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The Psychology of the Body (LWW Massage Therapy and Bodywork Educational Series): .
The Psychology of the Body provides massage therapists, bodyworkers, and other professionals who use contact with the body with a greater understanding of the psychological issues that can arise from using touch in their therapy sessions. This new edition continues to provide a crucial basis of knowledge for students, recent grads, and experienced therapists alike regarding the emotional impact of effective therapy. The book describes the connection between the body and the mind, how touch affects this connection, the client's emotional reaction and release, and how to respond to the client in an appropriate manner. With a new, more colorful layout, this new edition has 50% more content and has been fully revised to address the latest science around this topic. For instructors, prepare your students to appropriately identify, understand, and respond appropriately to all aspects of the therapeutic relationship, including the phenomenon of emotional release, dealing with boundaries, effective interpersonal communications, and a body-based approach to ethics. Furthermore, in-text features aim to help students apply their learning to actual practice. Teaching resources like power point presentations, lesson plans, and tests with answer keys are available.
- GenresPhilosophy
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
8 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 12, 2009
Explores the body-mind connection, energetic releases during massage therapy, emotional trauma in muscle tissue, psychological patterns created by emotional defenses and much much more! A little 'texty' 7 drawn out at times, but some good data.
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June 3, 2010This is a great book. Thorough and interesting and highly valuable to the body/mind practitioner..... don't forget the intricate and complex entwining of the b/m labyrinth. Very interesting and useful!
February 17, 2012
Description: This is an excellent book that focuses on the psychological dimensions of touch and massage therapy, particularly emotional release or response. Additionally, the scope of practice related to a multitude of psychological issues and problems is addressed.
Purpose: The book has a dual purpose. First, the authors increase understanding of the causes of emotional release during massage therapy. And, secondly, the book provides practitioners with more knowledge and understanding of the psychological and ethical issues that can arise when using touch in therapeutic practices.
Audience: The intended audience is broad, encompassing massage therapists, somatic practitioners and educators, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. The co-authors of the book have educational and clinical experience in massage and bodywork, as well as psychology.
Features: Varied topics are presented in a most enjoyable, readable writing style. Included are the impact of the therapist-client relationship on the healing process, scope of practice issues and boundaries, ethics, mind-body connection, emotional release during touch-based therapies, dealing with release, and, very importantly, a review of major mental health conditions with guidelines for collaboration with mental health professionals.
Assessment: There are no other books that compare with this most interesting offering. It will be particularly useful for touch based therapists who need basic information about psychosocial concepts that they may not have gleaned during their educational programs.
Purpose: The book has a dual purpose. First, the authors increase understanding of the causes of emotional release during massage therapy. And, secondly, the book provides practitioners with more knowledge and understanding of the psychological and ethical issues that can arise when using touch in therapeutic practices.
Audience: The intended audience is broad, encompassing massage therapists, somatic practitioners and educators, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. The co-authors of the book have educational and clinical experience in massage and bodywork, as well as psychology.
Features: Varied topics are presented in a most enjoyable, readable writing style. Included are the impact of the therapist-client relationship on the healing process, scope of practice issues and boundaries, ethics, mind-body connection, emotional release during touch-based therapies, dealing with release, and, very importantly, a review of major mental health conditions with guidelines for collaboration with mental health professionals.
Assessment: There are no other books that compare with this most interesting offering. It will be particularly useful for touch based therapists who need basic information about psychosocial concepts that they may not have gleaned during their educational programs.
June 2, 2012
This is an excellent book. I really believe all therapists who work with the body should read it. I read this book while I was a student, but I recently re-read it because now that I've been in practice for a couple years, I value it even more. When I was a student, I wasn't sure I would actually use all the information in the book, but once I started working with clients, I've encountered many of the situations addressed by the book and it's been a big help in so many ways.
May 10, 2013
Any healing practitioner who uses touch will, sooner or later, encounter individuals in their professional practice who have an emotional response or release during a session and/or have a mental health disorder or complaint. Furthermore, especially when working with a client for more than a session or two, a therapist becomes emotionally engaged, in relationship with that person, even if the relationship is delineated by professional distance or neutrality and/or the practitioner does not focus on or intentionally work with psychological issues.
The Psychology of the Body is a clearly written, concise, and at the same time sophisticated guide to the psychological dynamics of the therapeutic process for all practitioners who touch people in the course of treating them. Touch is always a psychological intervention, and by comprehensively discussing its effects, healing powers, and possible pitfalls the authors are addressing what is probably the most overlooked topic in massage and bodywork (and other professional) education and training: it is usually overlooked or covered only superficially (e.g., crunched into an ethics course). This is all the more troubling and potentially tragic considering the extent to which the psychological dimensions are interconnected with touch, massage and bodywork of any kind. This is exactly the sort of introduction and reference that students have always needed. Furthermore, therapists who have graduated recently and therapists with years of experience alike will benefit greatly from reading this book. They will most likely find the book addresses issues or events they have actually encountered and perhaps struggled with in their practices, so they may get even more out of it than students.
The Psychology of the Body covers such topics as:
Why and how massage and other related forms of practice are a psychological intervention
The role of touch in survival, growth and development, and emotional healing
The interconnection of the mind and body and how this explains the relationship between tension and psychological defenses
How the relationship between therapist and client impacts the healing process, how underlying psychological factors influence the practitioner-client relationship, and how touch affects this connection
A body-centered explanation of psychological defenses, boundaries and limits, such as the scope of practice issues and boundaries concerning behavior on the part of both the client and therapist
How to identify the boundary line between performing massage therapy and other touch-based methods and psychotherapy and how to avoid violating that boundary
Exploring the body-mind connection
How and why emotional release takes place during massage therapy and other touch-based methods
How to deal with emotional release
A study of psychophysical patterns created by emotional defenses and how to tailor your work with a client based on these patterns while staying within your scope of practice
A review of major mental health conditions designed for massage therapists and practitioners of other forms of touch-based methods
Working with mental health professionals, understanding who they are, what they do, and how to collaborate, network, and refer to them
Even better, a second edition of the book is now available. According to its introduction, “the new book has 50% more content and is updated through integrating significant new material regarding neuroscience, psychology, attachment research, and cultural differences in bodymind approaches, as reflected by the addition of 279 citations for studies published since the 1st edition was written. New exercises, case studies, instructive features, and a glossary have been added. The visual presentation has been enhanced by redrawn artwork, photo-diagramming, a second color added to the interior and new design features.” Having read both editions now, I have to say the new edition has made a great book even better.
The Psychology of the Body is a clearly written, concise, and at the same time sophisticated guide to the psychological dynamics of the therapeutic process for all practitioners who touch people in the course of treating them. Touch is always a psychological intervention, and by comprehensively discussing its effects, healing powers, and possible pitfalls the authors are addressing what is probably the most overlooked topic in massage and bodywork (and other professional) education and training: it is usually overlooked or covered only superficially (e.g., crunched into an ethics course). This is all the more troubling and potentially tragic considering the extent to which the psychological dimensions are interconnected with touch, massage and bodywork of any kind. This is exactly the sort of introduction and reference that students have always needed. Furthermore, therapists who have graduated recently and therapists with years of experience alike will benefit greatly from reading this book. They will most likely find the book addresses issues or events they have actually encountered and perhaps struggled with in their practices, so they may get even more out of it than students.
The Psychology of the Body covers such topics as:
Why and how massage and other related forms of practice are a psychological intervention
The role of touch in survival, growth and development, and emotional healing
The interconnection of the mind and body and how this explains the relationship between tension and psychological defenses
How the relationship between therapist and client impacts the healing process, how underlying psychological factors influence the practitioner-client relationship, and how touch affects this connection
A body-centered explanation of psychological defenses, boundaries and limits, such as the scope of practice issues and boundaries concerning behavior on the part of both the client and therapist
How to identify the boundary line between performing massage therapy and other touch-based methods and psychotherapy and how to avoid violating that boundary
Exploring the body-mind connection
How and why emotional release takes place during massage therapy and other touch-based methods
How to deal with emotional release
A study of psychophysical patterns created by emotional defenses and how to tailor your work with a client based on these patterns while staying within your scope of practice
A review of major mental health conditions designed for massage therapists and practitioners of other forms of touch-based methods
Working with mental health professionals, understanding who they are, what they do, and how to collaborate, network, and refer to them
Even better, a second edition of the book is now available. According to its introduction, “the new book has 50% more content and is updated through integrating significant new material regarding neuroscience, psychology, attachment research, and cultural differences in bodymind approaches, as reflected by the addition of 279 citations for studies published since the 1st edition was written. New exercises, case studies, instructive features, and a glossary have been added. The visual presentation has been enhanced by redrawn artwork, photo-diagramming, a second color added to the interior and new design features.” Having read both editions now, I have to say the new edition has made a great book even better.
May 8, 2013
This outstanding unique book is a must-read for any therapist who works with the body and uses touch ... students, recent grads, and experienced therapists alike. The 2nd edition is even better!
August 14, 2019
If you are a MT and want to help people with Trauma this is a good CEU book to help you get started.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews