BRIEF REPORT: The Body Dialogue: An Action Intervention to Build Body Empathy

Abstract

"The Body Dialogue" is an action technique in which the therapist uses role reversal to build a bridge of empathy between the body and the self. The director facilitates a conversation between the body and the self in an attempt to repair the bridge of broken trust and to reestablish the bond that was disrupted by the trauma of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse; medical trauma; illness; or aging. The goal is to facilitate the self's acceptance of the body and the self's willingness to listen to the body and hear the body's needs. The end result is that the self makes a commitment for the body's care.