Rooted in depth psychology and dance/movement therapy, Authentic Movement invites one person to move with eyes closed in spontaneous, body-led exploration while their partner witnesses in intentional silence. The practice cultivates non-interpretive presence, somatic receptivity, and the capacity to perceive without projection.

For body psychotherapists working within polarized social contexts, the capacity to witness without projection is both clinical and ethical. This workshop positions Authentic Movement as training in embodied reflexivity: strengthening our ability to perceive difference without premature categorization, to tolerate activation without collapse or defensiveness, and to remain relationally present amid complexity.

Through guided dyads, structured reflection, and facilitated dialogue, participants will explore how disciplined witnessing strengthens kinesthetic empathy, supports work across power and identity differences, and builds relational resilience in polarized contexts.

Rae Johnson, PhD, RSMT, is a somatic psychotherapist, educator, and activist-scholar integrating body psychotherapy with social justice praxis. The author of Embodied Social Justice (2017) and Embodied Activism (2023) they teach internationally on embodied activism, relational embodiment, and collective nervous system awareness, supporting practitioners to engage sociopolitical realities through grounded, ethically attuned somatic practice. Rae is a professor of somatic psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Clinical experience consistently demonstrates that gender stereotypes profoundly shape interpersonal relating, often rooted in implicit early learnings embedded in the Basic Experiences of the Self (BES; Rispoli, 2004, 2026). These foundational psycho-body experiences, when fully lived, engage all levels of the organism—somatic, emotional, and relational.

Rigid gender stereotypes, particularly masculine ones, hinder positive access to certain BES, such as “Feeling oneself” and “Tenderness,” leading to diminished emotional availability and relational dissatisfaction.

This experiential workshop, grounded in Neo-Functionalism / Functional Psychotherapy, will present a specific sequence of body-oriented techniques commonly used in clinical practice to reactivate and integrate the capacity to Feel oneself, Perceive others, and experience Tenderness.

Participants will engage in guided techniques designed to foster psycho-body awareness, challenge rigid polarities, and promote more fluid, integrated ways of relating.

Marco Iacono, psychologist, psychotherapist, trainer of the European School of Functional Psychotherapy (SEF) and manager of courses in Trieste (Italy), vice-president of the Italian Association for Body Psychotherapy (AIPC), past-president of the Italian Society of Functional Psychotherapy (SIF), adjunct professor at the University of Udine and EABP full member.

The technique consists of finding sensitive points in the body to increase sexual pleasure during sexual intercourse, as well as serving as an auxiliary technique in treating various sexual difficulties, such as premature ejaculation, impotence, anorgasmia, vaginismus, prolonged orgasm, and lack of sexual desire, as well as emotional and relational partnership functions.

The workshop consists of two parts; one is theoretical information on sexual reflexology as one of the psychosexual psychotherapies. The participants will receive information and basic knowledge about the differences between sexual massage and sexual reflexology, which are often misunderstood.

The second part focuses on a practical demonstration of exercises using point pressure across different body segments, aimed at helping participants feel sensual energy throughout the whole body and triggering sexual energy. Participation in the workshop is voluntary and based on participants’ willingness and readiness.

Enver Çesko, M.Sci., is a former university lecturer, a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a certified Body Psychotherapist and Positive Transcultural Psychotherapist, an international trainer, and a supervisor. He is the President and founder of the Kosovo Association for Psychotherapy, a Council member of EABP, and a Board Member of various European and worldwide psychotherapy associations.

He is also a Member of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) and holds the ECP and WCP. He has published more than 150 articles in professional and scientific journals and has delivered workshops, seminars, training sessions, and presentations at worldwide congresses.

The inability to experience them fully can lead to disorders that are increasingly common in our culture, resulting in violence and loneliness.

In the program we offer, we will experiment with some body psychology techniques that will allow us to experience strength and tenderness, so that we can use them in clinical practice and in everyday life.

Luciano Sabella, Functional psychologist-psychotherapist, 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, 2021 and 2023, and the Soma Festival in 2025.

Roberta Rosin, Functional Psychologist, Psychotherapist. Trainer and Supervisor of European School of Functional Psychotherapy (S.E.F.). Expert in gender discrimination, President of ActiveTransgender Counter (Centro O.N.I.G. Padua, Italy). She actively participated in National and International EPATH and WPATH Conferences, and she conducted workshops at EABP and AIPC Congress. Author of several publications, including the latest “Io non sono un trans” (I am not a Trans) (2023) and “Noi, genitori di ragazzi treansgender” (We, parents of transgender children) (2024).

Enrica Pedrelli, Psychologist, Psychotherapist, is a member of Functional Psychotherapy Italian Society (SIF, www.psicologiafunzionale.it) since 1996. She is also a teacher and a trainer in Functional Psychotherapy European School since 2003 (SEF). Member of EABP Forum. She’s been working for several years in the field of trauma and parenthood.

If one has learned to be on the look for the pleasure of breathing, one feels the need of the pulmonary tissues to fully deploy. Connecting with the inner movements and sensations of the thorax, the container of the lungs and the heart, we discover our vitality.

As we relax our diaphragm, we empower ourselves; we support the expression of the heart. We allow our strength and our emotional truth, our depth, to manifest in the present moment.

In the workshop, we practice solo and in duets experientially. The work is based on contact, movement and voice exploration, that leads into sharing and integration with the group.

Christina Klissiouni (from Greece) is 2nd-generation internationally-acclaimed Contact Improvisation/Somatics teacher since 1987, Body Psychotherapist, Gestalt and Trauma therapist (NARM) with a 35-year-long experience and Shiatsu practitioner since 1994.

She explores human nature and interrelations through artistic creation, somatic psychotherapy and contemplative movement meditation based on Amerta Movement (developed by Suprapto Suryodarmo from Indonesia).

Participants will examine case studies to better understand how psychedelic experiences can catalyze healing processes within the body. The session will focus on the mechanisms of therapeutic change from a somatic perspective, highlighting the role of bodily awareness, regulation, and integration in psychedelic-assisted work. “

Rob Ó Cobhthaigh is the co-founder of Inwardbound, a leading provider of legal psilocybin retreat programs. Since 2018, over 1,100 participants from more than 40 countries have taken part in Inwardbound’s multidisciplinary approach, centered around immersive five-day retreats in the Netherlands. The organization’s methodology is informed by the work of Dr. Stanislav Grof and is designed to support participants in accessing their innate capacity for healing within a safe and structured environment. Rob is an accredited psychotherapist (MIACP) and transpersonal therapist. He is also a qualified Shamanic Counsellor, trained at the Irish Centre for Shamanic and Transpersonal Studies, and has spent over a decade studying Celtic shamanism.

He completed an eight-year training in transpersonal therapy in the tradition of Dr. Stanislav Grof. In addition, Rob is a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) program in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy and Research, and has completed the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Training Program. His further training includes Jungian psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for psychedelic assisted therapy. Rob has been a student of traditional Amazonian curanderismo for many years, having done numerous dietas with the renowned Shipibo ayahusaca maestras in Peru, He has also sat with iboga in the Bwiti tradition, and has been learning from the Shanenawa tribe from the Brazilian Amazon. He has a deep interest in shamanism and has done many ceremonies and initiations in North and South American, and African shamanic traditions

Using techniques from Biodynamic Psychotherapy, we will tune to our ‘gut feelings’ a source of non-verbal communication and inner knowing. Connecting with this world of sensations, energy and fluid movements. Its bring insights, realisations and experiences that facilitate deep healing of oneself.

We will use Biodynamic psychotherapeutic touch, breathing, movement and visualisation techniques, giving the participants an opportunity to experience the wonder-full possibilities of this visceral layer of self.

We will touch upon Psycho-Peristalsis and its functions. We will learn about theses unique and lesser known aspect of the gut (The Second Brain) and its significant’ part in psyche and somatic health, including its relevance to the psychotherapeutic process and self-regulation, leading to a greater state of wellness and and self expression.

This workshop is dedicated to Gerda Boyesen (1922-2005), the founder of Biodynamic Psychology, Psychotherapy and Massage and in honor of the publication of her book (in English), ‘Between Psyche and Soma’.

Anat Ben-Israel is a Biodynamic Psychotherapist) working with individuals, couples, and groups with over 40 years of experience in the field. Anat trained with Gerda Boyesen (1922-2005), the founder of Biodynamic Psychology and Psychotherapy, at the Gerda Boyesen Centre in London from 1984 – 1988. She is a teacher, supervisor, and group facilitator and also a senior trainer and Head of Course at the London School of Biodynamic Psychotherapy (LSBP).

Ms. Ben-Israel has gained her MA in Body-psychotherapy (Anglia Ruskin University, UK) and her Couple Therapy through Body psychotherapy (Gabriel Shiraz). She is also a certified Yoga teacher and a trained Craniosacral Biodynamic therapist (Franklyn Sills). Ms. Ben-Israel has a training school in Israel, The Center for Biodynamic Psychotherapy, and runs training seminars and workshops Internationally and in the USA. She has a private practice on the West coast of the USA and in Israel. She is a registered member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the European and U.S. Associations for Body Psychotherapy (EABP, USABP).

This workshop presents the development of healthy boundaries from a physical perspective, i.e. on a physical, emotional, social and cognitive level. They provide a good foundation for stable mental development.

Using the creative medium of a wooden stick, L. Malafouris’ (2013) Mental Engagement Theory is presented as a metatheoretical basis for the use of creative media. This clearly demonstrates how good boundaries can be developed, differentiated, expressed and protected.

Furthermore, emotional differentiation work plays a particularly important role in boundary violations from the perspective of integrative body therapy.

Martin J. Waibel is a teaching therapist for integrative body and movement therapy, integrative therapy, Master of Science (psychotherapy), certified supervisor (University of Amsterdam) and certified social worker. He worked for 41 years as a manager at a specialist clinic for psychotherapy and psychosomatics, where he worked with numerous patients with a wide variety of illnesses. He now teaches at medical colleges and universities.

He works in his own practice and gives seminars on body and physical psychotherapy throughout Europe. His PODCAST_LIVE series at the DGIB has become very well known. In recent years, he has welcomed many internationally renowned guests such as Thomas Fuchs, Frank Röhricht, Ulf Geuter, Hilarion Petzold and others to a lively POLYLOG. Numerous publications, including ‘Körperpsychotherapie bei chronischen Schmerzen’ (Body Psychotherapy for Chronic Pain), Schattauer 2023.

The model is based on the principle of psychosomatic functional identity, according to which physical and energetic processes are inseparable from psychic ones. Chronic muscle tension, structured through early traumatic experiences, forms the basis of character formation, understood as an adaptive compromise between primary needs and the relational environment.

Originally oriented as an expressive therapy focused on releasing muscle tension and restoring vitality through work on breathing, movement, and expressiveness, Bioenergetic Analysis has progressively integrated a relational perspective.

From a single-person model centered on the patient’s internal dynamics, theoretical and clinical evolution has led to a two-person paradigm, in which the therapist-patient relationship becomes a co-constructed space of bodily resonance, affective attunement, and implicit transformation.

Key concepts such as grounding, breathing, and bodily resonance are now confirmed by neuroscience, which highlights the central role of implicit processes and the right hemisphere in profound therapeutic changes. The current somatic-relational perspective values shared affective experience and embodied presence, integrating the restoration of energy flow with the possibility of feeling fully present in the relationship with the other.

The evolution of Bioenergetic Analysis thus bears witness to a path of enrichment and interdisciplinary dialogue that consolidates its contemporary clinical relevance.

Patrizia Moselli is a psychologist and psychotherapist. An international trainer and a member of the Faculty the IIBA (International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis), she is President of the Italian Society for Bioenergetic Analysis (S.I.A.B.) and Past President of the F.I.A.P. (Italian Federation of Psychotherapy Associations).

She is also trained and a senior trainer in the person-centred approach. She has been involved in training and supervision for many years. She is the author of books and articles in national and international journals.

Many people think that the Alexander Technique involves improving posture by ‘sitting up straight’. Nothing could be further from the truth. It involves being aware and releasing the unconscious tension from our body allowing us to move through life with greater ease. It can dramatically help prevent a whole range of physical aches and pains that are so common in our society today.

As these tensions are released, so are many of the thoughts which hold us back from being who we truly are. Emotions that may have been trapped within our body for decades can gently and safely be released. Many people find that the Alexander Technique helps their confidence and self-esteem, spontaneity, leading to greater contentment and a deeper love of life naturally grow.

The workshop will cover the needs of the group, but the following topics are usually covered:

• Practical demonstration of the unity of mind, body and emotions
• Improving posture without effort
• Improving breathing
• Reducing Stress
• Sitting, standing and walking with ease
• Elimination of anxiety and worry

By using the Alexander Technique you will learn how to move with gravity, instead of against it, thus achieving greater ease of movement which will in turn affect your mental and emotional outlook on life; you will feel calmer, less stressed and therefore will have a greater control of your own life.

Richard Brennan has studied the Alexander Technique since 1984 and has been teaching the technique full time for over 35 years he travels extensively internationally giving workshops, talks and interviews about the Technique. He has taught the Technique at many educational centres in Europe including Galway University, Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra, Spain and Middlesex University (London). He has also taught at the following universities in the USA:, Columbia NY, Loyola, Columbia, CMU, IUP Arcadia, and Temple.

Richard lives in Galway, Ireland where he is the director of the Alexander Teacher Training College, Ireland (STAT approved). He is also the president and co-founder of the Irish Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (ISSAT). He has written nine books on the Alexander Technique, posture and health which have been translated into 22 languages and have sold over 250,000 copies. Titles include ‘Mind and Body Stress Relief, How to Breathe’ and ‘Evolved to Move’.

InACoRP (International Association of Contemporary Reichian Psychotherapy) was officially founded in November 2024. In the world of body psychotherapy there is a great interest for this association because its expression of the Reichian contemporary movement at the international level with all the old and new modalities, neuroscientific integrations, epigenetic contributions, trauma studies and any other connected symptoms of modernity work.

The workshop is composed by the European representatives of the Reichian psychotherapy in EABP who belong to InACoRP too. They’ll propose an experience of Character-Analytical Vegetotherapy, that is the Reichian method to investigate the significant aspects of our energetic and psychic life through the body and its segments to become aware of the sensations, emotions and memories contained within them.

Luisa Barbato is a psychologist, psychotherapist, teacher, supervisor and member of the Board of Directors of SIAR (Italian Society of Reichian Analysis). She is one of the founder of IUP (Body-psychotherapy Humanistic Institute) where she is also a teacher, supervisor and member of the Board of Directors. She is a member of the Board of Directors of AIPC (Italian Association of Body Psychotherapy) and InACoRP (International Association of Contemporary Reichian Psychotherapy).

Luisa is a member the Executive Committee of the Forum of Body Psychotherapy Training Institutes of EABP. She teaches contemporary Reichian body-psychotherapy in several Italian and European schools of psychotherapy. She works as a body psychotherapist in Rome, in public and private institutions, with individual and group therapies. She works with groups for the development of human potential and body awareness integrating body-psychotherapy, emotional release and meditation practices. She is the author of numerous scientific articles in Italian and International journals.