Body-centred psychotherapy IKP

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Yvonne Maurer · 1983 · Zurich

What it is

An integrative humanistic psychotherapy school, not a single manualised protocol. Its founder is Dr. med. Dr. theol. Yvonne Maurer, who also publishes as Maurer-Groeli. The institute says the approach rests on Gestalt therapy and adds a body-oriented and a systemic perspective. It describes the…

Format

• No published phase manual found. None of the sources sets out a fixed phase model or session count for the course of therapy. The curriculum names four things without describing them: «Sitzungsphasen» (session phases), «Erstgespräch» (first interview), a «Modell der therapeutischen Tiefung» (model…
• Disturbing reaction formation: symptoms and coping patterns develop.

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

• Turning recovery into another performance task.
• Nightmares in PTSD. Stabilise before working with them.
• Discomfort at the closeness. Stop and offer the wall variant.
• Shame about the body and exposure. Offer the clothed version by default.
• Hurt instead of amusement. If you see it, step out of role immediately and repair (see 5.5).

Problems the guide addresses

• Stuck clients and circling
• Resistance and defence
• Overwhelm, flooding and dissociation
• Non-adherence with home practice
• Ruptures
• 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.