Transitional circle (Übergangskreis)

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Uwe Christian Dech · 1994 · Gießen

What it is

The Übergangskreis ("transitional circle") is an integrative concept for body psychotherapy and psychotherapy. It was developed by Uwe Christian Dech (born 1959, Nuremberg), who has a practice as a body therapist and psychotherapist in Gießen. He did his doctorate at the University of Hannover…

Format

• Session count and format. Not given in the sources. Dech worked in individual practice as a body therapist and psychotherapist. The model is meant for both speech-based psychotherapy and movement-based physiotherapy. A practical default is individual sessions of 50–60 minutes that combine talk and…

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?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• 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

• Performance anxiety. Offer simple shapes or colours only.
• Mechanical stage-hopping. It is working when the stuck verb becomes possible once the neighbouring verb is in place.
• Over-reading single gestures. Look for repeated patterns. It is working when the patient starts to notice the two poles on their own.
• Pain, or forcing (stop any movement that hurts). Self-criticism ("I'm doing it wrong") is a sign of festhalten itself. Name it gently.
• The patient hearing this as "going backwards". Frame it as strengthening the foundation. It is working when the higher task becomes easier after the lower stage has been consolidated.

Problems the guide addresses

• Stuck clients
• Resistance and reluctance toward body work
• Overwhelm, dissociation and trauma reactions
• Screening and contraindications for the body exercises
• Non-adherence to between-session practice
• Ruptures in the relationship
• 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.