[alpacalicious]

I plan to start therapy again soon. I left my previous one (from the public service) because I didnt like her and how therapy was going. So I changed 2 therapists this year and now I hope the next one will be good. Basically a person I know gave me the name of this private therapist (another person recommended her to him, I dont know who). She has the study where my university is. I checked her curriculum, she started her practice 23 years ago so I assume she is experienced, also she works with a public school, and other places. She said she does bioenergetic therapy, she is licensed and studied abroad to get her license.

I'm a bit scared bc my last private therapist was bad and did me more harm than good. I dont know what bioenergetic therapy is, through a research I found that they work on the link between mind and body but I cant find experiences of others online. I hope she is not a scam or bad person but she posted all her curriculum online with all her experiences. If she's still working (plus since 23 years ago) I think she never got sued or something, so I can assume she is a good therapist.

I'll try to contact her when I start uni in October. I think therapy is more about the person and not her orientation...how she acts as a professional and person is more important than the bionergetic thing. So I'll check her out, and see how I feel with her etc. At least she's a woman so this is a good thing for me.

Do you have experiences with this type of therapy?

I think that would include energy work? I know that's kinda woo woo to some. I have done some of that with my t on occasion as we're both into that kinda stuff outside the therapy space. I enjoy it when we do, I always leave there very relaxed and centered.

I don't know for sure but the word kinda sounds like it anyway.

[seeker33]

I suspect it's some kind of spiritual /new age stuff. It depends if you are into such things.

I'd go once and decide by your gut feeling. I would be extra careful about potential red flags. If she makes some big claims, do your research as soon as you get home. Also ask her what her therapy style is called and do your own Google research.

It’s like body psychotherapy? So connecting to parts of your body you’ve neglected, I’d guess. Or bringing attention there. It might involve mindful movement like qigong, tai chi, or yoga. I suspect it’s the kind of therapy where you have to kind of let go and not worry too much about what your therapist thinks of you as you’re moving around and closing your eyes and such. I think I’d enjoy that but would take a while getting over being self-conscious. I hope it’s a good experience!

[alpacalicious]

Originally Posted by ArtieSwimsOn

I think that would include energy work? I know that's kinda woo woo to some. I have done some of that with my t on occasion as we're both into that kinda stuff outside the therapy space. I enjoy it when we do, I always leave there very relaxed and centered.

I don't know for sure but the word kinda sounds like it anyway.

Is energy work related to grounding etc? I did a bit of that years ago by myself (when I was into paganism and other related things xD).

[alpacalicious]

Originally Posted by RiverLight

It’s like body psychotherapy? So connecting to parts of your body you’ve neglected, I’d guess. Or bringing attention there. It might involve mindful movement like qigong, tai chi, or yoga. I suspect it’s the kind of therapy where you have to kind of let go and not worry too much about what your therapist thinks of you as you’re moving around and closing your eyes and such. I think I’d enjoy that but would take a while getting over being self-conscious. I hope it’s a good experience!

Oh gosh it would be a bit embarassing to close my eyes and do weird stuff in front of her but since she's female I feel more relaxed. with a male I would feel really embarassed

There is a lot of info on energy work online. I personally don't care for it but I think the question is not whether it is professional or legal (there are plenty of people practicing such things). More whether you are open to trying it, if you are skeptical to start with. I like experimenting with many different things that are meant to regulate body and mind, attention, sensation etc. But I personally would not see a psychotherapist for these things even if I was very curious, just like I would not do meditation in therapy sessions (which I otherwise like and practice on my own and also like guided, given it's someone's style fits with me). I think it's normal to experience some anxiety about new experiences. I would say, if you are curious, give it a try and be mindful to stop if it's negative or your instincts suggests something weird around it.

[Ididitmyway]

Sounds like energy work to me. Here, in the US, it's not a part of psychotherapy. But your profile says you are in Italy, so may be the rules and regulations are different there. In the US energy healers go through separate training that is not connected to psychotherapy. It's not regulated here, but it is legal. Many psychotherapists, actually, choose to do alternative healing work either alongside of their therapy practice or they completely switch to practicing alternative methods.

I don't know what bioenergetic work entails. I haven't had energy work done on me either other than reiki, which I did once and it was helpful. I've done different types of body work, which was extremely productive, more so than psychotherapy in some ways, and acupuncture, yoga and staff like that.

Just do your research and if it doesn't seem dangerous or potentially harmful then try it. I fully embrace alternative methods and I see no reason not to try something new. I also believe that any healing practice, psychotherapy included, traditional or alternative, has a potential to harm, and so you need to do your research thoroughly and select the most credible practitioners you can select. Of course, there is always a risk that you'll come across a charlatan or someone who doesn't know what they are doing, but there is just as big a risk to find a crappy doctor who will push pills and procedures that you don't need on you.