Michael’s Psychotherapy CPD Blog

An interview with Michael in preparation of this CPD workshop "Sustainable practice in the 'impossible profession'?" organised by the Wimbledon Guild Your workshop "Sustainable practice in the ‘impossible profession’?" is unique in its concept, what led you to its creation? There are two separate but linked recognitions which inspired the workshop, and the 2017 article [...]

Over the last 15 years or so, relational perspectives have had a significant impact across the field of psychotherapy. However, the wider its increasing influence has spread, the less clear it has become what we actually mean by ‘relational’. The default common denominator would be the recognition that in therapy it's the relationship between client [...]

Michael Soth: European Congress of Body Psychotherapy: the Embodied Self in a dis-Embodied Society: A presentation proposal A presentation addressing the shadow aspects of this central theoretical model of our tradition Character Structure theory is a central element of Body Psychotherapy, building on Reich’s monumental achievement to bring together biology and psychology through his notion [...]

(from my chapter "Transference, Countertransference and Supervision in the Body Psychotherapy tradition" in: The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology)   I have been asked a few times for a brief summary regarding relationality in Body Psychotherapy - here's a very condensed paragraph from the above chapter:   A Multiplicity of Relational Modalities in [...]

European Congress of Body Psychotherapy: the Embodied Self in a dis-Embodied Society: A keynote proposal This keynote proposal aims at re-defining and refining our notion of ‘embodiment’ in non-polarising terms that are actually helpful in transcending Cartesian dualism As the title of our conference suggests, Body Psychotherapy has always found itself in a counter-cultural position, [...]

Sat in the waiting room of the clinic, wide-eyed big-haired and spindly-limbed, David’s anxiety was a presenting feature, most apparent in the firmness with which he was pressing the palms of his hands into his thighs, giving me the impression that his legs would shake furiously otherwise. Despite being fashionably well-dressed, he seemed [...]

Martha Stark (1999) “Modes of Therapeutic Action” A summary of the introductory chapter to the book, with commentary and critique by Michael Soth © 2015 I have been using Martha Stark’s book “Modes of Therapeutic Action” for some time as one of the main texts for exploring the fundamental ideas and principles of the relational [...]

Investigating our shared ‘implicit relational knowing’ about the working alliance by considering the question: Do therapists tend to over-estimate the working alliance they have with their clients? Take part in our online enquiry and join us in a shared experimental learning process. You are welcome to join in the enquiry around this topic which I [...]

What are the emotional/psychological factors that limit a thriving practice for therapists (and helping professionals generally)? Preparatory considerations for workshop in Brighton on 4 July 2015.   Most workshops for therapists on this topic of making a living focus on the actual business skills needed, or on your own ambivalence about charging money (self-worth). The [...]

In response to a question by Larry Josephs in the context of the IARPP colloquium on: “The Body as Experience, The Body as Experiencer: A Multi-Perspectival Conversation” – Author: Steven Knoblauch (May 11 - May 24 , 2015) Larry Josephs: “In body work, how is countertransferential enactment worked through? What if the way in which [...]