Physical Touch in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: Transforming Trauma through Embodied Practice

This groundbreaking book presents a new model for incorporating the human body, and specifically physical touch, into psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, particularly for patients who have experienced trauma. Novak's model of informed and disciplined touch articulates five categories of touch and three phases of therapeutic body work, which can help move the patient and therapist directly into bodily experiences that enable trauma memories to be processed, analyzed, and transformed. The book also grapples with the risks and ethics of working directly with patients' bodies, outlining theoretical and clinical elements that help create a safe and sacred therapeutic structure.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 142 pages
Publication date: 04 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This groundbreaking book presents a novel approach to integrating the human body, particularly physical touch, into psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, particularly for patients who have undergone trauma. Novak's model of informed and disciplined touch outlines five categories of touch and three phases of therapeutic body work, all of which can facilitate the patient and therapist's direct entry into bodily experiences that enable the processing, analysis, and transformation of trauma memories. This transformative process leads to patients experiencing their bodies in fundamentally new ways, both relationally and intrapsychically. The book also addresses the risks and ethical considerations of working directly with patients' bodies, providing theoretical and clinical frameworks that establish a safe and sacred therapeutic structure. Novak's model offers a continuum of touch, ranging from everyday physical interactions like handshakes or hugs to more complex and comprehensive ways of working with the body that are safe, meaningful, and create an integrated experience of the patient's mind and body.

Physical Touch in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy is of relevance to therapists at various levels of experience in counseling, social work, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis. Practitioners in other helping professions, such as healthcare, massage therapy, and physical therapy, as well as providers of holistic medicine, can also benefit from the comprehensive clinical model and case studies detailed in the book.

Weight: 246g
Dimension: 153 x 234 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032105284