Postural Integration (PI)
Encyclopedia
Postural Integration is an alternative process-oriented, body based therapy
originally developed in the late 1960s by Jack Painter Ph.D. (1933-2010) in California, USA, after many years of self-exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology
and the human potential movement
. As a hands-on
manipulative deep holistic bodywork method, it aims to support personal change
and self development
,
, Painter became interested in working with the body and personally explored many different approaches – massage
, acupuncture
, Zen
, Yoga
, Gestalt therapy
(with Fritz Perls
and Marty Fromm), techniques derived from the work of Ida Rolf
(with Bill Williams), the theories of William Reich in the form of Vegetotherapy
(with Raffale Estrada Villa) and many others. In the process he became increasingly interested in integrating influences and aspects from these different approaches into an effective and coherent method of personal growth, self-development and healing, which by the seventies led to the development of a form of holistic bodywork he called Postural Integration, stating however that -- "the form of bodywork which I created is not an eclectic combination of techniques I experienced or learned -- it is a singular approach to the whole person".
massage
, breath work
and energy flow
. During sessions emotional expression
is encouraged and furthered. Additional approaches include bodydrama
and movement awareness.
In the course of upwards of ten sessions, a session typically 60-90 minutes, the Postural Integration process comprises deep softening
and reorganization of the myofascia
, combined with fine energy
work, accupressure and elements from the Five Phases system. The ultimate goal of Postural Integration is to empower the unity of the bodymind, – that is, of the client’s body
, emotion
s and attitudes
.
Postural Integration is taught and practised in Europe, USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Australia.
Postural Integration trainings and trainers are organized within the International Council of PsychoCorporal (Bodymind) Integration Trainers (ICPIT).
In the 1990s Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration
(PPI) developed out of Postural Integration, a method recognized by the European Association for Body-Psychotherapy (EABP).
Body Psychotherapy
Body psychotherapy, also referred to as body-oriented psychotherapy and somatic psychology, is a significant branch of psychotherapy, with origins in the work of Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud and particularly Wilhelm Reich....
originally developed in the late 1960s by Jack Painter Ph.D. (1933-2010) in California, USA, after many years of self-exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the work of early pioneers like Carl Rogers and the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology...
and the human potential movement
Human Potential Movement
The Human Potential Movement arose out of the social and intellectual milieu of the 1960s and formed around the concept of cultivating extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people...
. As a hands-on
Manual therapy
Manual therapy, manipulative therapy, or manual & manipulative therapy is a physical treatment primarily used by physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it most commonly includes massage therapy, joint mobilization and joint...
manipulative deep holistic bodywork method, it aims to support personal change
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is a term used in psychology, roughly corresponding to a person's belief in their own competence.It has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain set of goals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect...
and self development
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
,
Background
During his time as Professor of Philosophy at the University of MiamiUniversity of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, Painter became interested in working with the body and personally explored many different approaches – massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
, acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
, Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
, Yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
(with Fritz Perls
Fritz Perls
Friedrich Salomon Perls , better known as Fritz Perls, was a noted German-born psychiatrist and psychotherapist of Jewish descent....
and Marty Fromm), techniques derived from the work of Ida Rolf
Rolfing
Rolfing is a therapy system created by The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration and is a system whereby the alleged manipulation of the fasciae by specific methods is theorized to yield therapeutic benefit....
(with Bill Williams), the theories of William Reich in the form of Vegetotherapy
Vegetotherapy
Vegetotherapy is a form of Reichian psychotherapy that involves the physical manifestations of emotions. The basic and founding text of vegetotherapy is Wilhelm Reich's Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Stroemung , later included in the enlarged edition of Reich's Character Analysis .- Practice...
(with Raffale Estrada Villa) and many others. In the process he became increasingly interested in integrating influences and aspects from these different approaches into an effective and coherent method of personal growth, self-development and healing, which by the seventies led to the development of a form of holistic bodywork he called Postural Integration, stating however that -- "the form of bodywork which I created is not an eclectic combination of techniques I experienced or learned -- it is a singular approach to the whole person".
In practise
The PI practitioner works simultaneously with direct deep tissueConnective tissue
"Connective tissue" is a fibrous tissue. It is one of the four traditional classes of tissues . Connective Tissue is found throughout the body.In fact the whole framework of the skeleton and the different specialized connective tissues from the crown of the head to the toes determine the form of...
massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
, breath work
Breathwork
Breathwork refers to many forms of conscious alteration of breathing, such as connecting the inhale and exhale, or energetically charging and discharging, when used within psychotherapy or meditation. Proponents believe breathwork technique may be used to attain alternate states of consciousness,...
and energy flow
Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
. During sessions emotional expression
Vegetotherapy
Vegetotherapy is a form of Reichian psychotherapy that involves the physical manifestations of emotions. The basic and founding text of vegetotherapy is Wilhelm Reich's Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Stroemung , later included in the enlarged edition of Reich's Character Analysis .- Practice...
is encouraged and furthered. Additional approaches include bodydrama
Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....
and movement awareness.
In the course of upwards of ten sessions, a session typically 60-90 minutes, the Postural Integration process comprises deep softening
Soft tissue therapy
Soft tissue therapy is the assessment, treatment and management of soft tissue injury, pain and dysfunction primarily of the neuromusculoskeletal system....
and reorganization of the myofascia
Fascia
A fascia is a layer of fibrous tissue that permeates the human body. A fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding those structures together in much the same manner as plastic wrap can be used to hold the contents of sandwiches...
, combined with fine energy
Meridian (Chinese medicine)
The meridian is a path through which the life-energy known as "qi" is believed to flow, in traditional Chinese medicine. There is no physically verifiable anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians.- Main concepts :...
work, accupressure and elements from the Five Phases system. The ultimate goal of Postural Integration is to empower the unity of the bodymind, – that is, of the client’s body
Body
With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death...
, emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
s and attitudes
Attitude (psychology)
An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the attitude object...
.
Postural Integration is taught and practised in Europe, USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Australia.
Postural Integration trainings and trainers are organized within the International Council of PsychoCorporal (Bodymind) Integration Trainers (ICPIT).
In the 1990s Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration
Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration
Psychotherapeutic Postural Integration , is an alternative body psychotherapy method, which uses Postural Integration in a psychotherapeutic context....
(PPI) developed out of Postural Integration, a method recognized by the European Association for Body-Psychotherapy (EABP).
External links
Reading references
- Rosenberg, Jack Lee: Body, Self and Soul: Sustaining Integration, Humanics (1985), (1989) and Integrative Body Psychotherapy
- Rossi, Ernest Laurence: The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing: New Concepts of Therapeutic Hypnosis, W. W. Norton (1993)
- Heckler, Richard Strozzi: The Anatomy of Change; East/West Approaches to Body Mind Therapy, Shambala (1984), (1993)
- Levine, Peter A.Peter A. LevinePeter A. Levine, PhD is an American therapist, author and educator who specializes in the treatment and understanding of chronic stress and tonic immobility, more commonly known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder . Dr...
: Waking the Tiger – Healing Trauma, North Atlantic Books (1997) - Pert, Candace B.Candace PertCandace Beebe Pert is an American neuroscientist and pharmacologist who discovered the opiate receptor, the cellular binding site for endorphins in the brain.-History:...
: Molecules of Emotions, Simon & Schuster (1998) - Johnson, Don & Grand, Ian J.: The Body in Psychotherapy, North Atlantic Books (1998)
- Juhan, Deane: Job’s Body A Handbook for Bodywork, updated (1987), (1998)
- Damasio, Antonio R.Antonio DamasioAntonio Damasio is David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, where he heads USC's Brain and Creativity Institute and Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute. Prior to taking up his posts at USC, in 2005, Damasio was M.W...
: The Feeling of What Happens, Vintage (2000) - Rosenberg Marshall B.Marshall RosenbergMarshall Rosenberg is an American psychologist and the creator of Nonviolent Communication, a communication process that helps people to exchange the information necessary to resolve conflicts and differences peacefully...
: Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Life, Puddle Dancer Press (2003) - Goleman, DanielDaniel GolemanDaniel Jay Goleman is an author, psychologist, and science journalist. For twelve years, he wrote for The New York Times, specializing in psychology and brain sciences. He is the author of more than 10 books on psychology, education, science, and leadership.-Life:Goleman was born in Stockton,...
: Destructive Emotions, Dialog with the Dalai Lama, Bantam Books (2004) - Hartley, Linda: Somatic Psychology: Body, Mind and Meaning, Whurr (2004)
- Field, Marlena.: Body-Centered Coaching, Body Mind Spirit (2005)
- Pulciani, James: Holistic Bodywork: Blending Modern and Ancient Bodywork Principles 448 pages, Prentice Hall (2011), ISBN-10: 0135138957