About IBP

Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP) is a highly efficient and effective way of working with clients that can lead to deeper more meaningful therapeutic work in less time with lasting results. IBP treats the whole person, integrating the body, mind, emotions and spirit. IBP unifies the best approaches to mental health and human evolution including: Psychoanalysis, Object Relations Theory, Gestalt therapy, Reichian therapy, Self Psychology, Bioenergetics, Feldenkrais, Transpersonal Psychology, Eastern philosophies and practices, and more. All these therapeutic approaches are unified in a single non-invasive somatic implementation model that is simple, powerful, and often, transformative.

IBP mental health tools are used in combination with energetic breath work to heighten aliveness in the body, enabling clients to break through their somatically maintained habitual false-self facades into fully integrated states of well-being, constancy and core sense of self. By giving IBP clients a new somatically integrated experience of themselves, others and the world, they see everything through a totally different lens. By practicing IBP mental health tools and energetic breath work, clients learn to shift themselves out of the old habitual patterns and behaviors that kept them fragmented and living out of their false self, and to sustain a profound body-mind state of core self in the face of life's inevitable interruptions.

Many people today live in constant states of stress, or fight, flight or freeze. These dysfunctional body-mind states not only limit functions such as the immune system, sexuality, digestion, and elimination, they also block the ability to think and feel beyond survival and crisis level problems. Without effective somatic intervention, clients stay fragmented, unstable and prone to faulty projections. It is extremely difficult to shift out of these dysfunctional states through talk therapy alone. What IBP offers is an effective, integrated approach, that can transform states of fragmentation and stress into integrated and embodied states of wellbeing, clarity, and serenity— changes that can be seen and felt in the body.

Many IBP clients and therapists come to IBP because they feel dissatisfied or disillusioned with other therapy modalities; they feel something is missing, or they aren't experiencing real changes or lasting therapeutic results in themselves or with their clients.

Integrative Body Psychotherapy Training Program offers four tracks:

• Track 1: Mental Health Practitioner
• Track 2: Allied Professional
• Track 3: Teacher
• Track 4: Associate

Track 1: IBP Mental Health Practitioner. A three-year program for licensed or license-eligible mental health professionals. Each year consists of seven 18-hour weekends. The third year of this program focuses on application of skills and concepts taught in the first two years of the program. The integration of these concepts and skills is critical to the practice of IBP therapy. Certification is awarded to those who complete training hours, demonstrate learning and who are licensed in the mental health field.

Track 2: IBP Allied Professional. A two-year program for those who have a master's degree or higher or are licensed in their chosen field. It offers the skills and integrity of IBP to professionals who, on a personal level, would like to become more awakened and present, with clarity of mind; and professional, want to increase their capacity for working with others. Students in this track may complete the third year by invitation from an IBP teacher and after providing a rationale in writing that substantiates the benefit of the third year of training to their professional development. Certification is provided for those who complete training hours, demonstrate learning and who and are licensed in their profession.

Track 3: IBP Teacher. A three-year program for IBP certified graduates who wish to deepen their skills by becoming an IBP certified teacher. Students in this track are called teaching assistants (TAs), become part of the teaching staff, and act as advisors. Certification is awarded to those who complete training hours, demonstrate learning and who are licensed professionals.

Track 4: IBP Associate. A two-year program offered to those who wish to use IBP skills and awakening for personal growth and well-being, in addition to increasing their career, parenting, and/or relationship skills. Students in this track may complete the third year by invitation from an IBP teacher and after providing a rationale in writing that substantiates the benefit of the third year of training to their personal or professional development. A Letter of Completion is provided for those who complete training hours and demonstrate learning.

Each training weekend is taught by a team of two licensed, Certified IBP Teachers with expertise in the course topic. Instruction is a blend of didactic and experiential modules, with students learning concepts and skills then practicing to integrate learning. This is done with the assistance of teachers and teaching assistants. Requirements for completion of each seminar include attendance of all 18 hours of the weekend, active participation, demonstration of learning assimilation and reading material. Each weekend, students will receive teacher and teaching assistant written evaluations of student competency. Requirements for student achievement include completion of each seminar as described above.

Find out more about IBP Training.

IBP Introductory Workshops are offered several times a year to enable prospective students to sample how IBP works and learn about the IBP Training Program, and to meet IBP faculty and current students. Find an IBP Introductory Workshop.