Braddock Body Process

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Carolyn J. Braddock · 1995

What it is

An integrative body psychotherapy founded on the philosophy and movement of Tai Ji and Qi Gong. Clients learn "tools" for noticing the many "body voices" that shape how they breathe, move and make sound. Creative expression through music and body dialogue is described as essential, alongside…

Format

• What the sources give. No source sets out phases, session numbers, the format of individual sessions or criteria for moving between stages. Barshop's entry describes the method's tools and aims, not its structure. Documented delivery formats (2013–2015) are: (a) a one-day workshop (10:00 to 15:00)…
• Format (synthesis). For individual work: weekly sessions of 50–90 minutes. Each session: check-in with a brief body scan (5 min); awareness or movement warm-up (5–10 min); focused work on one theme (20–40 min); grounding and verbal integration (10 min); agreeing home practice. For groups, the…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Read this first. No treatment manual, session protocol or training curriculum for this method is documented in openly accessible sources. Braddock's website (braddock-body-process.com; Barshop's reference spells it braddock-bodyprocess.com/services.html) is still indexed by search engines, with pages titled Home, Explore, Carolyn Braddock, Tai Ji and Qi Gong, Workshops, and Ojai Small Group Summer Retreat. Its…
• Founder and setting. Carolyn J. Braddock is described as an educator, Tai Ji instructor, consultant, trainer, group facilitator, minister and author. She founded the Institute on Child Abuse and Neglect in Colorado, studied with the psychiatrist and family therapist Carl Whitaker, and works with trauma, addiction and PTSD. Between 2013 and 2016 she taught the method in Southern California: a Healing Workshop at the…

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

• Practice turning into self-surveillance or a performance; keep it short and curious. It is working when the client reports using the tool in a real moment of stress.
• Freezing, or saying stop very late (a sign of an overridden boundary). Note it gently and repeat more slowly. Fawning, or apologising for saying stop. Variant (c) is effortful: screen for…
• Avoid broken skin, bruising, varicose veins and recent injury. In pregnancy, do not use point work unless you are specifically trained, because the tradition avoids some points then. With…
• Interpreting before describing. Self-criticism ("I breathe wrong"). Numbness, which you accept as information. It is working when the client notices patterns spontaneously and links them to…
• Over-breathing (tingling, light-headedness, cramping hands): stop, breathe normally, and ground. This guide includes no breath intensification (fast or forced breathing); if you add it, screen…

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.