Therapy and Workshops

“The pain created by our minds is stored in our bodies,

creating rigid patterns of behavior, blocking the flow

of energy  within us, cramping our being.

Our harshness and our fears are embodied in our flesh”

             Gunilla Norris, Inviting silence

My approach focusses on how people create meaning through their bodies. The body matters. You do not only have a body, but you also are your body. Too often this is denied by powerful cultural prescriptions and religious traditions in a society that can paralyze you in authoring and living your story of choice. We take these dominant stories apart, identify the problem and explore unique possibilities that could be enriched into new, alternative stories.

A therapy session is typically structured around deep listening and conversation, but sometimes I make use of bodymapping. Jane Solomon describes this as a way of telling stories and making art about a person and his/her life. It provides “a better understanding of themselves, their bodies and the world they live in.  I use bodymapping in individual therapy, trauma and couple counselling, followed by one-to one conversations. This process of therapy creates a deep awareness of how we make meaning through the bodies that we have, and the bodies that we are.

I present workshops to other narrative practitioners on bodymapping within the context of narrative therapy and my research in theological anthropology. A typical workshop will last 2 days which can be followed up by individual conversations.