The Embodied Field

Abstract

"Editor’s Note: We are very pleased to be able to publish the adapted text of a keynote presentation given by James Kepner at a recent conference. In this ground-breaking article he elucidates what being embodied entails, and suggests the need for therapists to be more embodied themselves. He makes an important contribution to the development of field theory and its application by describing how Gestalt practitioners need to create an experiential field that supports the particular work they are doing. He describes the ways in which practitioners and clients can create an embodied field. He concludes with a passionate plea for therapists to attend to their clients’ ‘embodied soul’ and their ‘ensouled body’. This article is adapted from a keynote pesentation to Deutsche Vereinigung Für Gestalttherapie Conference. Bad Kissingen, Germany. May 2002. As part of his presentation he invited the audience to undertake exercises in awareness, which we print here as they would have been addressed to the conference audience. Key words: embodiment, body-oriented psychotherapy, embodied field."