An integrative bodymind approach to developmental theory
A practical & experiential CPD course for counsellors, psychotherapists, helping professionals & complementary therapists
The origins of repetitive patterns
Our clients bring to us limiting, self –defeating and destructive patterns which keep repeating themselves.
They ask for our help in overcoming these patterns. In order to help them we rely on theories of childhood development. The central assumption of this approach is: adult patterns of being and relating to oneself and others are rooted in childhood development. A child’s experience of its early environment becomes a blueprint for relating and managing himself and the world.
These patterns manifest in the way we think, feel and behave; they also manifest in our body, its shape and structure, from our physiology through our muscular system to brain anatomy. The body is a frozen map of our emotional histories, reflecting our major wounds as well as our creative adaptations to environmental disappointments and challenges.
The body remembers
‘Character structure theory’ - as developed by Wilhelm Reich and others - is a comprehensive method of diagnosing and working with those habitual patterns. It offers insight into clients’ issues that arise from different stages of psychic development.
How can it help your practice
It outlines the therapeutic tasks and challenges that can be anticipated in working with each type and structure, as well as providing the therapeutic tools and techniques for productively addressing the client’s specific wounds.
In this course you will learn about:
◆ integration of various developmental theories, including Reichian and object relations perspectives
◆ the common ground of the various psychodynamic theories
◆ the basic steps of character formation
◆ the major developmental phases
◆ the varieties of emotional wounding arising in each of these phases
◆ the ‘character structures’ pertaining to each of these phases
◆ defensive and self-protective aspects of the various ‘character structures’
◆ the therapeutic tasks and challenges presented by each ‘character structures’
◆ what constitutes ‘working-through’ of the emotional wounding ?
Learning style and methods:
The learning on the course will build on participants’ previous experience. It will be both practical-experiential as well as theoretical, and supported by references.