Luciano Sabella, is a functional psychologist-psychotherapist. He carries out clinical activities at his studio in Florence, Italy. Member of the Sif since 1997, trainer and supervisor at the School of Functional Psychotherapy since 2003. EABP Board Member, member of AIPC. Author of clinical and epistemological publications. Creator and conductor of training and prevention projects. Speaker and conductor of numerous speeches and workshops at international meetings, including the EABP congress of 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

Feeling and perceiving oneself: Milestones in Gender Incongruence

Hall 41A Main Building

After a brief introduction focusing on the suffering of people who decide to begin a path of Gender affirmation, the experiential workshop aims to show a sequence of fundamental Functional techniques for the integration of the Self in TGD (Transgender and Gender Diverse) persons. In these people the body mainly displays experiences of rejection as not belonging to the perceived gender. So, their body becomes the most important place to intervene. It is from the ability to perceive one’s own sensations that the individual will be able to implement strategies to recover the full sense of self by integrating it with the newly emerging Self.

Gabriel Shiraz Since 1999 – Individual, couple, and group therapist in Body Biodynamic Psychotherapy, trainer and supervisor. 2001 to 2008 – founded and directed the Body Psychotherapy program at Reidman College, in Israel. Currently, a senior trainer in few institutes in Israel and Europe including the University of Haifa, Israel and the LSBP in UK. Teaches Body Psychotherapy, Couples Therapy, supervision groups and various other courses. He has given hundreds of lectures and seminars during the last 20 years.

From crisis to growth in relationship – with Body Couple Psychotherapy

Hall 40 Main Building

Relationships can face many challenges, including crises, which can emerge for various reasons. Personal changes and crises can have a profound effect on both the individual and the relationship itself. Over time, experiencing and managing crises and changes become a necessary and integral part of building and maintaining a long-term relationship. The main subjects of this workshop will include: * Containing and observing the relationship crisis including each of the partners feelings, while normalizing the situation. * How to Work with the body’s somatic sensations during a relationship crisis * Teaching the couple to practice resonance in all levels- body mind and soul, With the intention of developing a deeper level connection to each other. * Engaging in breathing practices to stabilize, strengthen and restore balance. * Working with Grounding movement both individually and as a couple. * Encouraging the couple to take personal and couple tasks between each therapy session. Helping the couple maintain progress in managing the crisis beyond the sessions. * Gaining a higher perspective of the crisis and developing an understanding of the spiritual aspects of the relationship. To summarize the workshop, we will discuss the effects of the relationship crisis on the therapist himself. Focusing on the great potential for growth and development that a relationship crisis can bring to each of the partners and to the relationship itself.

Alexandra Algafari is a second generation body psychotherapist. She has studied psychology in the UK and Spain and trained as a neo-Reichian analytical psychotherapist in Bulgaria. She now has her private practice in Sofia and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Neo-Reichian Psychotherapeutic Association. She is a part of the editorial team of the International Body Psychotherapy Journal and a teaching assistant in Psychoanthropology, Psychodiagnostics, and Group Psychotherapy.

The Masks We Wear

Hall 191 Main Building

The masks we put on in different circumstances show how transformative our identity can be. As the adaptable creatures that we are, we change our behaviours according to the current situation but some of the ways we express ourselves are more within reach than others. The idea of this workshop is to discover which identity we lean towards presenting the most and which ones are rather on the difficult side or whose expression has been blocked through previous experience.

No matter which character theory we rely on, we know that how we express ourselves varies from situation to situation. at times, we can be timid and quiet and at others – boisterous and alluring. But we are still the same person underneath, right? In this workshop, we will explore the five major masks we use in our communication with others. You will discover your go-to behaviour in a room full of stranger and you will get to try on other, less familiar routes to connection. Prerequisites: willingness to leave your Ego at the door.

Amara Eckert PhD., Professor ret. at University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt Social worker, special educator, coach, psychomotrician, body-psychotherapist, pre-and perinatal trauma-therapist, researcher, lecturer and professor (University of Cologne/G., University Kiel/G, Maltepe University Istanbul/TR, NGOs in different countries) Trainings in various (psycho)therapeutic approaches. Educational and therapeutic work with children and adults since 1975.

Integrative psychomotor therapy – a body psychotherapy approach with children and parents

Hall 242 Main Building

A perfect place where construction, deconstruction and reconstruction in us and outside ourselves can happen, is the psychomotor room. Most of the topics, playfully symbolized there by children or adults are transition-topics around safety, belonging and autonomy. Psychomotricity has a long tradition in many European countries. It implies the theory and practice of an inner attitude and a method that is rooted in the body. It is about human expression with its individual, dialogical and creative aspects and the manifold possibilities to live meaningfully and embodied in this world, which is constantly in transition. Integrative psychomotor therapy for children and families includes various methods such as movement, sensorimotor play, role play, voice, dance, and systemic and hypnotic methods. The professional attitude of the therapist is resonance-based, holding and containing. She plays for the child, which means that she makes herself available to the child’s issues with her own body, and mirrors the child’s play in a developmentally appropriate way, both physically and linguistically. Children can work through, integrate and reconstruct their traumatic experiences in a bodily and symbolic way. Prenatal, perinatal and family transition- topics need special attention, both for children and parents. Family dynamics are explored and acknowledged in psychomotor sessions with parents. Scientific monitoring research is recently done on this topic . Among other countries, Integrative Psychomotor Therapy is taught by the Bulgarian Association for the Development of Psychomotricity, BAPMT since 2019. In this workshop we will offer reconstructive transition experiences on prenatal, perinatal, and family dynamics, and provide an overview of the practical work.

Xanthippi Svolopoulou MA Literature, Body Psychotherapist of Biosynthesis, Diploma of Bodynamic international practitioner, NARM certified practitioner. Trained in Shock Trauma[PTSD I] and Archetypes by Ditte Marker, in re- doing Birth by Lisbeth Marker. Art therapy and healing dance [5 rhythms of G.Roth.] Designer and presenter of workshops in Greece and in international meetings. The workshop Blossoming Synapses was presented in the congress of EABP in Berlin, 2018.

THE BLOOMING HEART AS OUR COMMON IDENTITY

Hall 277 Main Building

This workshop will seek to highlight the significant theme of identity, transformation and change. To do so, apart from drawing on ancient Greek philosophy and language, it will also refer to NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model), an approach for healing the complex and developmental trauma. The theoretical part will discuss NARM’s therapeutic understanding on the first surviving style of Connection, given that this developmental stage is considered fundamental for the creation of the self and his/her identity. Moreover, there will be reference to the significant aspects of self-inquiry and agency that serve for the client’s deconstruction and reconstruction of an old experience or identification. The practical part will invite into an embodied experience having at its focus the heart which represents the symbol of the shared human identity and the sacredness of human existence. Our exploratory journey towards balance, authenticity, compassion, co-regulation and co-creativity will be accompanied with music, dance, postures of the soul and colours.

Patrizia Moselli Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, supervisor and Bioenergetic Analysis trainer and International Trainer I.I.B.A.. Besides her training in Bioenergetic Analysis, she had a training also in Psychosomatic Medicine and in Client Centered Therapy by Carl Rogers She is a teacher in training for doctors and psychologist of the Client Centered Therapy Institute and for doctors and psychologist of the S.i.a.b. She has collaborated with Rogers in facilitating inter-cultural meeting groups.

Ada Lentini MD PHD born in 1966 graduated from high school in 1984, Medical school in 1991 and Specializing School in General Surgery in 1996. All her life she has been passionate about the human being in its entirety as well as the integral thinking of psychic energy as a crucial part in the causes of the disease.She became Bioenergetic Psychotherapist in 2009 at SIAB (Italian society of Bioenergetic Psychoterapy) and he has been teaching ‘Emotional Anatomy’ at the Specializing School and Couseling School ever since. She has participated in a great number of Congresses and Conferences as lector, organizer and teacher.She has worked as a Surgeon at the University ‘la Sapienza’ , Biomedical Campus and Fatebenefratelli Hospital of Rome. Nowadays she is a Surgeon at Clinica Villa Salaria Hospital. She lives in Rome working as a family practitioner, surgeon and individual and group psychotherapist. President of SIMBA (Italian Society of Bioenergetic movement and listening) since 2021. She is part of the International Board of ‘CampNewday’ a Volounteer organization operating in the field of mental disabilities located in New Jersey- USA. She loves traveling, music, theater, animals  and nature.

Narcissism, identity denied. Reconstructing sensations in the fragile body of the Narcissist

Hall 14 Faculty of Journalism

As expressed by the title of the workshop “Narcissism, identity denied. Reconstructing sensations in the fragile body of the Narcissist” therefore we speak of an identity narcissism and how it can be supported.

Lowen defines Narcissism as the denied identity. In this workshop we want to describe the Lowenian vision of the narcissistic disorder. Furthermore, techniques will be explored including Bennet Shapiro’s charge and containment to help the body of those with narcissistic problems find grounding and energy.

Genovino Ferri is a psychiatrist and Reichian Analyst trained by Federico Navarro, who was himself trained by Ola Raknes, who was, in turn, trained by Wilhelm Reich. He is the Director of the Italian School of Reichian Analysis (S.I.A.R.) in Rome, Italy, a post-graduate college of higher education. He has been a member of the New York Academy of Sciences since 1999. He is an International Trainer of in Europe and South America.

Presentation of the book “Body time”

Conference Hall — Main building

Friday 8th September 2023 from 3 to 4.30 pm, I shall propose the workshop “Body time” (Il tempo nel corpo), indeed I’d like to present my book “Body Time”, both in English and Bulgarian version (“Bреме B Tялото”). There will be a simultaneous translation from Italian to English and Bulgarian.

The book presents a contemporary modality of the analytical body psychotherapy – a new direction for the psychotherapy, psychopathology and psychofarmatherapy. The book describes the progressive body code following the ontogenetic movements (body activations), represented in a universal way in the “drawers” of the time in our body with a specific imprinting of our personal story. The body code give us the opportunity to collect the intelligent sense of our story. The body activations are the password for the different evolutional periods and epigenetic instrument for modification of the relationships and the neurotransmitters. The book describes 20 basic actings base of the experience of four generations of therapist, beginning with Wilhelm Reich (1935) until our days.

Dr. Anton Daraktchiev MD is a neo-Reichian analytical psychotherapist, working in his own praxis. He is a lecturer in INAP, the Institute for Neroreichian Analytical Psychotherapy, teaching “Human Anatomy and Physiology” as well as Psychoneuroimmunology. He is a lecturer for Anatomy and Internal diseases at the Faculty „Jordanka Filaretova“ of the medical University, Sofia. He has specialized in internal medicine in Germany. Member of the Union of Internal Specialists in Germany (BDI), the Bulgarian Neo-Reichian Psychotherapeutic Society (BNPD), the German Society for Body Psychotherapy (DGK). He is a former member of the Board of BNPD from 2019-2021. Member of the publishing team of the World Journal of Bodypsychotherapy (IBPJ). 

Do mistakes in the therapeutic process exist? Anatomy of our failures

Hall 15 Faculty of Journalism

While listening to other persons and to our bodies and minds we experience many – often subtle – feelings. Some are easy to identify, some are obscure. The information exchange between two bodys happens on many levels. We are not conscious about all of them.

The main purpose of this workshop is to share experience about specific habits that are connected with our character traits, and that have led to situations in our practice, which we consider as mistakes. What is it to be a good psychotherapist? What makes a mistake a mistake?. During this workshop we will have a chance to be a different psychotherapist. And to experience the effect of some of our hidden, shadow sides while interacting with others.

Roni Maislish M.S.W (Bar Ilan University) and psychotherapist. From 2005 I am working with overweight patients dealing with emotional eating who suffer from emotional long-term neglected. Between 2018-2020 I worked in Tel Hashomer hospital in an overweight treatment center. Between 2006-2011 I saw eating disorders patients (and their parents) in Soroka Hospital. Since 2007 I have been working as an emotional eating therapist. Among my work I am leading groups for therapists.

The emotional aspect of obesity Introspection through the relationship with food and eating – As a creative way of Empathy

Hall 17 Faculty of Journalism

How many times you had been surprised by overweight patients that told you to fix them quickly; who for years after years trying to lose weight, sometime seceded and then gain the weight back? How many times your faith in your patient dissipate and you felt anger and frustration that he or she is not committed enough to the process? And how many times you felt that you are not able to understand emphatically (near-experience) why those patients can’t keep on fighting, controlling and avoiding in their food and eating issues? and how many times you realize and told yourself that something is missing? For all those of you psychotherapists from a variety of methods and approach who are dealing with the emotional aspect of overeating, overweight, emotional eating, emotional non-eating, non-acute eating disorder, obesity and more – you all most welcome to this presentation where you become familiar, study and also go in depth to a new dimension which will enable you to see, understand and experience the food and eating issue not as a problem to solve; but as a unique way that a specific person use to tell his story while he integrate and keep safe his self. And from this kind of listening stance, we will be able to make place to our patients, while helping them finding their own subjective way toward healing and restoring their wounded, un- develop and neglected self. In the beginning I will present my attitude in the last 20 years (which I am changing and modifying in time) for dealing with emotional eating issues. The main part in this section will be the mindfulness meal; where we will be able, to search different possibilities to help our patients connecting between their relationship with food/eating to others relationship (family, marriage, career, friends, money, and more). Please bring food to the presentation (few types of food so you will have the feeling of choosing from a buffet and try to come hungry but not starving.

Elena Eneva is a body psychotherapist. She is working with children and adults, using methods from the Therapy of Five Movements, Psychodrama and Neuropsychology. She is a training therapist at Bulgarian Institute for Neo-Reichian Psychotherapy, translator and editor of psychotherapy books, writer of articles.

Playing the Self, Playing the Other

Hall 16 Faculty of Journalism

This experiential workshop will allow our Inner Children to come to the front and dive in their dreamed roles and scenarios. We’ll try to find out what give us our fantasies when we are children and what do we understand about our identity from them. The workshop will start with a short introduction to the topic of play and its rules. Then we will ground by “trying” on ourselves the body sensations of different “best” heroes. With a guided visualization everybody will have to choose what hero will s/he like to be today and what short fantasy scenario to play. The participants will be divided into small groups, and each one will have the time to give roles to his fellows, instruct them what to do and to experience the scenario with his/her partners. The groups’ members will give feedback to each other and then short feedbacks in the big circle. Please, wear clothes suitable for physical activity.

Gloria Quattrini graduates in Philosophy, becomes a Psychologist, and a Psychotherapist-Transactional Analyst (CTA)-EATA in 2013. In 2017 she becomes a Functional Analyst trained by W.Davis (Aetos-Venezia) and continues her training at the Institute of Functional Analysis in La Spezia with G. Colombo. She operates her private practice and is a trainer in schools. She teaches at the Bio-psycho-social counseling in Legnano and collaborates with the Institute of Functional Analysis of La Spezia.

Functional identity in the instroke process: verbal techniques and touch in Functional Analysis

Hall 61 Faculty of Journalism

One of the principles on which Will Davis’ Functional Analysis is based is the functional identity between body and mind, that is to say psychic and body processes form an integrated unit and have the same mode of functioning. Starting from this assumption and according to this approach, both physical and verbal work have the same objective and the same effectiveness, value and quality. The objective of Functional Analysis is to activate the instroke process, in fact only starting from a gathering state, the organism self-regenerates and self-organises; therefore in verbal work as in body work the therapist must pay attention to whether and to what depth the instroke is being activated. In this paper I provide one of the possible insights on how to observe the verbal techniques elaborated by Davis, from the point of view of the instroke process. This presentation is accompanied by a 3D animation video which highlights the functional identity of the psycho-body model closely linked to Reich’s energy model. I will examine the verbal techniques proposed by Davis within the instroke process, placing particular light on the principle of functional identity, which permeates Functional Analysis.

The content of my presentation will be supported by an animated video in 3D that I have created which will showcase the functional identity through images.

Tihomira Ilic Prskalo, EABP, ECP, MSC is a co-founder of the Center Snaga Mamjere, Training Institute for Coherent Body Psychotherapy (TI member of the Forum of EABP). She started working as a psychotherapist in 2005 and has organized and lead multiple workshops ever since.

Early developmental trauma and nervous system

Hall 13 Faculty of Journalism

My life story gave me the most important lesson. Life brings many difficult situations. When life is in danger in the childhood, the body tries to protect and save itself. Early developmental trauma remains trapped and unfinished in the body. The trauma affects the development of the autonomic nervous system. It can affect the physiology and functioning of the brain and the entire nervous system. Later the trust in life and self-esteem is distorted.

This thesis will take a look at the above described aspect of human life, with the hope to open more understanding in the functioning and physiology of the human nervous system affected by early developmental trauma. My lived experiences gave me a lot of embodied understanding. Body has a memory. The body remembers longer than the brain, our memory is body-bound. The process of returning to bodily sensations, giving enough time for the body to feel presence and attention enables a better regulation of emotions in adult life, and integrates the body, feelings and thoughts. I organized this workshop from my personal story and clarified it through modern and the most complete approaches to healing trauma, which rely on modern knowledge about the way the nervous system functions (the polyvagal theory) and which place the trauma in the body-sensory context. 

The path of its resolution/release: through the body and gradually through: getting to knowing/feeling, tolerance and understanding of one’s own sensorium in the conditions of created, permanent and stable safety with the therapist.I believe it is possible to heal the early developmental trauma and to live a more deep and fulfilled life.