Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy
Nicola Jephson Coates
"When the rhythm of the music changes, the dance step changes also."
About me
Nicola is a trainee biodynamic psychotherapist (UKCP), a biodynamic massage therapist and full member of the Association of Biodynamic Therapists.
She was born and grew up in South Africa, has lived in different countries in Africa and Europe, speaks English, French, and rusty Italian. She welcomes diversity, and understands the necessity of honouring her clients' world view to help them embody their nature, and relationship with themselves, their loved ones, others and our precious planet. She believes the nature of individual / couples biodynamic work can have a ripple effect to the level of global healing.
Earlier in life she worked in the tourism industry in Botswana, she's a translator, has taught French, Yoga and English as a foreign language. She's happiest barefoot on a remote beach or in the African bush.
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What is Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy?
Every human is conceived a wonderfully unique being. One's background, environment and life experiences from this moment, and throughout life's journey, shape one physically and psychologically. Repeated unfavourable experiences impact not only psyche, but breath awareness, posture, movement, and ultimately health and wellbeing too. These embodied patterns can limit, and become blocks to one's natural energy flow in different layers of the body and mind, including the autonomic nervous system, potentially limiting a person's natural capacity to live, grow, thrive and feel well: in oneself, with other people and with all living beings in our shared world.
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I might be able to help you ease physical symptoms such as aches and pains, undiagnosable symptoms, numbness and chronic pain, by approaching the symptom gently, giving it space to breathe and express itself; finding its connection with your life experience.
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With psychological dis-ease such as stress, depression, anxiety, overwhelm... we can gently work together to explore its physical manifestation to help you to reconnect with ease. This form of therapy can also help you navigate your way through a crisis, a junction in life, a yearning for an embodied way of life, or a deeper journey of self-exploration towards a vital, purposeful, pleasurable and connected way of being.
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Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy, which affects physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of life, stems from the humanistic approach and works with the healing life force to work with the mind, body and soul as one. It is underpinned by Freudian Psychoanalysis, psycho-postural physiotherapy, Reichian Body Psychotherapy and Humanistic Psychology. In the founder, Gerda Boyesen's words, ‘I stand on the shoulders of Freud, Reich and Bülow-Hansen’. (Boyesen: 1985). The focus is on the well aspects of a person helping to heal the wounded aspects.
As your therapist, together we co-create your sessions starting from where you are when you arrive. We will work using different methods depending on your needs and reasons for coming to therapy. We might work with embodied movement, breath release techniques, psychotherapeutic treatments, guided visualisation and imagery, or rooted talking, to name a few. Biodynamic Therapy's maxim is that a technique can fail you but you cannot fail a technique.
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​Psychotherapeutic treatments can be effective when wounding has occurred from conception until the age of about 2 years old, before a child can express themselves verbally. I work using different types of attuned, intentioned biodynamic touch, sensitive to physical and emotional states on different layers of the body (bone, muscles, connective tissue, skin, aura). I will work with you as a unique individual with all your many layers, rather than as a body or a part thereof.
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Nicola works from Tree Space, a quiet, safe retreat haven in Hindhead, Surrey.
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