Body, Relationship and Attunement in Psychotherapy
An eight-session experiential workshop with Sabine Tendas, Counselling Psychologist, Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist and Dance Movement Therapist.
What happens when we listen not only to words, but to the body?
Psychotherapy often begins with talking. Yet some experiences are difficult to reach through words alone. They may appear first as tension, movement, stillness, sensation, gesture, breath, distance or an impulse to move towards or away from another person.
Embodied Listening is a body-based psychotherapy workshop in Brighton for psychotherapists, counsellors and students in training who want to explore these less verbal dimensions of therapeutic work.
Across eight experiential sessions, we will use movement, body awareness and Transactional Analysis to explore how psychological and relational patterns are experienced through the body.
This is not a dance class and you do not need to know how to dance.
It is an invitation to become more attentive to your body, more sensitive to what happens between bodies in relationship, and more able to use embodied information thoughtfully within psychotherapy.
8 sessions · 16 hours · Brighton · January–March 2027
£340 | Early bird £310 until 20 November
When words are not the whole story
We communicate long before we speak.
A change in breathing.
A body becoming smaller.
A sudden heaviness.
An urge to move away.
A feeling of being pulled closer.
A tension appearing in the therapist's own body.
Much of what happens within a therapeutic relationship is communicated through these subtle embodied processes.
When we rely only on verbal content, some of this information can be missed.
Body psychotherapy and movement-based approaches offer another way of listening: not instead of words, but alongside them.
Embodied Listening creates a space in which you can slow down sufficiently to notice what your body is already registering.
Workshop objectives
The workshop is open to:
Psychotherapists
Counsellors
Psychotherapy and counselling students in training
It may particularly appeal to practitioners interested in:
body psychotherapy, somatic psychotherapy, Dance Movement Therapy, relational psychotherapy, Transactional Analysis, creative psychotherapy, embodied practice, attachment, non-verbal communication and somatic countertransference.
It may also be valuable if you find yourself thinking:
I understand the theory, but I want to feel it more.
I notice things in my body with clients but I don't always know what to do with them.
I want to become less dependent on words.
I want greater confidence in working creatively.
I want to become more present in the room.
If any of these resonate, this workshop was designed with that territory in mind.
By the end of the programme, the workshop aims to help you:
develop greater awareness of and connection with your own body
refine your capacity for embodied attunement within the therapeutic relationship
become more sensitive to non-verbal and bodily communication
recognise your own bodily responses during relational encounters
develop your capacity to reflect upon somatic countertransference
integrate movement and embodied awareness with psychological thinking
become more comfortable working at the meeting point between words, movement and relationship
The emphasis throughout is on curiosity rather than performance.
There is no correct way to move.
Transactional Analysis gives us a sophisticated way of thinking about how people develop patterns of relating to themselves and others.
But these patterns do not exist only as ideas.
We live them.
They can appear in the way we occupy space, hold ourselves, approach another person, retreat, adapt, protect ourselves or seek contact.
During the workshop, movement will be used as an experiential way of exploring key ideas from Transactional Analysis.
Rather than simply thinking about a relational pattern, you will have opportunities to notice how that pattern is experienced in your body.
What changes when you move?
What becomes clearer when you stop?
What happens when another person enters your space?
What does your body do before you have time to explain it?
Movement can make visible something that language has not yet reached.
Transactional Analysis InMovement
What is embodied listening?
Embodied listening means attending to experience through the whole person.
It includes listening to words, but also noticing:
bodily sensation and tension
breathing and rhythm
posture and gesture
movement and stillness
proximity and distance
impulses towards contact or withdrawal
changes within your own body while you are with another person
For therapists, this can become an important part of understanding attunement, countertransference and relational process.
Sometimes the body notices something before the conscious mind has found language for it.
The work of the therapist is not to treat every sensation as meaningful or to rush to interpretation. It is to develop enough bodily awareness to remain curious about what is happening.
What will we explore?
Across the eight sessions, we will work with three interconnected areas.
Attunement and relationship
Therapists frequently experience bodily responses in the presence of clients.
Rather than automatically interpreting these sensations, we can learn to notice them, reflect upon them and consider whether they may contribute to our understanding of the therapeutic relationship.
Embodied Listening will help you develop a more thoughtful relationship with this somatic countertransference.
Body awareness
The body is the ground from which we meet another person.
You will be invited to develop greater awareness of sensation, movement, tension, rhythm and bodily impulses without immediately needing to explain them.
This can support a more grounded and differentiated awareness of your own experience.
Psychotherapy happens between people.
We will explore how contact is created, interrupted, negotiated and experienced through the body, and what movement can teach us about the subtle process of becoming attuned to another person.
Somatic countertransference
The practical details
Dates
15, 22 and 29 January 2027
12, 19 and 26 February 2027
12 and 19 March 2027
Time
2.15 pm–4.15 pm
Location
South East Dance
The Dance Space
Brighton
Programme
8 experiential sessions
16 hours of embodied personal development
An introductory individual session and follow-up session are also included.
Fee
£340 for the complete eight-session programme
Early bird: £310 until 20 November
A £70 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your place.
The programme is recognised towards personal therapy and CPD. If you are undertaking professional training, please check the requirements of your particular training organisation.
Frequently asked questions
Is this body psychotherapy?
The workshop draws strongly on embodied and body-based approaches to psychotherapy alongside Dance Movement Therapy and Transactional Analysis. Its focus is on using bodily awareness and movement to deepen psychological and relational understanding.
Do I have to dance in front of other people?
There is no expectation to perform or to produce a particular kind of movement. The work is exploratory rather than performative and participants are encouraged to work within their own boundaries.
Do I need experience of Transactional Analysis?
No. Relevant concepts will be introduced as part of the programme.
Do I need previous movement experience?
No. No dance or movement training is required.
Can the hours count towards CPD or personal therapy?
The programme provides 16 hours of experiential personal development and is recognised towards personal therapy and CPD. Participants undertaking accredited professional training should confirm eligibility with their own training provider or professional organisation.
Where does the workshop take place?
The workshop takes place at South East Dance, The Dance Space in Brighton.
Is the workshop suitable for qualified therapists?
Yes. The programme is designed for counsellors, psychotherapists and those in professional training. Qualified practitioners may particularly value the opportunity to explore attunement and somatic countertransference experientially.
Contact
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