Clients who experienced sadistic dynamics - whether they were on the victim or the perpetrator end of the spectrum - bring into the therapeutic space many shadow aspect of the human psyche. Cruelty, domination, humiliations, manipulation, aggression are only a few of the emotions that will be expressed and often manifest in the therapeutic relationship whilst working with the patterns and implications of sadism. The re-enactment of the power dynamic and the pain-pleasure see-saw will often dominate the therapeutic space itself.
As most of the psycho-biological stress of this dynamic is communicated non-verbally, via right-brain-to-right-brain attunement, the process relies largely on the therapist's own sense of embodiment and internal body-mind regulation.
In this presentation, based on case material, Morit will explore the various ways in which Body Psychotherapy can enhance the therapist's ability to engage fully with their spontaneous reactions in the countertransference, and how working relationally in an embodied way provides the therapeutic dyad with resources and capacities that can support them in this challenging endeavour.

For full details and booking information for this and other events in the CONFER series on Working Psychotherapeutically with Sadism, visit the CONFER website.

By Morit Heitzler|2014-10-17T22:24:59+00:00May 20th, 2014|Comments Off on Morit Heitzler (CONFER): Working with Sadism – an Embodied Relational Approach