École Biodynamique           

Directors: Christiane and François Lewin       

1400 ch. de Moulares         

F-34070 Montpellier            

France   

Tel: +33-4-67-22-4050          

ecole@psychologie-biodynamique.com

www.psychologie.biodynamique.com            

 

School history

The school was established in 1987 in Montpellier by Christiane and François Lewin based on Biodynamic Psychology, the work of Gerda Boyesen. Gradually the school spread to Paris, Lyon, Brazil, Argentina and, most recently, Brussels.

The Biodynamic psychotherapists founded a professional association (APPB) in 1992 for the purpose of exchange and research.

Under the name REALITÉS the school works in institutions, companies and hospitals, to address problems arising in those situations such as work stress, pain management, everyday violence, professional relationships.

There are full professional training programmes in Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Sao Paulo, and Brussels.

In Paris and Montpellier the school owns its own premises with office space and several rooms for groups as well as for individual therapy. Premises for training in the other cities are rented on a regular basis.

 

Basic theory and concepts

Initiated by the Norwegian Gerda Boyesen fifty years ago, Biodynamic Psychology is based in the current of Reichian theory, working on body armour and recollection of the past, and on the psychotherapeutic massages of Bulow Hansen, developed from the ancient Scandinavian care for the body.

This method studies the energetic circulation of the psyche in and through the body. It takes into account the different levels of being: mental, emotional, physiological and spiritual, with adapted strategies for each of these aspects. Aware of the specific rhythm of each and everyone of us, it has developed a special attention to the neuro-vegetative regulation that allows an indepth integration of life changes, with a particular interest in the psycho-peristaltism, discovered by Gerda Boyesen, which is the ability of the intestine to digest emotions and stress. Within that spirit, Biodynamic Psychology has a wide range of psychotherapeutic tools that can adapt to different psychological or somatic structures: vegetotherapy, Biodynamic massage, breathing work, regression, psychodrama, imagery, dream analysis…

 

Training description

The curriculum has developed and widened over the years, and reflects the rich backgrounds of the various trainers.

The programme is structured over five years in three cycles:

  1. experiential - self-awareness - sensitivity development - one year
  2. the basics of biodynamic psychotherapy - observed student clinic - two years
  3. deepening understanding of specific themes - observed student clinic - supervised clinical practice - presentation of final dissertation - two years

 

The range of activities has broadened over the years. We now offer:

 

Trainers

The core team members were trained by Gerda Boyesen and are all experts in their own field, with at least twenty years of experience. They come from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland and Vénezuela.

There is also a French team of more recent graduates of the school with at least ten years experience.

 

Main trainers:    

 

Guest Biodynamic trainers:

 

Links have been established with other biodynamic institutes and also with Biosynthesis in Brazil, the Functional Psychotherapy and Biosystemic Institutes in Italy, the Reich Institute in Greece and the London school of Biodynamic Psychotherapy. We welcome student exchange visits between the schools.

 

State of recognition

École Biodynamique was accredited as a Body-Psychotherapy Training Institute by the EABP FORUM in September 1999. The Biodynamic method was scientifically validated by the EAP, European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) in July 2001.

The school has been registered since 1987 as Organisme de Formation Professionnelle by the relevant French organisations.

The school is ready for the ECP but is reticent for three reasons:

1.        There is a slide towards academic criteria, which are interesting in themselves, but are still secondary to the sensitive ability of the therapist, aware of his life experience. That choice eliminates people from the therapeutic field who do not have an academic background, despite having profound human experience.

2.        There is a uniformity of criteria in Europe even though cultures and characters vary widely in European countries.

3.        There is a great administrative demand for concrete results which are not possible at the level of professional practice in France and in almost every country in Europe. For the time being, graduates of the school can set up a practice in France (and therefore in the entire European community) as a psychotherapist. If there is a modification in the legal status, the school is ready to react to ensure that graduates can continue their work.

 

EABP Members

Christiane and François Lewin

 

Literature - publication - research

Boyesen, Gerda, Entre Psyché et Soma (ed. Payot)

Collected Papers of Biodynamic and Biodynamic Journal London

Two journals - Diagonale et Le Canard Biodynamique - have been edited by the Professional Association since 1991. Many lectures have been given  in different countries and at international congresses. Lectures have been published in national journals such as Biocontact, Soleil levant, etc.

 

François Lewin                                   Christiane Lewin-Gros