This was the first in a series of similar workshops held at the Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh. “We will look at how we treat our bodies; how we can work with them; our attitudes towards them; the energies within them; how we can use (and abuse) these; and how we can tap into the wisdom held within our bodies. In this workshop we will not only explore how we can be more fully ’embodied’ in our daily lives, but also learn more about a variety of different ways to work with the emotional body both in everyday life and professionally. We will explore some of the detailed psychophysiology, different forms & exercises, the use of touch, and some of the different theoretical perspectives and concepts of Body Psychotherapy. Ultimately we can, through our bodies, seek to find and follow the deeper purpose and direction of our lives. Our bodies are our true homes: that within which we live, the source of joy or pain, the expression of our inner selves. They can be our sanctuaries or our prisons.
These workshops are also an introduction to, and can count towards, a potential training course in Body-Psychotherapy, especially designed for mental health professionals, possibly in Edinburgh.
‘Courtenay Young presents a contemporary view of therapy and counselling as accessible and relevant and not distant or precious. The book will interest seasoned professionals and students alike. It will also be a significant addition to the self-help mental health literature.’
- Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex
‘All too often, treatment and referral has been a haphazard affair for a patient who comes to a GP or primary carer with common psychological problems. This book by Courtenay Young could change this dramatically. It provides a combination of a few simple diagnostic tests and a lot of self-help handouts, geared closely to what GPs are actually confronted with. The detailed instructions for combining these in decision making at the first stages of treatment are laid out with great clarity in a way that will bring a much needed structure to the whole process.’
- Arthur Still, PhD, FBPsS, Counselling Psychologist
This Handbook (consisting of about 560 pages) is designed specifically for people with depression, anxiety or with issues of low self-esteem. Unfortunately these problems seem to be very widespread and are often also associated with mental health, stress and other issues. They are also (often) compounded by a multitude of problems stretching over someone’s whole life. Whilst these notes & suggestions are not able to touch on some of these deeper and much more painful issues, they can be very helpful as a way of getting ‘started’, and can be understood and used simply and successfully by most people. The range has been made as wide as possible and the language chosen to be relevant and accessible. That is not to say the actual self-help ‘work’ of moving towards better mental health is easy: of course it is not; it involves insight, and change, and practice, and …
In a 7-year period, since moving to the Edinburgh area in 2003, Courtenay has been referred over 750 new clients in GP surgeries, Depts of Clinical Psychology, and as private clients. This collection of hand-outs were developed as a result of all these referrals, and in the process of trying to respond to the clients’ needs, given limited resources. Each hand-out was originally either printed out there-and-then and given to the patient, or sent to them by e-mail shortly after the session … The book is a compilation of these hand-outs, adapted into this format.
Hopefully there may also be a clinician’s version, at some point, which will be able to print out separate pages and which has the internet links (for further information) embedded in the text. This could make it extremely useful for doctors and other clinicians.
Parts of this book have already been adapted into separate leaflets “Stress for Health Professionals”; with other parts being adapted for “How to Cope with …” leaflets on “Anxiety”, “Depression” and “Stress” for clients in GP surgeries, and for the MoodJuice website. These are also available.
More details about this book can be obtained by contacting Courtenay Young at: enquiries’at’courtenay-young.com (please replace the ‘at’ with @)
This was the second introductory workshop in the series of Body-Psychotherapy Training modules at the Salisbury Centre. This workshop explored how we can be more fully 'embodied' in our daily lives, and how we can re-embody ourselves. We learnt how we relate to our bodies, and deny and disown them - and how we can change this. We learnt more about a variety of different ways to work with the emotional body both in everyday life and professionally.
This was the third in the series. Looking - in depth - at how we use touch in psychotherapy and especially Body-Psychotherapy; what the ethics and techniques are; when not to use touch; and the different types of touch.
This workshop (4th in the series), will explore how we can re-balance the basic systems that run our body throughout our daily lives, and how we can learn to maintain this balance. We will learn more about the Autonomic Nervous System in our body, and how to work with it both in everyday life and professionally. We use insights from psychophysiology and neuroscience, different forms & exercises, self-regulation, and the theoretical perspectives and concepts of Body Psychotherapy.
This workshop will explore our basic body-awareness, and which bits we like and dislike and how to change this. We will look at posture, how we move and hold ourselves. We will also look at ‘mindfulness’ practice. We will use insights from psychology, physiology and neuroscience, different forms & exercises, self-regulation, and many of the theoretical perspectives and concepts of Body Psychotherapy.
"Different ways of being with our bodies; Deepening our connection with our whole selves; Understanding more about this miracle." This workshop will explore how depression & anxiety can affect our bodies and how we can also use our bodies to cure anxiety and depression.
We will look at how we relate to our bodies; how we can work with them; our attitudes towards them; the energies within them; how we can use (and abuse) these; and how we can tap into the wisdom that is held within our bodies.
This weekend workshop will explore the role of the body in psychotherapy today and how modern psychotherapy not only benefits from inclusion of the body, but is increasingly finding it necessary to include the body.
This weekend workshop will explore some of the fundamental principles of working with our bodies: staying centred; keeping grounded; and facing others and the outside world. This forms the essential three principles of staying functional.
This weekend workshop will explore the various ways in which we can view trauma and panic through the medium of our bodies and how we can begin to work with these issues and even transform them. This workshop will also include some time spent looking at extreme anxiety, phobias, OCD, and symptoms like bulimia. This workshop will explore how we relate to these symptoms ; how we can work with these; our attitudes towards these; and the energies that get tied up with them; and how we can free our bodies from these (often legitimate) reactions within our bodies.
This workshop was held at the UKCP Conference on “About A Body: Working with the Embodied Mind in Psychotherapy”: Cambridge, Sept 2004
Outline From Janet to Reich to the present day, and in many different fields, Body-Psychotherapy involves a different explicit theory, study and practice of the human body-mind. This is not a hierarchical relationship, nor something that suggests a unification of an age-old split, but it represents the functioning and interactive aspects of the whole human being. This is quite revolutionary for some, liberating for others, and can also be quite threatening as well. It also establishes a base-line and resource as other psychotherapies explore aspects of Body-Psychotherapy and their own involvement with the body.
Some of the attitudes and reactions to Body-Psychotherapy over the years are explored in this presentation about the development of, and significance of, Body-Psychotherapy. Some of the ‘ways of being’ of a Body-Psychotherapist are also explored, discussed and demonstrated, touching with the eyes, voice and insight.
Relaxed lecture-style multi-media presentation, with plenty of opportunities for audience involvement: demonstration books and literature available: hand-outs provided.
A seminar / workshop at the USABP Conference in: Tuscon, Arizona: June 2005 Repeated at the Biosynthesis Conference, Lisbon, June 2006 Recently repeated at the EABP Conference, Vienna, Oct 2010
A workshop on Psycho-physiology for Body-Psychotherapists and Body Workers. Working from information contained in his book with the same title, this workshop with Courtenay Young looks in detail at many of the physiological processes that happen “under the skin” and when we touch someone, or do body-work with them. Workshop given in Cambridge, Winter 2005
Courtenay Young & Laura Steckler lead this workshop together. They have given it in a one week-long format at the Findhorn Foundation, Scotland UK in 2000 & 2001, and in a 4-day format in Wuppertal, Germany. It has also been offered in Belgium, Edinburgh, Malta and other locations. For more details, click here
Our Bodies are our true home; the Sanctuary of our Souls. We’ll explore how we can be more fully ’embodied’ in our daily lives. We’ll examine how we treat our bodies; our attitudes towards them; the energies within them; how we can tap into the spirit and wisdom within.
How can we express our whole selves through movement, bodywork, in meditation, nature, work, play, dance, and song, in healing, and in finding and following the deeper purpose of our lives?
Laura Steckler is a Rubenfeld Synergist®, Body Psychotherapist; Clinical Psychologist; somatic therapist; and dancer / performance artist.
If you want more details on workshops run by Courtenay Young & Laura Steckler, please contact Courtenay or check out Laura’s website.
A training workshop for Body-Psychotherapists (Portugal, April 2005) This workshop is based on an extended essay, available as a PDF file in the "Articles" section of this website.
A series of seminars for a two-year 'Conversion Course' for counsellors and psychotherapists in Australia towards becoming a Somatic Psychotherapist. (see here) Being involved with this project for the last year and a half has been a really invigorating experience, causing me to reflect deeply on my own practice as a Somatic (Body) Psychotherapist and extract some of the essences of that work and convey that essence to others.