I have a body therapy practice in Stellenbosch. The therapists that I work with and I tend to use a mix of approaches between us, depending on the client, and what emerges in a session.

A consent and information sheet will be filled in and I will firstly evaluate my client to identify which approach or modality would be best to start off with and whether we will incorporate other therapist skills, unless there is asked for a specific modality. As our session continues, I might ask a client simply to notice what appears in their awareness, in the moment and movement. Say for example s/he notices a tension in the chest. We might work directly with Myofascial release to release the tension and stuck fascia, or experiment with consciously increasing the tension, whilst looking out for any feelings, memories or images that appear. We could ask the client to begin paying attention to the sensation in the chest and track any changes, having first practised and understood safety protocol to help deal with any overwhelming feelings which might arise. The process  might invite the tension to speak, or move, or tell its story. We might investigate together how this tension serves the client, and how the rest of the body-mind relates to it. In choosing the particular approach we will often ask the body directly what it favours, and trust its response. This can take a bit of getting used to, but in my experience the body responds to being listened to, and will reveal more as it discovers a new channel of communication. There is no ‘correct’ line of investigation – the session is an experimental space where discoveries are made. It’s fascinating work! Body-centred approaches also work well with groups – which is why I also run group sessions.