Groundworks: Narratives of Embodiment

by Don Hanlon Johnson

Groundworks gives accounts of the actual processes of working with individuals in six major schools of Somatics by either the creator of the method itself or a leading teacher of the method. The creators are Robert Hall of Lomi School, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen of Body-Mind Centering, and Emilie Conrad Da'oud of Continuum. Leading teachers of methods include Michael Salveson on Rolfing, Elizabeth Beringer on Feldenkrais work, and Darcy Elman on F. M. Alexander Technique. Each therapist describes how he or she approaches and diagnoses a patient's problem, how he or she determines what and where to work, and the progress of a session. Each therapist shows the complexity of working with somatic processes and the resulting reward for client and therapist both.

Genres: Psychology

132 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 1997

Reviews

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a little gem! An immersive dip into Body-Mind Centering with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Rolfing with Michael Salveson, Continuum with Emilie Conrad Da'oud, Feldenkrais with Elizabeth Beringer Alexander technique with Darcy Elman and Lomi with Robert K. Hall. I bought it because of my interest in Body Mind Centering, and was happily surprised to also get a taste of these other healing modalities for our harmed bodies. Why doesn't the whole world know about these possibilities? I think somatic therapies are catching on, but the practitioners do not all bring this level of expertise and understanding of the minutia. One has to be so in-tuned with the rhythms of life and the movement and flow of life energy - and the exactitude and metamorphosis of the individual before you and the relationship you are building with them. I long for a world where THIS is the way we heal one another.