Psycho-physical therapy

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Bill Bowen · Portland, Oregon

What it is

Psycho-Physical Therapy is an integrative, practitioner-founded school of body psychotherapy, not a manualised protocol. Bowen built it from about 35–40 years of work in the creative process, body therapy, somatic psychology and spirituality (the figure is 35 in 2012 and 40 in 2010). It is grounded…

Format

• Status. No published phase model, session count or progression criteria exist. The phases below follow the seven chapters of Bowen's demonstration session, which show the arc of a single extended session (about 85 minutes). In ongoing work the same arc can also span a course of therapy. Using the…
• Typical course (). Weekly 50–90 minute individual sessions. Sessions that include table work need longer slots. There is no fixed number of sessions; the length of a course is not documented.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: Psycho-Physical Therapy (PPT) as practised and taught by its founder Bill Bowen, MFA, LMT (Portland, Oregon, per the 2012 workshop announcement). It is reconstructed from four sources: his published session demonstration (Cavalcade Productions, Body-Oriented Therapy Sessions III: Psycho-physical Therapy, 2009, 85 min, 7 chapters); his 2010 Somatic Perspectives / Active Pause biography; his 2012…
• What it is. Psycho-Physical Therapy is an integrative, practitioner-founded school of body psychotherapy, not a manualised protocol. Bowen built it from about 35–40 years of work in the creative process, body therapy, somatic psychology and spirituality (the figure is 35 in 2012 and 40 in 2010). It is grounded in his trainings in:
• He has been a Hakomi trainer and co-founded Hakomi Integrative Somatics with Pat Ogden. He was a founding member of the Northwest Coalition of Body-Psychotherapy. He has taught at colleges in Europe and the United States, and in 2010 was on the faculty of the Somatic Psychology programme at JFK University. Before founding PPT he also worked with many practitioners in the field. He is a licensed massage therapist,…

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

• Leaving "open" or flooded. If so, keep time for grounding. It is working when the client reports using the resource between sessions.
• Turning it into posture correction or 'right vs wrong'. It is working when the client spots the pattern on their own between sessions.
• Somatic counter-transference symptoms (headache, exhaustion, numbness) after particular clients. Note them, and take them to supervision.
• Goals that only belong to others ("she should change"). It is working when the client's goal sentence comes with a visible softening or a settled breath.
• Confusing your own material with the client's. Take this to supervision. It is working when your attunement and timing improve and the client feels "met".

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.