Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series: Healing Developmental Disruptions, Christine Bouckaert, PSY, Joel Isaacs, PhD and Anne Isaacs, LCSW

Healing Developmental Disruptions

Christine Bouckaert, PSY, Joel Isaacs, PhD 

and Anne Isaacs, LCSW

Bodynamics is a somatic Developmental psychotherapy, based on twenty years of empirical research into the developmental origins of clients’ current problems. The model of Seven Developmental Stages is a detailed description of how developmental experience is encoded in both mind and body. It includes the characteristics, themes, muscles and therapeutic issues for each stage, which allows for great specificity in therapeutic interventions.

In this presentation we will focus on the fear of commitment. Many clients, both individual and couples, have difficulty making commitments, which can be expressed in difficulty choosing a partner, a profession or even in what to do on Saturday night. This can be an indication of Avoidant Attachment, a problem in adults that often has its origins developmental disruptions during the period between 9 and 30 months of age.

We will explore both didactically and experientially the problems that contribute to fear of commitment. Using the Seven Developmental Stages Model, we will describe the related "Autonomy" stage, in particular. We will explore the themes of the Autonomy stage, the developmental interactions that prove problematic, as well as how protective patterns can be held in the body. We will demonstrate the use of some of the specific muscles that can build the skills needed for contemporary resolution of presenting issues.  Additionally, we will explore how relating around the themes of this stage both builds the interpersonal relationship and aids the therapy.

Christine Bouckaert, PSY holds a PhD in Psychology, is a Certified SE Practitioner, an Advanced Emotional Focused Couples therapist and a Sand Play therapist. She has been working in the Bay Area since 2002, offering psychotherapy in English, French and Dutch and specializing in disrupted Attachment issues, shock and developmental traumas.

Anne Isaacs, LCSW and Joel Isaacs, PhD have been in practice and training therapists for over 25 years. They led workshops at Esalen Institute for 20 years and were adjunct faculty at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. Anne and Joel are based in Los Angeles, doing trainings throughout the US and Canada. For more information: www.bodynamicusa.com