Body and Movement in Couple Therapy: The Intake Phase

Publication date: Available online 12 February 2019Source: The Arts in PsychotherapyAuthor(s): Maya Vulcan, Einat Shuper EngelhardAbstractThe study explored the somatic and kinetic aspects of relationships during the intake process in couple psychotherapy. Nine heterosexual couples, who had turned to body-oriented couple psychotherapy, were invited to an intake session, including a joint interview and an individually administered questionnaire. The findings converged on issues of gender based self-image and sexual identity; pre-verbal memories in the adult body; and attunement to the other through joint movement. The analysis indicated that couple communication involves polyphonic discourse, both somatic and verbal, which the partners and the therapist alike should learn to recognize and articulate, and that focusing on somatic and kinetic levels during the intake stage may be conducive to an understanding of the “implicit bodily knowledge” that each partner brings to the relationship.
Source: Arts in Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research