Becoming an Embodied Practitioner - IEP Podcast
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'Becoming an Embodied Practitioner' is a podcast by the Institute of Embodied Psychotherapy.
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The aim of this podcast is to offer guidance, resources and support to therapists who wish to become more embodied in their clinical practice; and those interested in somatic approaches to psychotherapy and the therapeutic benefits they offer.
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The co-founders Katarina Gadjanski and Tasha Colbert discuss various topics related to the field of body - orientated approaches to therapy and address questions in relation to their therapeutic model: Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy.
They discuss the importance of resourcing the nervous system (for therapists and people in the helping professions), explain the ABC of working with trauma and the body, the embodied approach to working with 'Parts' and many other subjects.
For specific topics please check each episode below.
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The podcast is available on on IEP YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@embodiedpsychotherapy
&: Apple podcast podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/becoming-an-embodied-practitioner/id1728263493
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SEASON 1 FINALE
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Episode 1 - The WHY and HOW of Embodied Psychotherapy
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In this episode Katarina Gadjanski and Tasha Colbert the co-founders of the Institute of Embodied Psychotherapy discuss what brought them to this work, why it is important to work with the body in psychotherapy and how to get started with clients.
Episode 2 - The WHY and HOW of Using Movement in Psychotherapy
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In this episode Tasha Colbert and Katarina Gadjanski, the co-founders of the Institute of Embodied Psychotherapy, discuss the topic of working with movement in psychotherapy, why it is beneficial in our work and how you might bring movement into sessions with clients. They touch upon various topics in relation to movement, including why is it beneficial in TRAUMA work and how to start using movement with clients if you are trained in a traditional "talking" psychotherapy and used to working in chairs.
Episode 3 - The ABC of Working with Trauma and the Body (Part 1)
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In this episode Katarina and Tasha talk about the ABC of working with trauma and the body. They discuss the foundations of somatic approaches to trauma - including the importance of having knowledge and understanding of a client's nervous system, ‘tracking’ the client and observation of ‘what the client’s body is telling you'. They also discuss the importance of establishing a 'safe place' in the body and working towards self-regulation and building the nervous system capacity by increasing the client's ability to tolerate unpleasant sensations in order to be able to process trauma and release it from the body.
Episode 4 - The ABC of Working with Trauma and the Body (Part 2)
In this episode Katarina and Tasha continue to talk about working with trauma and the body. They discuss what do we actually mean when we say - 'it is our body that holds the trauma', as well as what are the somatic trauma memories and sensory trauma triggers. They talk about what is the aim of trauma work and what do we consider trauma' healing'? They also discuss the important subject of vicarious trauma - and what can we (therapists) do to help us with that. Tasha and Katarina share from their own experience the practices that help them after they finish a day of working with clients - to 'un-attune', release, ground and "shake it all out" in order to prevent vicarious trauma and burn out.
Episode 5 - The Importance of Resourcing the Nervous System
- for Therapists & People in the Helping Professions
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In this episode Katarina and Tasha discuss why resourcing and taking care of our own nervous system is so crucial for people in the helping professions. They stress the importance of prioritising our own health and well-being as therapists, and they offer some useful suggestions and reminders on how to do that. They also discuss the importance of knowing your own nervous system and being able to recognise when we come out of our regulated 'ventral vegal' state - and how to find a way back. They complete the episode with a short guided practice for resourcing.
Episode 6 - The Importance of Resourcing the Nervous System
- for Therapists & People in the Helping Professions (Part2)
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In this episode Tasha and Katarina continue their conversation about the importance of resourcing for therapists & people in helping professions. They discuss how using movement and self-touch can be beneficial in regulating the nervous system and the importance of rest. Katarina explains why is 'practice and repetition' important in cultivating the resourceful states... and they discuss the importance of 'pausing and savouring' the moment - in order to start to develop those new neural pathways. Tasha then leads a guided practice: Embodying a Resourceful State (that you would like to experience more of in your life).
Episode 7 - Embodied Approach to Working with 'Parts' (Part 1)
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In this episode Katarina and Tasha talk about how they came about to work with ‘Parts’ and also share their own personal stories of healing and transformation through working with their ‘Parts’. They discuss what modalities influenced them in developing their own model, which is an embodied approach to working with 'Parts', - informed by IFS, transpersonal psychotherapy, sub-personalities work, psycho-drama etc… They explain how they integrated all these different ways of working with ‘Parts’ - into an approach that includes the body.
They discuss the benefits of working with 'Parts' in psychotherapy practice: including decreasing shame, developing self-compassion, and living more from the ‘Self Energy’ (from a place of the Authentic Self).
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Episode 8 - Embodied Approach to Working with 'Parts' (Part 2)​​
Katarina and Tasha start this episode by explaining the term ‘Protector Parts’ - and the role that they play in protecting us from feeling painful or overwhelming feelings - such as trauma, shame and vulnerability and keeping the ‘Wounded Parts’ (in IFS known as ‘Exiles’) out of our conscious awareness. They then discuss how the Embodied Approach is different from IFS and the benefits of working with ‘Parts’ in this way - such as helping the client un-blend from these parts by identifying where they live in their body and externalising them.
They also explain how to help client connect to their most grounded, centred ‘Adult’ self, and how to use the body to evoke ‘Self Energies’. As well as how to pendulate between that safe ‘anchor’ (Adult/Self Energy) and stepping in and out of exploring the protector parts by using titration. They also discuss how in Embodied Psychotherapy we use drawing, embodiment, working with stones and psycho-drama to help client ‘Map out’ the whole internal system and explore this by externalising (on the floor) their inner world.
They complete this episode by explaining the concept of working with ‘Allies’.
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