervision
I have some availability for Therapy and Supervision in South Devon, so please get in touch.
Writing
During lockdown I was invited to contribute to a couple of books that are available now.
‘The Fluid Nature of Being’ is a collection of writing from 21 practitioners of Integrative Bodywork & Movement Therapy, covering a diverse range of topics in therapy, education, early years, dance, theatre, trauma and the environment.
I’ve written a chapter that shared my experience of bringing somatic work to children who have been adopted and are struggling in life. I draw on a range of case study examples and make links from developmental, sensory, psychological, relational and anatomical themes. I explore the arc of the therapeutic process, from arrivals to ending. I highlight key principles and describe the reality of the work in the context of expectations of parents and social workers. These children are on big journeys as they process early life experience and make their way in the world.
https://www.handspringpublishing.com/product/the-fluid-nature-of-being
I’ve also contributed to a Routledge book: Creative Bodies in Therapy, Performance and Community.
My chapter describes the value of connecting with and trusting the body within Somatic Movement Therapy and beyond. As we feel safe enough to move and sense, we can be with the unknow and trust what emerges. I describes the significance of sensing the detail of what we notice when we pay attention. I name the significance of Body Mind Centering®, anatomy and physiology and infant movement development. Authentic Movement as a practice also informs the detailed tracking of sensory, kinaesthetic and proprioceptive experience as we develop on our body intelligence. I draw on what I’ve observed in young children, my own experience and how I apply this in working with clients. I include details of the arc of working with one adult client as they move through stages of embodied creativity. I offer the reader several simple explorations to try for themselves that illustrate elements of the my practice. The chapter gives the reader material to reflect on both personally and professionally, valuing the body as a resource for growth and creativity.
The book as a whole … “champions several diverse and innovative approaches in the professional engagement with the creative body as a catalyst for change in therapy, education, somatics, and performance. With contributors from the wide-ranging fields of performance and visual arts, psychotherapy, dance and somatics, this book articulates practice-based experiences in a creative language. The readers are invited to move from the process of reading, into the experience of being in and making sense of the world through a moving body. The book meanders purposefully through practice-led embodied approaches in research that generate new knowledge, methodological frameworks that have emerged in response to the needs of different contexts, as well as offering a window on first-hand experience as practice.”
https://www.routledge.com/Creative-Bodies-in-Therapy-Performance-and-Community-Research-and-Practice/Frizell-Rova/p/book/9781032119809
Best wishes
Paul