Training Analysts to Work With Unconscious Embodied Expressions: Theoretical Underpinnings and Practical Guidelines

In this paper it is suggested that by incorporating embodied practices from bodywork and the performing arts analytic training could be enriched and promote the development of countertransference awareness for body sensations and movement. The historical background and theoretical underpinnings of an analytical training program focusing on embodied subjectivity, intersubjectivity, and objectivity, aimed at integrating experiences of self, other, and interaction, is outlined. The paper describes and discusses the training program developed at the Norwegian Character Analytic Institute over a 10-year period, featuring nonverbal, embodied ways of presenting and working with cases at seminars and in connection with supervision.