* There are a number of books on the body and psychoanalysis but very little on bodily movement in clinical settings * Ruella Frank is an international expert on the topic * Offers advances in theory and clinical practice for anyone with a psychoanalytic interest in their therapeutic work

* There are a number of books on the body and psychoanalysis but very little on bodily movement in clinical settings * Ruella Frank is an international expert on the topic * Offers advances in theory and clinical practice for anyone with a psychoanalytic interest in their therapeutic work

The movement repertoire that develops in the first year of life is a language in itself and conveys desires, intentions, and emotions. This early life in motion serves as the roots of ongoing nonverbal interaction and later verbal expression - in short, this language remains a key element in communication throughout life. In their path-breaking book, gestalt therapist Ruella Frank and psychoanalyst Frances La Barre give readers the tools to see and understand the logic of this nonverbal realm. They demonstrate how observations of fundamental movement interactions between babies and parents cue us to coconstructed experiences that underlie psychological development. Numerous clinical vignettes and detailed case studies show how movement observation opens the door to understanding problems that develop in infancy and also those that appear in the continuing nonverbal dimension of adult communication. Their user-friendly nonverbal lexicon - foundational movement analysis - enhances perception of emerging interactive patterns of parents and their babies, couples, and individual adults within psychotherapy. Clinicians in any setting will find this book to be a masterful application of infant research and movement theory that significantly augments clinical acumen and promotes greater understanding of the nonverbal basis of all relationships.

Merging scientific theory with a practical, clinical approach, Body of Awareness explores the formation of infant movement experience and its manifest influence upon the later adult. Most significantly, it shows how the organizing principles in early development are functionally equivalent to those of the adult. It demonstrates how movement plays a critical role in a developing self-awareness for the infant and in maintaining a healthy self throughout life. In addition, a variety of case studies illustrates how infant developmental movement patterns are part of the moment-to-moment processes of the adult client and how to bring these patterns to awareness within therapy.
Body of Awareness is intended to help therapists, new or advanced, to enhance their skills of attunement. They can do this by heightening their observations of subtle movement patterns as they emerge within the client/therapist relationship, and by respective their own developing feelings within session as essential information to the therapy process. And as developmental patterns are central to psychological functioning, a background study of movement provides the therapist with critical insight into the unfolding psychodynamic field.

Merging scientific theory with a practical, clinical approach, Body of Awareness explores the formation of infant movement experience and its manifest influence upon the later adult. Most significantly, it shows how the organizing principles in early development are functionally equivalent to those of the adult. It demonstrates how movement plays a critical role in a developing self-awareness for the infant and in maintaining a healthy self throughout life. In addition, a variety of case studies illustrates how infant developmental movement patterns are part of the moment-to-moment processes of the adult client and how to bring these patterns to awareness within therapy. Body of Awareness is intended to help therapists, new or advanced, to enhance their skills of attunement. They can do this by heightening their observations of subtle movement patterns as they emerge within the client/therapist relationship, and by respective their own developing feelings within session as essential information to the therapy process. And as developmental patterns are central to psychological functioning, a background study of movement provides the therapist with critical insight into the unfolding psychodynamic field.

The movement repertoire that develops in the first year of life is a language in itself and conveys desires, intentions, and emotions. This early life in motion serves as the roots of ongoing nonverbal interaction and later verbal expression - in short, this language remains a key element in communication throughout life. In their path-breaking book, gestalt therapist Ruella Frank and psychoanalyst Frances La Barre give readers the tools to see and understand the logic of this nonverbal realm. They demonstrate how observations of fundamental movement interactions between babies and parents cue us to coconstructed experiences that underlie psychological development. Numerous clinical vignettes and detailed case studies show how movement observation opens the door to understanding problems that develop in infancy and also those that appear in the continuing nonverbal dimension of adult communication. Their user-friendly nonverbal lexicon - foundational movement analysis - enhances perception of emerging interactive patterns of parents and their babies, couples, and individual adults within psychotherapy. Clinicians in any setting will find this book to be a masterful application of infant research and movement theory that significantly augments clinical acumen and promotes greater understanding of the nonverbal basis of all relationships.