Relational body psychotherapy

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar · 2010

What it is

Relational body psychotherapy (RBP), in Rolef Ben-Shahar's version, is not a manualised therapy with fixed protocols. It is a stance and framework that brings relational psychoanalysis (intersubjectivity, attachment, object relations, transference and countertransference, enactment) into body…

Format

• RBP has no fixed phases, session count or protocol in the sources. Rolef Ben-Shahar organises the work by two frames that run side by side, not one after the other.
• Functional / utility ("something borrowed"): the contract, fees and the client's request ("What can I do for you?"). Goal: meet the presenting need competently. Body methods here can be direct and symptom-focused; he links this dimension to Keleman's Accordion Exercise. Example in the source: four…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Move from containment into intensifying or surrender work only when the client can return from arousal, and when the therapist is regulated and not dissociating. He chose to go slowly with a client who evoked terror in him.

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?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• 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

• do not improvise it from this note; it has been listed only for completeness.
• turning this into correction. Signs it is working: "I" statements increase alongside firmer posture and boundaries.
• arguing about "what really happened"; both parts are real. Signs it is working: the client can hold two readings at once and links them to the past.
• using self-regulation to withdraw from the client. Signs it is working: the client's breath and speech slow with yours, and the session becomes workable.
• touch that has become routine or obligatory, and a client who cannot say no. Warnecke's case shows that withholding touch can carry the work while it is explored openly.

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.