Jungian body psychotherapy

1. Introduction

Version followed: the integration of Biodynamic psychotherapy (Gerda Boyesen) with Jungian analysis described by Agnes Birgit Heuer and Gottfried Heuer in "Bodytherapy and Jungian Analysis: A New Approach to Biodynamic Psychotherapy" (Self & Society, vol. 15 no. 4, c. 1987), supplemented by Gottfried Heuer's later chapter "'In my flesh I shall see God': Jungian body psychotherapy" (in Totton, ed., New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy, 2005, pp. 102–114). The chapter itself is not drawn on here; its arguments are known only through quotations in Sassenfeld (2008) [uncertain].

What it is. This is not a manualised therapy with a protocol. It is an integrative clinical approach developed by two London practitioners. Gottfried Heuer is a training analyst and supervisor with the Association of Jungian Analysts, and also a Biodynamic body psychotherapist and trainer. Birgit Heuer is a Jungian analytic psychotherapist (BAP) with a background in body psychotherapy. The approach is sometimes credited to "Heuer" alone, but the 1987 paper is joint. The Heuers combine Freud, Reich, Jung and Boyesen, and present the result as a new method rather than an eclectic mix: "Synthesis here is not eclectic but the creation of something new." [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; Guild of Pastoral Psychology bios]

How change happens. Body, mind and soul are held as one field. The unconscious is treated in the Jungian way, as a creative, autonomous source that runs from personal material through the shadow to collective roots. It speaks in several "languages": dreams and symbols, everyday events (accidents, illness, synchronicities), slips and associations, transference and countertransference, and the body itself. The therapist follows whichever language carries meaning at that moment. They can move a theme from talk into movement, breath or posture and back again, so that it is both lived bodily and understood. Change comes from making unconscious and split-off material (especially the shadow and the contrasexual side) conscious and integrated, not from release alone. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987] Gottfried Heuer later argued that Jungians treat the body mainly as a vehicle for expressing the soul. He asked whether the body can itself be an agent of change: "Can soul be changed by body?" [source: Heuer 2005 as quoted in Sassenfeld 2008]

Status today. Practice is carried mainly by the Heuers' own clinical and training work and by the wider Jungian/body-psychotherapy literature (Sassenfeld, Conger, Chodorow, Howe). No separate training institute or certification for "Jungian body psychotherapy (Heuer)" was found [uncertain].

2. Framework

No formal phases. None of the sources sets out treatment phases, session counts or criteria for ending. The structured unit the Heuers describe is the arc of a single session. The overall course follows the open-ended analytic frame of Jungian analysis. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; frame inferred, uncertain]

Format. Individual sessions in a room that allows sitting face-to-face on chairs, standing and moving, and lying down. The Heuers also run groups led by a male–female pair who alternate leadership. Frequency and length are not given; ordinary analytic practice (weekly or more often, about 50–60 minutes) is a reasonable default [synthesis].

Session arc (Heuer & Heuer 1987).

Stage	Goal	Move on when
A. Verbal opening, seated face-to-face on chairs	Let the dialogue deepen until a central theme crystallises	A theme is clear and the therapist's understanding and intuition suggest a bodily route would add meaning
B. Bodily exploration (spontaneous movement, breathing, amplifying or enacting a movement or pose)	Let the theme be experienced and expressed "from the depth of the body"	Material becomes coloured by early childhood → go to C. Theme worked through, or too painful or anxious → go to D
C. Lying down, eyes closed (optional)	Allow early, preverbal material to surface in a held regressive state	Material has been felt and can be put into words. Or the client loses the adult observing position → go to D [criterion partly synthesis]
D. Return to words	Understand and integrate: link to dreams, history, transference, current life	Session ends with the theme reflected on, not only discharged

The Heuers stress that sessions vary: some are quiet and contemplative, others loud and abreactive; some are introverted, others extroverted. Not every session goes beyond stage A. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]

Suggested course-level stages (all [synthesis], not from the Heuers):

Assessment and contracting (about 1–3 sessions): history including trauma, medical and touch history; screening for breath and cathartic work (see 4.8, 4.10); explain that body work and touch are optional; written consent for touch.
Establishing the analytic frame: mostly verbal and seated work; introduce brief body awareness; begin work with dreams.
Working phase: full session arc as above, with body work used when it serves meaning.
Integration and ending: more verbal reflection; review shadow and contrasexual themes; plan the ending.

3. Guiding principles

[source for all unless marked: Heuer & Heuer 1987]

Synthesis, not eclecticism. Practical meaning: every body intervention must make sense within the Jungian frame (meaning, symbol, transference). Do not bolt techniques together.
Body, mind and soul as three dimensions of one process. Practical meaning: at each moment, choose which dimension to enter, and be able to move between them in one session.
The unconscious is creative and autonomous. Practical meaning: follow what emerges (a gesture, an image, a slip) rather than steering towards a planned outcome.
The search for meaning decides the method. Practical meaning: only invite movement, breath or catharsis when it serves understanding. Avoid meaningless acting-out.
Read many languages. Practical meaning: track dreams, symbols, life events, accidents, illness, synchronicity, verbal slips, transference and countertransference as well as body language.
Listen with a "third ear" and an eye for the body. Practical meaning: attend to rhythm, sound and modulation of the voice, and to posture and movement, as well as to content.
Incongruity signals something unfinished. Practical meaning: flat affect in speech, unconscious postures or movements, and mismatches between words and body are cues to explore. Link them to what is already known.
The body can be answered directly. Practical meaning: you may respond to bodily expression with a gesture or touch, without first translating it into words.
Keep transference and the client's adult functions in play. Practical meaning: the Heuers criticised classic Biodynamic sessions (client lying down throughout) as too regressive. In those sessions the therapist takes over the client's adult and superego functions, and transference is shut out. So begin and end upright and in dialogue, and work the transference.
Do not split off the shadow. Practical meaning: bring difficult, unwanted affect and impulses into the relationship rather than discharging them away; "splitting is the opposite of healing".
Union through differentiation (gender polarity). Practical meaning: explicitly work with the masculine/feminine polarity, anima/animus and encounters with the other sex. The Heuers use the alchemical maxim "Only what has been properly separated can be adequately joined."
The therapist works from their own gender identity and owns its limits. Practical meaning: consider whether a client would be better served, at a given point, by a therapist of the other sex. In groups, alternate the leadership of a male–female pair.
A "Great Father" attitude alongside the "Great Mother". Practical meaning: the Heuers felt Biodynamic work over-weighted maternal holding. They balance it with a challenging, vital paternal attitude, which they image through the figure of Pan. [interpretation of practical meaning: synthesis]
The body as an agent of change, not only an expression. Practical meaning: treat bodily work as a possible primary route of change, not just an illustration of verbal insight. [source: Heuer 2005 via Sassenfeld 2008]
Take Reich seriously. Practical meaning: Heuer regretted that analytical psychologists mostly dismiss Reich, so draw on Reichian/Biodynamic understanding of character and body expression within the analytic frame. [source: Heuer 2005 via Sassenfeld 2008]
Synchronicity and the body. Practical meaning: Heuer held that concepts such as synchronicity make full sense only from a perspective that includes the body, so attend to bodily events around meaningful coincidences. [source: Heuer 2005 via Sassenfeld 2008]
Touch and training. Practical meaning: any touch requires specific body-psychotherapy training, supervision, and a check of what the clinician's licence and jurisdiction allow. [synthesis; house rule]

4. Intervention inventory

Scope note: the Heuers' 1987 paper names the interventions below but does not give step-by-step scripts. Steps marked [synthesis] turn their descriptions into usable procedure. Items 4.14–4.17 come from the wider Jungian body literature that Heuer is cited alongside (Sassenfeld 2008; Howe 2020). They are labelled as such and are not claimed as Heuer's own. Heuer is also a Biodynamic trainer, but the Biodynamic hands-on methods (e.g. Biodynamic massage) are not described in any Heuer text drawn on here, so they are not set out in this guide [uncertain]. All example language is illustrative.

4.1 Seated verbal opening and crystallising a theme

Purpose / when: The start of every session. It sets up the adult, face-to-face relationship from which any body work starts and to which it returns. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Sit opposite each other on chairs at conversational distance. (2) Let the client start where they wish. Follow associations, dreams and recent events. (3) Listen for repetition, affect peaks and incongruities (4.3) until one theme gathers energy. (4) Name the theme tentatively and check it with the client. (5) Decide with the client whether to stay verbal or offer a bodily route (4.4). [steps 3–5 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "We've come back three times to feeling shut out. Shall we stay with that?"
Watch for: A theme the client recognises with some feeling, not just an intellectual label. If no theme crystallises, staying verbal is a legitimate session.

4.2 "Third ear" listening and body reading

Purpose / when: Throughout the session, to register how something is said and shown, not only what is said. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Alongside content, track voice rhythm, sound, pitch and modulation. (2) Track posture, breath (held, shallow, sighing), gestures, self-touch and changes in colour or muscle tone. (3) Note your own bodily responses as possible countertransference (see 4.15). (4) Hold the observations silently until they connect with a theme. Then offer one as a curious observation, not an interpretation. [steps 3–4 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Your voice went very quiet just then." / "I notice your hand keeps going to your throat."
Watch for: Shame at being observed. Make observations sparingly and in a neutral tone. It is working when the client becomes curious about their own body cues.

4.3 Noticing incongruity

Purpose / when: When speech is emotionless about charged material, or when posture or movement contradicts the words. The Heuers treat these as signs of something unfinished. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Note the mismatch (e.g. smiling while describing loss). (2) Link it to what is already known: history, dreams, transference. (3) Invite the client to notice it themselves before offering any meaning. (4) If affect stirs, consider a body route (4.5–4.7). [steps 3–4 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "You're telling me something sad and your face is smiling. What happens if you let the smile go?"
Watch for: Defensive escalation if the observation feels like an accusation. Working: the affect starts to match the content.

4.4 Choosing the mode: associative, analytic, or nonverbal

Purpose / when: At each decision point. The Heuers describe three ways of responding: associative (amplifying images), analytic/reductive (tracing back to history and causes), or nonverbal (a gesture or touch). [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Ask which response would carry the most meaning now. (2) Associative when an image or dream is alive. Reductive when a repeating pattern needs its history understood. Nonverbal when words are getting in the way or the material is preverbal. (3) Offer, don't impose, a body route. (4) Re-choose as the session moves. [steps synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Rather than talk about it, would you be willing to try something with your body for a few minutes? You can say no."
Watch for: Switching modes to escape your own discomfort, and not out of meaning. Supervision helps here.

4.5 Exploring the theme through spontaneous movement

Purpose / when: Once a theme has crystallised and the client is willing, so that the theme can be experienced bodily. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Clear space. The client stands or sits, eyes open or softly lowered. (2) Ask them to bring the theme to mind and notice where in the body it is felt. (3) Invite them to let the body move however it wants, small or large, without planning. (4) The therapist witnesses from a steady, non-intrusive position and does not demonstrate. (5) After a few minutes, or when the movement completes, invite stillness and a breath. (6) Ask what they noticed, then link it to the theme. [steps 2–6 synthesis; duration not given in sources]
Example language (illustrative): "Let your body find its own movement for this feeling. Nothing to perform, just follow it."
Watch for: Self-consciousness. Start small, and offer eyes closed or turning slightly away. Watch for collisions with furniture and for dissociative drifting. It is working when movement gives rise to images, memories or felt shifts.

4.6 Amplifying a movement

Purpose / when: When a small spontaneous gesture appears (a clenched fist, a turning away, a foot pushing). The Heuers invite the client to let a movement grow stronger. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Point to the gesture without interpreting it. (2) Ask the client to repeat it slowly and deliberately. (3) Invite them to let it grow a little bigger each time, staying within what feels safe. (4) Ask what the movement wants or says, including any word or sound that comes with it. (5) Return to stillness and talk it through. [steps synthesis; for repeating a spontaneous movement while voicing inner experience see also Conger, as summarised by Howe 2020 and Sassenfeld 2008]
Example language (illustrative): "Your hand just pushed out. Could you do that again, slowly? … And a bit more? What does it want to say?"
Watch for: Escalation into uncontained discharge (see 4.10 and 5). Working: the movement becomes clearer and carries an emotional meaning the client can name.

4.7 Enactment: showing a situation or pose from the body

Purpose / when: When a situation, relationship or self-state has been described in words. The client demonstrates or performs it, embodying the pose "from the depth of the body". [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Ask the client to show the scene or stance rather than describe it (e.g. how they stood when their father shouted, or the posture of a dream figure). (2) Have them hold it and notice sensations, breath and feelings. (3) Invite small changes and notice the difference. (4) Optionally embody the opposite pose (link to 4.12, polarity). (5) Sit down and talk it through. [steps 2–5 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Can you stand the way you stood in that moment? … What happens in your chest when you hold it?"
Watch for: Re-traumatisation if the scene is traumatic. Use a partial or symbolic posture and keep eyes open. Working: new perspective or feeling emerges, not only rehearsal of the old one.

4.8 Breathing to invite emotional expression

Purpose / when: The Heuers name "certain breathing techniques" used to invite emotional expression. Use it when feeling is near but held back. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; the specific techniques are not described, uncertain]
Steps (gentle version, [synthesis]): (1) Client sitting or lying, feet in contact with the floor. (2) Ask them to notice the breath without changing it. (3) Invite a slightly fuller, slower breath, letting the out-breath be audible, for a few minutes. (4) Invite any sound or movement that comes with the out-breath. (5) Return to ordinary breathing. Ground with eyes open and feet pressing the floor. (6) Talk it through.
Example language (illustrative): "Let the out-breath be a little longer, and let any sound come with it if it wants to."
Watch for: Dizziness, tingling or cramping in the hands and face (signs of over-breathing). If they appear, stop at once and return to normal, slow breathing. Watch for panic and dissociation.
Contraindications and screening [synthesis; not given in Heuer sources]: Do not use intensified breathing with pregnancy, cardiovascular or respiratory illness, epilepsy, recent injury or surgery, psychosis, severe dissociation, active suicidality, or recent trauma without stabilisation. Get medical advice where unsure.

4.9 Lying down with eyes closed for early material

Purpose / when: When the theme is coloured by early childhood. Lying down with eyes closed allows deeper, regressive contact with preverbal states. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps: (1) Name what you see (the material feels early) and offer the option. (2) Client lies on a mat or couch, covered if they wish. Eyes closed or half closed, with the option to open them at any time. (3) The therapist sits beside them at a distance agreed with the client. (4) Invite attention to sensations, images and impulses. Speak little. (5) Before the end, invite eyes open, sitting up and looking around the room. (6) Return to chairs for verbal integration (4.13). [steps 2–6 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "This feels very young. Would you like to lie down and close your eyes for a while? You can open them whenever you want."
Watch for: The Heuers' own warning that prolonged lying-down work can become too regressive. The therapist takes over the client's adult functions and the transference is lost. Limit the time, keep the adult observer present by checking in, and always end upright. Stop if there is dissociation or overwhelm (see 5).

4.10 Abreactive (cathartic) expression held within meaning

Purpose / when: The Heuers note that sessions can be "loud and abreactive". This can happen when amplified movement, breath or enactment releases strong feeling (crying, shouting, pushing). It is used only where it serves the search for meaning, never as discharge for its own sake. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Agree beforehand on what is allowed and safe. Expression goes into safe objects (cushions, mattress), never at people. Agree a stop word. (2) Keep the client's eyes open or periodically re-orient them. (3) Track breath and contact. Ask brief questions ("Are you with me?"). (4) Let the wave rise and fall. Do not push for more. (5) Ground: feet on the floor, slow breath, look around the room. (6) Return to chairs and find the meaning of what was expressed. Who or what was it addressed to? What dream or shadow figure does it connect with?
Example language (illustrative): "Let the sound out into the cushion. … Now let it settle. Feel your feet. What was that about?"
Watch for: Loss of the observing self, spiralling into re-experiencing trauma, physical strain, and shame afterwards. It is working when the release is followed by insight or relief and the client can relate it to the theme.
Contraindications [synthesis; not given in Heuer sources]: As in 4.8. Also high blood pressure, glaucoma, musculoskeletal injury, a recent history of violence, and limited capacity to self-regulate. Don't use with clients who are early in treatment and not yet stabilised.

4.11 Gesture and touch as a nonverbal response

Purpose / when: The Heuers list a gesture or touch as a way to answer the body directly, without passing through language. Typical uses: when words fail, with preverbal material, or to make contact during regressive work (4.9). They do not elaborate on the kind of touch. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; details uncertain]
Pre-conditions: Touch requires specific body-psychotherapy training and supervision, and a check of what the clinician's licence, professional body, insurer and jurisdiction allow. Never use sexual or genital touch, or touch to breasts or other sexually charged areas. [source: Guest & Parker 2022; house rule]
Consent steps: (1) At assessment, take a touch history: traumatic touch, cultural or religious norms, boundaries. Judge the strength of the alliance. [Guest & Parker 2022] (2) Get written consent in plain language. It should state how and why touch might be used, that it can stir strong emotion, and how to withdraw consent. [Guest & Parker 2022] (3) In the moment, explain what kind of touch you are proposing, where it will go and why, before moving towards the client, and ask. [Guest & Parker 2022] (4) Offer a no-touch alternative of equal standing (e.g. your hand held near but not touching, the client placing their own hand, a cushion to push against). [synthesis] (5) Agree a stop signal (word or gesture). [synthesis] (6) Check in during the touch, and watch for verbal agreement that the body contradicts. [Guest & Parker 2022] (7) Afterwards, explore what the touch meant to the client. Not touching is also a deliberate choice with meaning. [Guest & Parker 2022]
Steps (example: supportive contact on the upper back during lying-down work) [synthesis]: after consent, place a flat, still hand between the shoulder blades over clothing. Keep it light and steady for as long as agreed (often a few breaths to a few minutes). Remove it slowly with a verbal signal ("I'm taking my hand away now"). Then talk it through.
Example language (illustrative): "I'd like to offer my hand on your back, just resting there, if that would help. Or I can stay where I am. Which do you want?"
Watch for: Freezing, compliance, erotic or parental transference, cultural discomfort. Guest & Parker regard psychosis as the one clear contraindication. Use extra care with histories of abuse, assault, war or torture trauma, and with erotic transference. Record the use of touch in the clinical notes. [documentation: synthesis]

4.12 Working the gender polarity (anima/animus, "union through differentiation")

Purpose / when: A central focus for the Heuers: clarifying the client's relation to masculinity and femininity, the contrasexual inner figures, and real encounters with the other sex. The aim is integration on the principle that what is properly separated can then be joined. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps [synthesis built on 4.7 and 4.14]: (1) Track masculine and feminine imagery in dreams, relationships and the transference. (2) Invite the client to embody one pole, such as a dream figure of the other sex or a stance they associate with "masculine" or "feminine". Notice sensations and feelings. (3) Embody the other pole. (4) Explore the difference and how each pole relates to the other, staying with differentiation before looking for integration. (5) Return to words and link to current relationships.
Example language (illustrative): "Stand the way the woman in your dream stood. … Now the way you stood facing her. What's the difference in your body?"
Watch for: Gender-essentialist or heteronormative assumptions. The Heuers wrote in 1987 within a binary frame. Adapt this to the client's own gender identity and sexual orientation, and let them define what "masculine" and "feminine" mean for them. [synthesis]

4.13 Return to words and integration

Purpose / when: At the end of every bodily sequence. Also earlier, when the theme is sufficiently worked through or deepening becomes too painful or anxious. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Invite stillness, eyes open, feet on the ground. (2) Return to chairs face-to-face. (3) Ask what the client noticed in body, feeling and image. (4) Link it to the session theme, history, dreams and the relationship with you. (5) Leave enough time to close (about 10 minutes). Check that the client is oriented and able to leave.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's come back to the chairs. What stays with you from that?"
Watch for: The client being still "in" the experience. Lengthen the grounding before they leave.

4.14 Dreams and symbols, including embodying a dream image

Purpose / when: Following Jung, the Heuers treat dreams as the prime expression of the unconscious and read them symbolically. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987] Embodying dream material is a wider Jungian practice: Jung's patients danced, painted and modelled their images, and one danced her mandala. Chodorow developed movement as a form of active imagination. [source: Howe 2020; Sassenfeld 2008] That the Heuers embody dream images specifically is inferred [uncertain].
Steps: (1) Hear the dream and the client's associations, then amplify where useful. (2) Pick one charged image or figure. (3) Invite the client to take the posture or movement of that image and notice sensations and feelings (as 4.7). (4) Return to words and relate it to the dream and current life. [steps 2–4 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Can you become the wolf in the dream for a moment? How does it stand? What does it want?"
Watch for: Over-literal interpretation. Let the body add meaning, not confirm a reading you already have.

4.15 Tracking the therapist's own body (somatic countertransference)

Purpose / when: The Heuers include transference and countertransference among the languages of the unconscious. Sassenfeld describes how in practice: monitor your own posture, tension and withdrawal as possible communications from the field. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; Sassenfeld 2008 (not Heuer's own procedure)]
Steps: (1) Periodically scan your own breath, jaw, shoulders, gut and seating position. (2) Notice changes linked to particular material or moments. (3) Hold them as hypotheses and take them to supervision. (4) Use them, if at all, sparingly and in the client's interest. [source: Sassenfeld 2008; step 4 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "As you were speaking I noticed I was holding my breath. I wonder if something here feels dangerous to breathe into."
Watch for: Projecting your own state onto the client. Check it first in supervision.

4.16 The body as shadow

Purpose / when: Heuer, like Conger, grounds clinical body work in the idea that the body carries the shadow. [source: Sassenfeld 2008 citing Heuer 2005 and Conger] The procedure below is Conger's, as summarised by Howe and Sassenfeld.
Steps: (1) Ask the client to attend closely to a bodily sensation and put it into words. (2) Ask them to repeat a spontaneous movement while commenting on the inner experience that comes with it. (3) Treat what emerges like dream material: disowned qualities, impulses and affects. (4) Relate it to the client's conscious attitude and relationships. [source: Howe 2020; Sassenfeld 2008; steps 3–4 synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Stay with that tightness in your fists and tell me what it's like from inside."
Watch for: Shame about "unacceptable" impulses. Normalise them as shadow material belonging to everyone.

4.17 Movement as active imagination (Jungian/post-Jungian practice)

Purpose / when: For clients whose unconscious speaks more through motor impulses than inner images. Jung noted this. Chodorow developed it, with the analyst acting as witness. Not specifically described by Heuer [uncertain].
Steps (per Chodorow as summarised by Howe 2020): (1) Agree a time frame. (2) Warm up and stretch. (3) Client moves with eyes closed, following inner sensations and images. The analyst witnesses. (4) Clear the space of hazards. Large movements can lead to collisions. (5) Return to verbal reflection, keeping movement in step with the verbal work. Some clients need preparatory workshops outside the session first.
Example language (illustrative): "Close your eyes if that's comfortable and let your body move from the inside. I'll watch over the space."
Watch for: Dissociation with eyes closed. Offer open eyes.

4.18 Reading life events, illness, accidents and synchronicity

Purpose / when: The Heuers treat everyday events, including accidents, illness and synchronicities, as possible expressions of the unconscious. Heuer later linked synchronicity to a bodily perspective. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987; Heuer 2005 via Sassenfeld 2008]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask about recent events, minor accidents or symptoms and their timing. (2) Explore their felt and symbolic meaning alongside the session theme. (3) Hold meanings lightly.
Example language (illustrative): "You twisted your ankle the day after deciding to leave. What does that bring to mind?"
Watch for: Never imply that the client caused their illness, or that symbolic work treats a physical disease. Refer physical symptoms for medical assessment. [synthesis]

4.19 Therapist gender, and referral to a therapist of the other sex

Purpose / when: The Heuers work from their own gender identity, acknowledge its limits, and may suggest a change to a therapist of the other sex when that seems advisable. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Notice when material calls for an encounter the therapist's gender limits, e.g. an intense contrasexual transference or themes needing a same-sex or other-sex witness. (2) Explore it with the client and in supervision. (3) If indicated, offer a referral or a consultation phase, framed as part of the work and not as rejection.
Example language (illustrative): "I wonder whether some of this could be worked with a male colleague, as part of what we're doing here. How does that idea land?"
Watch for: Abandonment feelings. Explore the transference fully before any change.

4.20 Mixed-gender co-led groups with alternating leadership

Purpose / when: In group work the Heuers alternate leadership between the two therapists, offering both maternal ("Great Mother") and paternal ("Great Father"/Pan) attitudes. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Co-leaders agree on roles and handovers beforehand. (2) Alternate the lead by session or segment. (3) Debrief after each session, including the co-leaders' own dynamic as a model of differentiated union.
Example language (illustrative): "For this part Birgit will lead; I'll be with the group." (Adapt names.)
Watch for: Splitting of the co-leaders by the group. Process it openly.

5. Handling problems

The Heuer sources address only a few difficulties directly (marked [source]). Everything else is [synthesis] drawn from general body-psychotherapy and analytic practice.

Deepening becomes too painful or anxious. Return to seated verbal work. The Heuers name this as a reason to leave the bodily mode. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987] Then: slow the pace, open the eyes, ground through the feet, and name what happened. Next time, offer smaller body "doses". [synthesis]
Over-regression and dependency. This is the Heuers' main criticism of classic Biodynamic work: in long lying-down sessions the therapist takes over the client's adult and superego functions, and transference is shut out. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987] Response: start and end upright, limit lying-down time, keep asking the client to observe and decide, and interpret dependency in the transference rather than gratifying it. [synthesis]
Catharsis without meaning ("acting out"). The client seeks discharge as an end in itself, or sessions become repetitive explosions. The Heuers hold that the search for meaning governs the method. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987] Response: name the pattern and return to words. Ask what the discharge avoids or whom it addresses. Reduce abreactive work and increase symbolic and dream work. [synthesis]
Split-off shadow. Difficult affect is discharged "elsewhere" (cushions, the absent parent) but never comes into the relationship with the therapist. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987 on splitting] Response: gently ask what the anger or need might be towards you, here and now. [synthesis]
Stuck client: talk with no theme crystallising, or intellectualising. [synthesis] Point out incongruities (4.3) or voice quality (4.2). Offer a minimal body experiment, such as noticing the breath for one minute or repeating a small gesture (4.6). Or work with a dream image (4.14).
Resistance to body work (embarrassment, "this is silly", fear of losing control). [synthesis] Treat it as meaningful, not as an obstacle. Explore what being seen or moving means to the client. Body work is always optional. Begin with seated, eyes-open, very small experiments. Let the client set the size. Some may need preparatory movement work outside the session (cf. Chodorow via Howe 2020).
Overwhelm, flooding or dissociation during exercises. [synthesis] Stop the exercise. Eyes open, feet on the floor, name five things in the room, slow the out-breath, sit up. Speak in a calm, concrete voice. Afterwards, review what tipped it over and set smaller limits. For trauma histories, stabilise before any breath, cathartic or lying-down work.
Over-breathing symptoms (tingling, dizziness, cramping). [synthesis] Stop breath work and return to slow, normal breathing while seated. Do not resume intensified breathing that session. Re-screen (4.8).
Rupture around touch (client felt intruded on, or complied without wanting to). [synthesis, building on Guest & Parker 2022] Acknowledge it promptly and without defensiveness. Invite the client's experience, including anger. Take responsibility for your part. Re-contract consent (perhaps no touch for a period). Take it to supervision. Watch for later signs that the client agreed without wanting to.
Erotic transference or countertransference. [synthesis; Guest & Parker 2022 flag erotic transference for care] Stop all touch. Work the transference verbally and in supervision. Hold boundaries absolutely: never sexual or genital touch. If the therapist's own erotic countertransference cannot be contained, seek consultation and consider referral.
Gender-related impasse. The material may need an encounter the therapist's gender limits, or the client strongly prefers a therapist of a particular gender. [source: Heuer & Heuer 1987 on referral to another-sex therapist] Explore it, then consider consultation or referral (4.19). Adapt the polarity work for trans, non-binary and same-sex-attracted clients so it does not impose a binary model. [synthesis]
"Non-adherence". The Heuers do not describe homework. [not found] Clients may avoid dream recording or skip sessions after intense work. Treat both as communications. Lower the intensity of body work, and explore avoidance in the transference. [synthesis]
Client interprets illness symbolically and avoids medical care. [synthesis] Always refer physical symptoms for medical assessment. Present symbolic work (4.18) as complementary exploration, never as treatment for a physical disease.
Psychosis or fragile ego structure. [synthesis; Guest & Parker 2022 name psychosis as a contraindication for touch] Avoid touch, regressive lying-down work, eyes-closed work and abreaction. Keep work seated, grounded and reality-oriented, and coordinate with psychiatric care.
Suicidality or self-harm. [synthesis] Suspend intensive body work. Carry out a structured risk assessment and collaborative safety planning in line with local standards, including lethal-means counselling (safe storage and removal). Increase support and liaise with other services as needed.
Group-specific: splitting the co-leaders. [synthesis] Name it openly. Co-leaders debrief after each session and present a united, differentiated stance.

Sources

Sources:

Heuer, A. B. & Heuer, G. (c. 1987). Bodytherapy and Jungian Analysis: A New Approach to Biodynamic Psychotherapy. Self & Society 15(4). The main primary source; the year is inferred from a 1987 conference notice in the issue [uncertain].
Sassenfeld, A. (2008). The Body in Jung's Work: Basic Elements to Lay the Foundation for a Theory of Technique. Quotes and summarises Heuer 2005; also gives somatic countertransference and body-as-shadow methods.
Howe, A. J. Jungian Psychotherapy and the Body. International Body Psychotherapy Journal 19(2). Covers Jung, Chodorow and Conger methods.
Guest, D. & Parker, J. (2022). Clinical Considerations Regarding the Use of Touch in Psychotherapy. Bioenergetic Analysis 32. Touch assessment, consent and processing.
Heuer, B. (2015). To be or not to be: divergence and communality in Jungian analytic and humanistic approaches. Self & Society 43(3)
McGraw-Hill: New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy, table of contents. Confirms Heuer's chapter 7.
Guild of Pastoral Psychology: Gottfried Maria Heuer
Guild of Pastoral Psychology: Birgit Heuer
Forrester, A. (2007). Review of New Dimensions in Body Psychotherapy. Self & Society 34(5)