THE BODY SPEAKS IT’S MIND : An Introduction to the Pesso Boyden System of Psychotherapy
The Pesso Boyden System offers a remarkable body-based approach to therapeutic healing. It blends the principles of developmental psychology with the latest research findings in neuroscience. Through the ‘language of the body’ the Pesso Boyden practioner is able to access the deepest reaches of the emotional right brain – our centre of memory and emotion. Then through a unique act of imagination, negative and limiting attitudes can be shifted toward more wholesome and optimistic alternatives. When negative attitudes change a life enlivens and expands. Results tend to come quickly and be long lasting.
In his acclaimed book “The Body Keeps the Score”, neuropsychologist Bessel van der Kolk writes of the striking impact of his first experience of Pesso Boyden work.
“I’d spent several years in psychoanalysis, so I did not expect any major revelations.” Then, on the conclusion of his session (we call it a ‘structure’) he reports a dramatic body-mind event typical of Pesso Boyden work.
“Instantaneously I felt a deep release in my body – the constriction in my chest eased and my breathing became relaxed. That was the moment I decided to become Pesso’s student.”
This three hour seminar will include (1) a concise outline of the Pesso Boyden approach, (2) a demonstration of the technique with a volunteer client and (3) a spacious opportunity for questions and comments.
The Pesso Boyden technique would be a powerful adjunct to any and all depth psychotherapy. In particular, it offers striking body-based interventions for those influenced by Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and Fonagy’s model of Mentalization. It is remarkably effective in the treatment of trauma.
A training programme in PBSP is offered in the UK by three trainers directly certified by Al Pesso himself and his European partner Professor Lowijs Perquin. Sandy Cotter – who presents this seminar – is one of these three.
Course Content
Presenter
I have been involved in the world of psychotherapy since the l970s and I am one of three accredited trainers in the Pesso method in the UK.
I graduated with a first in Psychology from Michigan State University in the US and stepped straight into the exciting wave of the Human Potential Movement, which transformed psychology during the last third of the 20th century. Throughout the revolutionary ‘70s I explored many new and exciting modes of working with people, learning from key figures of the time such as Alexander Lowen, John Pierrakos, James Hillman and Stanley Keleman. Then in l997 I attended an introductory workshop led by Professor Lowijs Perquin – a central figure in the development of the PBSP in Europe.
I was taken by the beauty and effectiveness of the Pesso method and set about establishing the first PBSP Training Group in the UK which ran from 1999 until 2003. Then from 2004 until Al Pesso’s death in 2015, I spent three weeks each summer learning this method under the direct tuition of its founder.
