Psychocorporal therapy (IFCC)

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Eliane Jung-Fliegans, Claude Vaux · 1982 · Strasbourg

What it is

"Psychocorporal therapy (IFCC)" is a training institute and its integrative school, not a single manualised therapy. Its clinical method is IPP. The FF2P member directory lists it as "IFCC – Institut de Formation en Thérapie Psychocorporelle", and the institute's own documents use the same full…

Format

• Format. Sessions last about 1.5 hours, every two weeks. The institute expects full benefit over one to two years. Touch sessions take place with the client lying on a mattress on the floor and the practitioner kneeling beside them.
• Order of body areas. IFCC states only that each session of the series is devoted to one part of the body, following Painter. Neither the French nor the English presentation names the areas or their order. Two French IPP practitioners' pages describe "une séquence précise" of deep stimulation of the…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Training prerequisite. The IFCC training is four years. It requires about 250 hours of personal therapy and ten PI sessions received from an approved practitioner. Clinical work starts under supervision in the middle of year 3. The final certificate needs 500 hours of paid practice and 150 hours of supervision. Do not start the touch components without equivalent training.
• What it is. "Psychocorporal therapy (IFCC)" is a training institute and its integrative school, not a single manualised therapy. Its clinical method is IPP. The FF2P member directory lists it as "IFCC – Institut de Formation en Thérapie Psychocorporelle", and the institute's own documents use the same full name. No source opened says what the letters "IFCC" abbreviate. Eliane Jung-Fliegans (now Fliegans-Vaux;…

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

• The symbol shifting over sessions as a sign of movement.
• Separation feelings, which are themselves material to work with.
• A coherent account emerging from fragments. Do not force meaning.
• Enactment can stir strong affect. Keep a clear structure and debrief.
• Material too heavy for touch work yet. Stay verbal longer when it appears.

Problems the guide addresses

• Stuck clients (nothing happens, "I feel nothing")
• Resistance
• Overwhelm, flooding, dissociation
• Non-adherence (missed sessions, dropping the series midway)
• Ruptures in the alliance, including around touch
• Modality-specific difficulties

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.