Childhood Psychotherapy: A Bioenergetic Approach [Hardcover]

Christa D. Ventling (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000 | ISBN-10: 3805571496 | ISBN-13: 978-3805571494 | Edition: 1

The consequences of early childhood trauma are often severe and may extend into adulthood resulting in neurotic or even psychotic personality disorders. Separation from a parent at birth or soon afterwards and sexual and/or physical abuse are the traumata seen most often in young children. However, emotional unavailability of the person the child relates to or, on the other hand, overstimulation of a baby can also be disastrous. Treating children at an early age therefore becomes a prime issue in order to prevent more serious damage later on in life. Presented here for the first time is an application of bioenergetic interventions modified to suit young children. The collection of contributions by experienced body-oriented psychotherapists, all in private practice, deals with pregnancy, birth and early childhood, providing insight into both preventive as well as healing aspects.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 87 pages
• Publisher: S Karger Pub; 1 edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3805571496
• ISBN-13: 978-3805571494
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,066,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bioenergetic Therapy or Body Centered Therapy?, September 24, 2001

By 

Jennifer Duke (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Childhood Psychotherapy: A Bioenergetic Approach (Hardcover)

The title of this book is misleading. I expected bioenergetic therapy to relate to electromagnetic fields, as in a force field around the body. I eagerly anticipated how the writers of various essays would utilize these energy fields in psychotherapy.
Instead, the theory and techniques seem to address body awareness and movement, making use of the psychotherapist's countertransference. The body does store memories and trauma. A body-centered therapy is especially useful when working with children. Some of the interventions were fascinating and probably would yield benefits in a psychotherapy practice.
I found the translations in some essays to be unwieldy: sentence structures in some essays were clearly not auf Englisch. In addition, the translations were not sensitive to common usage in English. One intervention which used a "blue ball" was particularly interesting. I would, however, feel uncomfortable referring to a "blue ball" intervention given the sexual connotation of the phrase in English.
Even though I was thoroughly mislead by the title, I am glad to have been introduced to some of the concepts of this body-centered therapy. However, I am not certain the information contained in its 87 pages provided sufficient value to justify the cost of the book.