Body psychotherapy currently attracts more interest than ever and is taking up an important role in the wider psychotherapy field, bringing awareness of embodiment into what has been a verbally oriented profession. It is now undergoing an internal transformation, engaging with neuroscience, phenomenology and cognitive studies, as well as the relational turn in psychotherapy. Body Psychotherapy for the 21st Century charts the history of this transformation and shows how four distinct versions of embodied practice have interacted to generate the current field. It makes the case for the value of body psychotherapy not only within the therapeutic world, but in the social sphere, where bodily difference – of gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality – is one of the major markers of oppression.

“Nick Totton has been a pivotal figure in Body Psychotherapy, both as a historian and as a continual innovator and critic of the whole psychotherapy field. This book has the vitality of genuine re-appraisal and both frankness and rigour in its argument and questions. Definitely a thought-provoking and up to date read.” Roz Carroll, relational body psychotherapist, trainer and author.

“An exquisite introduction to Body Psychotherapy, describing the influences on its development and the models of working so that people new to this approach will be able to get an image of it. It also offers an excellent and clear overview that can be used by professionals in their further development of theory and methods.” Lidy Evertsen, Chair of Think Tank of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy