Category: Somatic Psychotherapy

Success, failure and Motivation Part 1: What’s Driving You?

SUCCESS FAILURE & MOTIVATION

Part I: What’s driving you?  Could it be your Fear?

Motivating ourselves and others by Fear seems to dominate all areas of our lives. Have we forgotten what we really want?
This article reflects on the question: Where is all this taking us?

Every action is motivated by the desire to move TOWARDS or AWAY FROM  something or someone.There is an important difference in the way these two forces work. read more

Listening To Your Teenager

by Donald Marmara, Somatic Psychotherapist and Educator, Artarmon, Sydney

A girl was sitting on her own in the school playground. I walked up to her and said “Are you OK? You look sad”.

She replied “It’s my birthday tomorrow”.

“Why does that make you sad?” I asked

”I’m getting a bicycle” read more

Talking to Your Teenager

Talking to your teenager is one of life’s big challenges, requiring flexibility, creative thought and a willingness to enter into their world.

The aim is to give your teenager food for thought, rather than just dispensing advice, or reading them the riot act.

For communication to be meaningful, it involves genuine listening to what your teen is telling you. There’s a difference between listening to understand what they feel, and giving the appearance of listening when you’ve already made up your mind about what they should be doing. read more

Core Development – Counselling, Somatic Psychotherapy or Emotional Learning?

by Donald Marmara, Somatic Psychotherapist and Emotional Learning Facilitator, Artarmon, Sydney, Australia

Are you experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties or other emotional challenges?

What is core development and how can it help you?

Core Development can help you discover for yourself, in your own unique way,  the root cause of your emotional challenges and how you can deal with them effectively.

It can take you further than problem solving, further than overcoming your anxiety, depression, stress or whatever is stopping you from living your life more fully.  It can help you create a healthier and more fulfilling life. read more

Experiential Learning

Experiential Learning and its relevance to Somatic Psychotherapy, Counselling and Education.

by Donald Marmara

I will share an experience that I had when I was 20 years old. This is a true story and one of the formative experiences of my life.

I grew up in Malta, and I happened to meet an interesting guy at a party one night. I started chatting with this man, and discovered that he was one of England’s leading meteorological experts and that he had been hired by the government to help set up a met office in Malta. read more

Somatic Transference and Counter-transference in Psychotherapy

In the book “Bonding” by Stanley Keleman – the author defines transference and counter-transference as “how a client and a therapist develop a relationship with each other to individuate, seek satisfaction, or maintain their social, instinctual and personal lives.”

He points out that whereas the more traditional approaches focus solely on feelings, emotions, fantasies and images, somatic psychotherapy views bodylanguage as the real mirror for feelings and needs. read more

The Tortoise and the Hare

How the digestive system informs Biodynamic Psychotherapy

by Donald Marmara, somatic psychotherapist

Gerda Boyesen, the Norwegian clinical psychologist and physiotherapist who set up the school of Biodynamic Psychology and Psychotherapy in London, tells this story.

When she was seeing clients at her clinic in Oslo, she noted that she was having significantly better results with some clients than with others. read more

Parents – How To Be More Effective In Helping Your Children

You can reduce the stress you have as a parent when your children are having difficulties . This will also make you  more effective in helping them.

Parents who come to see me with concerns about their children sometimes feel guilty, confused or inadequate. These feelings can sometimes be reinforced by conflicting expert opinions and advice. read more

What Is Massage? Is It Just A Rub?

Massage is a dialogue, a communication through the medium of touch. It is more than just a rub.

Touch is a form of communication and the essence and potential of massage is diminished when it is perceived as no more than a mechanical process.

Another popular misconception is that massage is something that the therapist does to the client. When massaging, my hands are both giving and receiving touch. read more

Ecology Begins In You


Ecology is about relationships – our relationship with the environment, which includes other people as well as animals, plants, the air we breathe etc – and our relationship with ourselves, which is something we often forget or take for granted.

If it is so obvious that we cannot alter the environment without affecting ourselves, and that we are not only in intimate contact with the environment but that we are part of the environment, how come some individuals, politicians and industrialists continue to damage the environment – and therefore themselves? read more