Gerda Boyesen - Work

Work

Gerda Boyesen developed, among other things, the theory that the dismantling of psychological stress is also connected with the digestive system. She came to the conclusion that certain massage techniques could bring to completion the expression of unwanted feelings, or "incomplete cycles," and this release of emotional charge would entail similar noises from the intestines as during digestion of food. Boyesen called these noises psychoperistalsis. This process of "digesting" psychological problems is often accompanied by new insights. For this reason she was often called "the lady with the stethoscope" in body psychotherapeutic circles as she used the stethoscope to get a clearer impression of the bowel noises of her clients. She could allegedly differentiate a multiplicity of peristaltic noises, diagnostically arrange and make inferences on the subconscious processes of the clients. To Boyesen it was a good sign when the client's "psychoperistalsis" was in a particular way at the end of a session. That meant it was resolving somewhat and would be able to organize anew without the old restrictive pattern.

Apart from the emphasis on gentle unloading through massage she also worked with Wilhelm Reich's vegetotherapy as well as the theories of Jung and Freud, and she continued to develop these into her own method. In this manner the client is to be encouraged to discover his or her own mental experience (introspective ability), to follow and to express his or her bodily-psychological impulses. Unconscious conflicts would in this way be brought to the surface and to conscious attention and could then be further processed with psychotherapy and finally resolved.

A further element is the Deep Draining, a special kind of massage aimed at affecting "deeper layers," which is supposed to contribute to attitude changes, physically as well as psychologically. Neurotic patterns would thus be traced, loosened and finally resolved.

Beside Jay Stattmann (Unitive body psychotherapy), Alexander Lowen (Bioenergetics), David Boadella (Biosynthesis), and Ron Kurz (Hakomi), Gerda Boyesen is one of the founders of modern body psychotherapy. Gerda Boyesen was honorary member of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy EABP (http://www.eabp.org) as well as honorary president of the German Gesellschaft für Biodynamische Psychologie (Society for Biodynamics psychology), the professional association for biodynamics therapists in Germany. Biodynamic Psychology is recognised as a method by the European Association for Psychotherapy EAP. The education of Biodynamics body psychotherapists through the European School for Biodynamics and Erogenetics (ESBPE - http://www.biodynamik.de) in Lübeck and through the Ecole Biodynamique in France (http://www.psychologie-biodynamique.com) is recognized by the EABP as a psychotherapist education.