Welcome to Somatic Psychotherapy - a safe place for change, a holistic experiential approach, a relationship of empathy, support, challenge and understanding. A safe place for changing patterns of thinking, feeling and behaviour.
Psychotherapy provides a safe, non-judgmental space and relationship in which to explore problems of living. These can arise as difficulties in work, in relationships, in parenting, in achieving one's goals or in repetitive painful states such as depression, anxiety, confusion, negative feelings or low self esteem.
The safety of the therapeutic relationship can allow one to explore and unravel old patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving and to find new meanings and action in the world. Psychotherapy provides conditions of empathy, acceptance and mindfulness so that people can grow and develop in ways which may not have been possible earlier in their lives.
Psychotherapy can soothe anger and distress, celebrate joys and achievements, unravel shame, make space for grief, help build tolerance for changing states of being, enhance resilience and the ability to trust and engage with others.
Soma is a Greek word meaning "the living body". Somatic psychotherapy is grounded in the belief that psyche and soma form a single holistic entity, the bodymind. Thought, emotion and bodily experience are understood as inter-functioning aspects of the person's whole being.
As well as working verbally in the relationship with the client, somatic psychotherapists are trained to engage directly with the client's dynamic bodily experience. This includes patterns of breathing, posture, sensation and movement, and also working with body image, metaphor and through touch when appropriate.
Body-oriented psychotherapy can be used to facilitate exploration and expression, to develop self awareness, self regulation and a sense of vitality and aliveness. This approach can help deepen a sense of connection to oneself and to others. Somatic psychotherapy can improve body sensing, relieve stress, balance the nervous system, mobilise posture, explore patterns of contraction and expansion and develop a sense of vitality and aliveness and movement.
The Australian Association of Somatic Psychotherapists (AASP) is a non profit organisation committed to an integration of somatic, psychodynamic and intersubjective principals of clinical therapeutic practice and fosters debate and exploration across a diverse body of theory relevant to the practice of somatic psychotherapy.
Since the early trainings in somatic psychotherapy in the 1980's which provided grounding in Biodynamic Psychology and Neo Reichian work, AASP members have pursued their professional development in different areas including academic psychoanalytic studies, object relations, attachment theory, self psychology and intersubjectivity theory, neurobiology, infant observation, meditation and various movement and bodywork disciplines.
The AASP is also a constituent and active member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), which is the national body responsible for setting and maintaining standards of training and ethical practice for counsellors and psychotherapists in Australia.
The AASP has facilitated the growth of a community of clinical psychotherapists who, while having different areas of specialisation and expertise, come together and continue to explore their ongoing interest in embodiment and the intriguing and complex nature of the body mind, human development and relationships.
We invite you to join us in these explorations!
The goals of the AASP are :
The AASP is an incorporated organisation which proactively supports somatic psychotherapists and their work. It provides:
*(Psychotherapy And Counselling Federation of Australia)
It is a requirement that Associate and Training Associate members of the association are in ongoing supervision for any psychotherapy work they undertake with clients. It is also recommended that even experienced therapists engage in regular ongoing supervision as part of their continued reflection on their work, and on their development in the profession.
AASP holds an annual conference for members; venues for which alternate between Melbourne and Sydney each year. This is strongly supported by the members‚ whether accredited, associate, trainee or affiliate‚ to present their ideas and experiences of clinical work in a warm, supportive and informative environment. The conference also provides an excellent opportunity for members to network, establish professional relationships and to share and debate practical and theoretical understanding of this work together.
The AASP Executive is the governing body of the association and consists of financial members who are democratically elected at the Annual General Meeting of the AASP for a rotating three year period. Members of the association can find details of the current AASP Executive under the Members Area on this website.
The AASP Executive encourages active involvement and contribution by all members in the work of their association.