EMBODIED-RELATIONAL THERAPY 

There are channels of relating and feeling that can be left untuned in talking therapies and Embodied-Relational Therapy - a relational body psychotherapy approach that my practice emerges from - looks to redress this balance, accounting for the wholeness of our experience; that we have minds, bodies and spirits. A core premise is that diligently throughout our lives our body registers, consciously or not, what the mind makes contact with and from this acknowledgement we can begin to explore movement, breath, habitual gestures and internal sensations - directly working with these body based experiences as well as being interested in how they express the way we think and feel.

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ERT takes a holistic integrative approach, focusing on two facts about human beings: that we are embodied and in relationship. To be alive we need to be a body, to be alive we need to relate to others. Our nature seeks to express itself freely, while at the same time protecting itself in conditions sometimes of great difficulty. This double task of expression and protection makes us often subject to contradictory pulls, offering double messages about what we feel, want and need. However, through a non-invasive relationship, which is challenging but supportive, it is possible to disentangle our double-ness and allow our process to unfold.

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Often this will look like regular sitting and talking, where as other times we may follow embodied sensations if you feel called to work more deeply with process found in these channels. This can be of value to anyone but it can be especially helpful to those who feel estranged from their body in some way and those who yearn to feel more at home in themselves. Ultimately we can move in alignment to what you need, being curious about old patterns which want to shift or release, supporting your energy to flow more freely. 

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Although various therapeutic wisdom, philosophy and psychoanalytic thinking inform my approach to working with the body, it has also developed through my own embodied practices: I've spent over a decade practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, exploring how play and contact emerge in this art when trust develops, as well as through regular meditation, authentic movement and dance.

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