Biosynthesis

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · David Boadella, Silvia Specht Boadella · 1975

What it is

Biosynthesis ("integration of life") is a body psychotherapy that David Boadella founded in 1975. It grew from Reich's character analysis and vegetotherapy, Janet's idea of psychological synthesis, and the pre- and perinatal work of Francis Mott and Frank Lake. It also drew on Stanley Keleman's…

Format

• Biosynthesis is an integrative process approach, not a session-by-session manual. The sources describe no fixed phases, session numbers or formal criteria for moving between phases. Clinicians organise the work with three overlapping maps.
• Boadella treats these as three strands of every session rather than steps in a sequence.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Map B: the twelve topics. These are developmental and body-region themes that structure IFB training and are used as clinical lenses:
• Training: about 30 days a year for three years leads to a certificate, and two further years of supervision lead to the diploma.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Agree group rules on touch and confidentiality.
• It is working when the client feels a choice about distance.
• Do not impose images. It is working when the new image brings a bodily shift.
• Rigid clients may over-control it; invite softness. It is working when movement becomes clear without becoming tense.
• Avoid rotation with already ungrounded or dizzy clients. Ground first. It is working when there is playfulness with stability.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.