Body psychotherapy: what the body shows in therapy

Body psychotherapy is an umbrella term for approaches that bring the body into therapeutic work: breath, posture, movement and whatever you sense in your body. Behind it lies the experience that what we have lived through also shows in the body. So the session is about sensing what is happening, not only talking about it.

Where body psychotherapy comes from

Body psychotherapy has its roots in the first half of the 20th century. The psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich observed that his patients often held back their feelings with their bodies: with tense muscles and shallow breathing. Later, Alexander Lowen developed bioenergetics from this. Today there are many schools that differ in their methods and terms.

What they share is the idea that body and mind belong together. What we have experienced shapes how we breathe, how we stand, how much we feel. And the other way round: our experience changes when we pay attention to the body.

What happens in a session

What a session looks like varies from school to school. Here I describe how I work in my body-oriented therapy. A session usually starts with talking. You tell me what is on your mind. At some point I ask: where do you feel that right now? Maybe something tightens in your belly, maybe your shoulders rise, maybe there’s nothing at all. That is information too.

From there we continue working with the body. That might mean letting a movement that is just beginning become bigger. Deepening the breath to feel an emotion more clearly. Bringing in your voice. Some sessions stay almost entirely in conversation, others include body sequences, and some are whole body sessions. This can happen sitting, also with your eyes closed, or sitting and lying on a floor mat. You always keep your clothes on.

You don’t need to be good at anything. You don’t have to be flexible or practised at sensing your body. If you notice very little at first, that is where we start.

Touch

Touch can be part of body psychotherapy, but it doesn’t have to be. If I suggest touch in an individual session, I ask first, and you can say no. It might be a hand on your shoulder or your arm that helps you sense a particular spot more clearly. I don’t touch couples, and in sex therapy there is no touch from me.

Who it may suit

Many people who come to me already understand a lot about themselves. They know where their patterns come from and can name them. Even so, little changes. For them it can make a difference to experience what they know in the body rather than in the head.

Others function well. They manage their daily lives, their work, their family, and still sense that something is missing. Joy as much as sadness, curiosity, sometimes fear too. Functioning demands control, not feeling. Through sensing, we explore what they need.

And then there are people for whom talking is hard. Some experiences have no words, but the body remembers. Here it can be a relief not to have to explain everything.

Where the limits are

Body psychotherapy is no substitute for a medical examination. If you have physical complaints, have them checked by a doctor first. Only when nothing organic is found is it worth looking at what the body might be expressing.

In an acute crisis, a practice where you have an appointment every few weeks is not the right place. You’ll find contacts for acute situations under support services.

Body work can bring feelings close very quickly. That’s why we go at your pace. You decide how far we go, and you can stop at any time.

Body psychotherapy and body therapy

The terms are often mixed up. Body psychotherapy and body-oriented psychotherapy mean the same thing: psychotherapeutic work that includes the body. Body therapy is broader and can also mean methods that are mainly about the body itself, such as posture or flexibility.

I call my work body therapy. By that I mean the combination of conversation and body work I describe here.

How I work

I am a Heilpraktikerin for psychotherapy, a German state-licensed alternative practitioner, and I work as a sex, couples and body-oriented therapist in Berlin. I completed my training in Energetische Körperpsychotherapie (energetic body psychotherapy) at Soma-Essence in 2021 and later assisted in the training there. In 2025 I worked as a body-oriented therapist in a specialist clinic. You’ll find all my training and further training under About me.

I work in a body-oriented, psychodynamic and relationship-centred way. Psychodynamic means: I ask how earlier experiences still affect you today, often without you noticing. At the centre are your wishes, your limits and whatever holds you back.

In body therapy

In individual sessions I work as described above: conversation, body sequences or whole body sessions, sitting or on the mat. I use the breath to deepen feeling. What this looks like in practice, I describe under body-oriented therapy in Berlin.

In couples therapy

A lot shows in the body between two people as well. Who pulls back when the other comes closer? Who gets louder, who goes quiet? Sometimes I suggest an exercise to a couple in which they try out closeness and distance in the room. What happens in the body often says more than the tenth explanation. More under couples therapy in Berlin.

In sex therapy

Sex happens in the body. So in sex therapy we also look at how you breathe when arousal builds, how you move your pelvis, where you tense up. This happens in conversation and through awareness exercises, clothed and without touch. If you like, you get exercises for home. More under sex therapy in Berlin.

Fees

Statutory health insurance in Germany does not cover the costs of my work. If you have private insurance, Beihilfe (the allowance for civil servants) or supplementary insurance, it’s best to ask them beforehand. Fees and the process are explained under process and fees.

My practices are in Neukölln and in Prenzlauer Berg. If you’d like to find out what it feels like to work with the body, write to me. In the initial session we already work, and you’ll notice whether this way of working suits you.