The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy

242 Pages·2010·2.986 MB·English

by  Barnaby B. Barratt (auth.)

The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and
Bodymind Therapy
Critical Theory and Practice in Psychology and the Human Sciences
Titles include:
Barnaby B. Barratt
THE EMERGENCE OF SOMATIC PSYCHOLOGY AND BODYMIND THERAPY
Derek Hook
FOUCAULDIAN ANALYTICS AND PSYCHOLOGY
Mary Watkins and Helene Shulman
TOWARD PSYCHOLOGIES OF LIBERATION
Critical Theory and Practice in Psychology and the Human Sciences
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The Emergence of Somatic
Psychology and Bodymind
Therapy
Barnaby B. Barratt
© Barnaby B. Barratt 2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-22216-8
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First published 2010 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-30768-5 ISBN 978-0-230-27719-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230277199
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barratt, Barnaby B., 1950–
The emergence of somatic psychology and bodymind therapy / Barnaby
Barratt.
p. cm.
1. Mind and body. 2. Psychology. I. Title.
BF161.B417 2010
150.19′8–dc22 2010002676
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
May all beings be joyful and free;
may these writings contribute
to the joyfulness and freedom of all beings.
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Section I Introducing a New Discipline 1
1. Psychology at the Crossroads 7
2. Epistemic Shifting 22
3. Illustrations of Bodymind Therapy 37
4. Healing Matters 46
5. The State of Emergence 54
Section II Sources: Ancient and Contemporary 71
6. Psychoanalytic Discoveries 73
7. Somatic Psychodynamics 79
8. Philosophical and Cultural Studies 88
9. Western Traditions of Bodywork 97
10. The Influx of Asian Wisdom 103
11. Shamanic Practices and Transpersonal Psychologies 113
12. The Advances of Neuroscience 118
Section III Current Challenges: Possible Futures 127
13. Bodies and Boundaries 131
14. The Inherent Sexuality of Being Human 145
15. Oppression and the Momentum of Liberation 158
16. Bodily Paths to Spiritual Awakening 174
17. The Future of Human Awareness 183
Bibliography 191
About the Author 225
Index 226
vii
Acknowledgements
It is impossible to acknowledge properly all those who have, directly or
indirectly, contributed to my writing of this book, for the list would
include not only my academic and psychoanalytic teachers, but
also those who have fostered my somatic and spiritual growth. I am
in gratitude. More specifically, various friends and colleagues read
and commented on portions of the manuscript. These include: Susan
Aposhyan,Christine Caldwell, Randy Earnest, Axel Hoffer, Don Hanlon
Johnson, Sam Kimball, Peter McLaren, Jerry Piven, Tod Sloan, Mary
Watkins, and Lloyd Williams. I thank them (and, as is customary,
I immediately add that any errors and all peculiarities in this text are
no one’s responsibility other than my own). Robert Romanyshyn was
kind enough to suggest some Jungian references; Judyth Weaver
also pointed to some important somatic literature; John Leavey guided
me to some crucial writings on the body in relation to deconstructive
method; and Kay Campbell was kind enough to suggest some per-
spectives on the significance of touch in infancy. Denise Dorricott
and Marsha Rand skillfully edited various portions of the manuscript.
And to Marsha, I owe a special debt of gratitude for all her support.
viii
Section I
Introducing a New Discipline
Our world is changing rapidly, and our understanding of what it means
to be human and of the place of humans in the universe is shifting. Ways
of thinking that have governed the Western world for the past several
hundred years are now being radically subverted, proving themselves to
be limiting or inadequate. These changes hint at new ways by which we
might understand ourselves and our world. But often we do not yet quite
know what the new ways of thinking will be or how they will affect
our sense of the human condition and the planet we inhabit. Often,
we just know that the thinking that has preceded us is not sufficient.
Understanding the human condition — some would say understanding
the human psyche or “soul” — is the mandate of psychology and perhaps
of all the social and biological sciences associated with it. This book is
about new ways of thinking in psychology.
In this first section, and throughout the book, we will consider the
nature of change in the history of ideas that constitute the discipline of
psychology. We will also locate this investigation within a more
general consideration of the nature of change in our understanding of
the processes of knowing and being within the development and the
diversity of human cultures. This will include a discussion of changes
in what the modern western world considers scientific and what it
condemns as unscientific.
Here you are invited to assess the significance of a newly forming
discipline within the human sciences, and along with it a group of
healing practices that are both newly emerging and re-emergent; prac-
tices that are derived from this new discipline, yet are also derived
from ancient traditions of wisdom that are currently being remem-
bered or rediscovered. The discipline is somatic psychology and we will
name these diverse healing practices bodymind therapy (although the
1
2 The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy
group has often been called “body psychotherapy,” and sometimes
body-mind psychotherapy or body-centered psychotherapy). In this
context, bodymind therapy is the applied aspect of somatic psychology.
As this book unfolds, I hope that it will prompt you to reopen your vision
of the psyche in relation to the human experience of embodiment;
that you will realize the significance of the contemporary emergence of
somatic psychology and bodymind therapy as an indicator of the pro-
found change that is occurring in our most fundamental understanding
of what it means to be human. So as we proceed together, we will initially
discuss the nature of change, and then gradually focus on the specific
topic of interest to us.
This first section of the book, with its five chapters, will set the stage for
this assessment of the significance of this disciplinary venture — the
emergence of somatic psychology and bodymind therapy. The second
section will offer you an account of what I consider the seven main
sources that contribute to the contemporary budding and blossoming
of this discipline, and the final section will present several discussions
of current challenges in this field. The impetus of this book is to empower
you to consider questions such as the following:
• Is somatic psychology generating excitement simply because it is a
newly formed sub-discipline within the general field of psychology
(a field which developed so expansively through the twentieth
century)?
• Do the practices of bodymind therapy merely comprise a powerful
new branch or novel application of the familiar field of psycho-
therapy (and the technology of “behavior change”), which unfolded
so dramatically through the twentieth century?
• Alternatively, is it possible that somatic psychology and bodymind
therapy are the harbinger of a radically different future? Do they
perhaps intimate a profoundly different way of understanding and
appreciating the human condition, constituting an emergent and
revolutionary break with the psychology and the psychotherapeutic
methods that dominated the twentieth century?
With any comparatively recent cultural or scientific venture, it is dif-
ficult to know what it means to call something “new.” Predictions of
“revolutionary significance” usually need to be treated with healthy
skepticism. After all, contemporary culture, impelled by entrepreneurial
capitalism, is extraordinarily faddish and prone to transient fashion.
Corporations make spurious claims about how some “new” product