From the Ryokan Catalogue Continuing Education Unit (CEU) course for psychotherapists at Ryokan, we have long supported the notion of the mind-body connection and have a number of classes that teach this in depth. Ryokan instructors Johnny Seitz and Dr. Adam Sheck are offering a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) course for psychotherapists (and students as well) this fall which will go deeper into this concept, using Johnny's theory of Bio-Typing which presents a model for using this mind-body connection psychotherapeutically.

In the work of psychotherapy and healing, our work is supporting our clients in connecting to themselves and to their psyches, so that they can gain the freedom to express themselves more fully in life. Most psychotherapy is "talk therapy," where psychotherapist and patient sit and commune primarily through the medium of speaking and listening. We know and teach here at Ryokan about the mind-body connection that is so critical to wholeness and health. Empirical research is validating this millennia-old concept more and more.

"Reading The Body For Therapeutic Applications / a simplified look at the functional human anatomy" is an extremely practical guide to reading the traumas, the blocks and the tensions that are present in the client's body so that you can understand what the client most wants and needs to deal with even if the client is not conscious of these things. It looks in depth at the information available to a therapist about the physical and emotional history that can be seen in the body of a client if you know enough about anatomy and can use this knowledge to read the body.

This course explores the anatomy of the body in a way that makes the human anatomy and it's psychological implications extremely accessible to anyone.

The anatomy of the mind is the primary subject of psychology but the body offers so much information and its anatomy is so rarely addressed in the schools of psychology. This course is a profoundly useable introduction to what the body is showing the therapist. A client's breathing can tell us about their thoughts and feelings but first we must come to appreciate the actual mechanics of breathing. Muscle innervations such as the chronic tension in the diaphragm or the throat can be present. Or muscle tensions that occur but are inappropriate to the moment are never random; they are in fact, extremely specific to subconscious impulses. Often the impulses to hide, to run, to express anger are so subtle that neither the client nor the therapist are aware of them but they could tell us so much that would be useful in helping the client and the therapist.

This course is a cutting edge theoretical and practical approach to working with this mind-body connection. Its model utilizes the circular causality between the development of the mind and the body. It studies the basic muscle recruitment patterns that develop within the infant/child, the choices of muscles that they use in evolving their style of breathing, have moving, of learning to walk.

These "choices" are influenced by the child's temperament, by their evolving personality, by their relationship with their primary relationships and how they experience their life through their body. And conversely, based upon these inner self-concepts, their physiology will develop.

Johnny Seitz has also published a book "Bio-Typing: Beyond Body Language". Please contact Johnny Seitz for more information on Bio-Typing, the CEU course, and the text.