I am a UKCP registered body psychotherapist and trainer at the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy. I have run workshops, given talks and written articles on bodywork, movement and psychotherapy for a decade. I trained as a body psychotherapist at Chiron during a phase when it was rapidly evolving. This was evident in a more thorough critique of Reich, and interest in object relations; a move from idealisation of the body (and its wisdom) to appreciation of complexity, splitting and holding as bodily phenomena; an increasing interest in the manifestation of transference and countertransference in the body. In reflecting on my own work in private practice, I am always exploring what it means to "work with the body" in the complex context of psychotherapy. A key context for and influence on my thinking has been my work as a biodynamic massage therapist and trainer. Biodynamic massage offers a point of access and a structure for relating to the body in process, as perceived through the registers of touch, sight, sound (peristalsis), smell, energetic perception and contact in the relationship. Though its use in a psychotherapeutic context is controversial, its value to me includes the opportunity to track directly the psychological process which is immanent and perceivable in the body.(see'Mapping a Landscape: Massage and Psychotherapy'). Biodynamic massage is no longer a major tool in my work with body psychotherapy clients, though at times I still find it valuable. However, the experience I have gained from exploring biodynamic massage in a context of psychotherapy and training has enabled me to have an embodied sense of my philosophical and therapeutic position. My writing and research in the related fields of psychoanalysis and neuroscience has been informed and grounded by my study of biodynamic massage as a component of body psychotherapy. An academic background supports and facilitates my commitment to integration and understanding of the theory of embodied experience. Originally I studied English Literature at Cambridge. I went on to do research for a PhD at Yale on writing as a form of psychological processing. The interest in poetry and language has informed my listening for somatic metaphor (see'Hamlet and the Somatic Metaphor'). My subject, H.D., was an analysand of Freud and later Schmideberg (Melanie Klein's son-in-law). This stimulated my intensive study of psychoanalytic texts. Concurrently my interest in body psychotherapy grew and eventually became the main focus of my professional life. As a body psychotherapist and a trainer, I have wrestled with the issue of how to reconcile the sophistication of the object relations emphasis on transference and countertransference with the immediacy and often awesome simplicity of a phenomenological approach - ie. exploring the experience of contact, movement, touch, sensory imagery etc. I aware that the current countertransference revolution opens up the potential for integrating these two psychotherapeutic emphases. In particular the writings of Christopher Bollas, Susie Orbach and the Jungian Nathan Schwarz-Salant have inspired me. In recent years I have returned to writing and have appreciated being able to weave across disciplines and keep a broad range of reference. This includes an active interest in developments at the frontiers of neuroscience, particularly the work of Antonio Damasio and Alan Schore. It also includes an interest in the epistemological focus of NLP, through which I became acquainted with thinkers like Bateson and Lakoff. Relevant to all these dynamic new fields of enquiry is the overarching metaphor and metamodel provided by complexity theory. My fascination with the body in process has been nourished by my engagement in dance and movement therapy over twenty years. I have explored many avenues of dance, especially in the context of process and group work, including studying Authentic Movement with Anne Herbert Smith in the US. I have also studied Body Mind Centering, a mature synthesis of holistic, developmental, and contemporary anatomy, which, whilst not a psychotherapy, is still profound in its scope for working with a range of psychophysiological distress and disorder.
I have written a chapter for Advances in Body Psychotherapy, ed. Staunton (Routledge 2001). I am also working on a book Thinking through the Body: Integrating Neuroscience, Psychoanalysis and Body Psychotherapy.
Contact details: Roz Carroll e-mail thinkbody@lineone.net Please contact me directly for all bookings and to arrange talks or short courses related to your training needs and interests.
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