Integrative movement therapy

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Hilarion G. Petzold, Johanna Sieper, Amélie Berger · 1965 · Paris

What it is

IBT is the body- and movement-therapy method within Hilarion G. Petzold's Integrative Therapy (IT). It is a method family, not a single manualised protocol. Exercises, media (balls, ropes, sticks, cloths, natural objects, clay, colours), breath, voice, touch, running and landscape work are combined…

Format

• Initial phase (introduce, set goals, choose a theme). Goals: build the relationship and group cohesion, warm up, find the theme. Modalities: exercise- and experience-centred.
• The process is not strictly linear: phases overlap and can loop back. The same four phases structure a single session, a series of sessions and a whole course.

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 any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• 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?
• 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

• Shame. Allow small gestures.
• Rigid holding. Invite small swaying.
• Shame about sound. Begin with humming.
• Pain. Keep it within a comfortable range.
• Rising panic. Stop and lengthen the exhale.

Problems the guide addresses

• Screening and contraindications before intensive body work
• Stuck client: "I feel nothing"
• Resistance and reactance
• Overwhelm, flooding, dissociation
• Non-adherence to transfer tasks or running groups
• Ruptures in the relationship
• Problems specific to the modality

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.