Der Körper und das Unbewusste

The article traces the development of the understanding of the body in psychodynamically oriented methods. In the early days, there was great interest in relating mental processes to physical phenomena. After Freud’s abandonment of the drive theory, there was hardly any interest in the subject within psychoanalysis. In body therapy-oriented methods, a great deal of knowledge emerged about how the body is involved in repression processes and how working with the body supports access to the unconscious.

Findings from infant research, attachment research and, above all, neurobiology confirm the essential involvement of early physical experience in the development of the psychological apparatus. A new intersubjective understanding of the therapeutic relationship has brought interaction in the here and now—and thus the body—more into focus.

The aim here is to show how the body enables access to unconscious processes. Working with the body through touch and other sensory experiences offers direct access to basic experiences in early childhood, the awareness of embodied relational experiences and their expansion in the sense of corrective experiences. The basis must be body-oriented self-awareness.