Bioenergetic Self-Care for Therapists: Between Openness and Boundary Setting Bioenergetic Self-Care for Therapists

In this paper I will present neurobiological findings on the somatic effects of resonance phenomena, empirical results on the respective occupational risks of therapists, and bioenergetic concepts and techniques regarding the subject of self-care. While I was thrilled to have described the phenomena of somatic resonance in the late 1990s and it’s potential for work with embodied countertransference in the therapeutic process, the discovery of mirror neurons a short time later validated these exciting phenomena on the neurobiological level. Since then I have also immersed myself on the flip side of empathy. We as resonating therapists are in danger of losing our own living vibration, possibly even becoming sick. Bioenergetic exercises can, with a correspondingly modified non-clinical focus, be very helpful for the self-care of therapists. The illustrations (cartoons) hopefully bring some humor to the presentation of this important and hitherto neglected topic. notReviewed publishedVersion