Body psychotherapy is a journey with the goal of discovering one's own aliveness. Step by step we approach the core of our being.

Body Psychotherapy

The reasons why you may seek help can be varied. You may have a long-term personal problem or relationship issue that you can’t resolve, or an immediate crisis that is weighing on you. You may be overwhelmed by your emotions or have difficulty managing physical symptoms. Psychotherapy offers you a non-judgmental, confidential environment in which you can address your concerns and take the space to become aware of your inner state.

In the course of a successful therapy, as a body psychotherapist, I will work with you to identify the factors you are struggling with and how they may be related to physical signs or symptoms. Sometimes physical signs such as sleep problems, anxiety, addictive behaviors or depression are understandable reactions to overwhelming structures at work or difficult relationships. The assumption of body psychotherapy is that the body is like a mirror of our thoughts and feelings. All of our attitudes are expressed in the way we move, hold, contract or expand our body. Pleasant thoughts and feelings cause expansion and lightness in the physical body; repeated or chronic conflicts with others at home or at work cause a feeling of constriction, both in the mind and in the muscles and other body tissues. If the body remains constantly in a state of contraction, it can become ill. In the early stages, there may be pain, tension, fatigue, listlessness and exhaustion. If little or no attention is paid to these symptoms, they may eventually develop into more severe emotional or physical disorders such as depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, despairing loneliness, and illness.

As a body psychotherapist, I support you in creating a better connection between mental insight and body awareness This will allow you to get in touch with yourself on a deeper level and gain a new perspective on yourself and others. The goal is to help you make more conscious decisions and expand your scope of action in everyday life.

In case of

  • Stress crisis, personal upheavals, midlife crises
  • Traumatic experiences and their after-effects
  • Burnout
  • Psychosomatic disorders
  • Persistent sleep problems
  • Depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorders
  • Problems with self-esteem
  • Persistent relationship problems or sexual problems
  • Feelings of alienation, existential crises, search for the meaning of life
  • Search for more vitality and liveliness

Body psychotherapy looks at the person as a whole, addressing the physical body, emotions, mind and spirit. It understands all emotional and mental problems in the context of the overall system of body and mind. For recurring problems to be resolved, mental insight is often not enough. Something needs to happen that affects all levels of our being. Body psychotherapists pay a lot of attention to the connections (or disconnections) between feeling and thinking, between bodily sensations and images, between spontaneous impulses and relational patterns. Starting from the conversation a session may involve body awareness, breathing exercises, imagery, movement improvisations, touch or any or any combination of these. In doing so, we inevitably encounter limiting patterns of thought and behavior that have accompanied us since childhood and also manifest themselves physically. The goal is to understand these patterns in the context of past life experiences, but also to create space for repressed personality parts to be expressed and new options for action to be developed.

Because you are able to make new experiences with the whole body in therapy and the insights are anchored in your bodily sensations, they are more readily available to you in everyday life. This is the great strength of body psychotherapy.

Body psychotherapists can use a broad range of techniques that create immediacy, some of which may involve working directly with the body. Even the simple application of body awareness can open up a whole neglected world of information for both client and therapist. In addition, methods from art therapy are applied. Creative media also create immediacy. A testimony of the present moment is created, an expression of our momentary feelings and moods. We can make visible and conscious and expand the contact and the perception of us.

Applied range of techniques

  • Therapeutic conversation
  • Exercises for body awareness
  • Breathing exercises
  • Touch
  • Movement work
  • Role play and expression work
  • Bioenergetic exercises
  • Work with imagery and imagination
  • Visual expression with acrylics, pastels, collage
  • Relaxation techniques and dream work

Personal Coaching

The perspective in coaching is practical, solution and action oriented. The goal of coaching is to mobilize your abilities to deal with a current problem as quickly as possible. Your issues are sorted, possibilities are made aware and ways are shown to find satisfactory solutions for you. The aim is to guide you in making independent decisions as quickly as possible. In this way, you will be able to implement the changes you want to make on your own. Personal Coaching involves the body, which helps you to anchor the individual solutions holistically in posture, appearance and actions in such a way that they are more readily available.

  • you have professional difficulties or would like to change your career
  • you have to cope with a difficult life transition (career start, career change, maternity, re-entry, self-employment)
  • you are overworked and stressed and long for a better work-life balance
  • you are in a difficult conflict and would like to make a decision
  • you are in a relationship/separation crisis
  • you wish for more appreciation towards yourself and in relationships with others

Therapy and coaching sessions

Interieurdesign Praxis Katharina Lenz

The duration of therapy varies depending on the indication and problem. The therapy can be arranged over a concentrated period of time as short-term therapy or as longer- term support (with a core period of 1-2 years). I work in person and online. Sessions usually take place on a weekly basis, but can also be arranged bi-weekly.


Initial session

I am happy to arrange an initial call, free of charge, where you can share more about what's going on for you and what you're looking for out of therapy, and ask any questions you might have. We can then both decide if it would be useful to book in a first session. This initial session lasts 50 minutes and costs 95 Euro. We will make an appointment for a non-binding consultation or a few trial sessions to get to know my way of working.

Further sessions

All further therapy sessions or coaching sessions last 50 minutes and cost 95 Euro. The cancellation period for the booked session is 24 hours. For cancellations at shorter notice, I charge for the booked time. Under certain conditions and with a low income, I offer a discount for the respective appointments. Please just ask!

Reimbursement for treatment services

The costs for body psychotherapy and coaching are usually not reimbursed by public health insurance. Reimbursement for therapeutic treatments is possible on the basis of the fee regulation for non-medical practitioners, if your private insurance or supplementary insurance covers costs for non-medical practitioners. Please consult your health insurance. For the conclusion of a supplementary insurance, you can obtain the necessary information on the Internet or from your insurance broker. Therapy costs that are not covered by health insurance are considered "extraordinary expenses" for tax purposes and are usually tax-deductible.

I offer you a protected space in which you can devote yourself to yourself and your own problems and concerns with benevolent support.

About me

Foto Katharina Lenz

Katharina Lenz

Katharina Lenz, born 1976, married, two children
alternative practitioner, social pedagogue

Over more than a decade I have been working as a therapist with individual clients and groups. With much joy I accompany people on their way to more self-love, clarity and a connection with themselves. My way of working is characterized by an attitude of a ‘joint exploration’: while sitting and talking, we embark on a journey of discovery together, becoming aware of body sensations, emotions, inner imagery and body impulses as they emerge. As we work through aspects of the personality, we get closer to the powerful natural force within. Having experienced my own growth process in therapy, training and supervision and having accompanied that of many clients, I am always touched and assured by how meaningful, clear and creative the language of the body is. In many cases, once we connect to our inner essential core this awakens resources and opens the way to overcome the problem. I look forward to accompanying you on this path of creative solution finding and transformation.


On the foundation of a completed degree in Law and an MA in European Studies in England and France, I absolved a basic coaching-training in Scotland. After training for and obtaining the permission to work as an alternative practitioner, I also completed a degree (BA) as a social pedagogue. My professional training in body psychotherapy took place over 8 years at the Institute for transformative Body Psychotherapy Berlin.

I'm a fully accredited member of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) and have trained to its membership standards (European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) Criteria for Full Individual Membership) .


Education

  • Katharina Lenz, born 1976, alternative practitioner, social pedagogue
  • Member of the German Association for Body Psychotherapy (DGK), www.koerperpsychotherapie-dgk.de, Section of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP), www.eabp.org
  • Training in body psychotherapy, trained by Bettina Schroeter and Wolfgang Hegenbart at the Institute for Transformative Body Psychotherapy in Berlin, www.transformative-koerperpsychotherapie.de
  • State-approved social pedagogue, studied social pedagogy in Cottbus (BTU)
  • Alternative practitioner (Heilpraktiker), trained at the Berlin School of Healing Arts
  • Art and creativity therapist, further training at the Institute for Relaxation Techniques and Communication (IEK), Berlin
  • Basic Coaching-Training, trained at Self-Factor Coaching, Scotland (International Coach Federation)
  • M.A. European Studies, postgraduate studies in European Politics (Euromasters) at the University of Bath and at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po)
  • Law degree from the Humboldt University Berlin and the Universitá di Padova, Italy

Professional development

  • Social pedagogue, temporary deputy pedagogical management of team socio-pedagogical family assistance of Zephir gGmbH in Berlin, www.zephir-ggmbh.de, work as a body-psychotherapist and socio-pedagogical counseling of parents, children and adolescents in the context of outreach parenting assistance, socio-pedagogical family assistance and support assistance
  • Social pedagogue in training at the SOS-Counseling Center Cottbus, play leader in the project “Playing at Home”
  • Social pedagogue in training at Therapieladen e.V. in Berlin, www.therapieladen.de, internship in an outpatient therapy facility for youth and drug support
  • Freelance lecturer at Epikur-Bildungshaus in Berlin, conception and lecturer of business start-up courses, individual coaching and workshops for personal and professional development
  • Project co-leader of the citizens' advisory service of the representation of the EU Commission in Berlin

We go on a journey of discovery together, in which the inclusion of the body with movement, breath, voice and emotional expression leads you to new insights.

Courses

Strengthening for mothers - finding confidence in oneself

In a two-hour workshop we will address the following topics:

  • How do I as a mother / single parent get into a circle of exhaustion and insecurity? What do we have in common as mothers (due to socialization, cultural roles, factual responsibility and burden)?
  • How are my resources at the moment? What am I satisfied with, what do I draw strength from? What is my own mothering style?
  • Guidance of body exercises for self-awareness and strengthening of self-awareness, for a better connection with your own needs and for the support of self-expression and self-assertion in the relationship with your children and with your partner/ other adults.

Duration: 2 hours
Participation fee: 25 €, reduced 15 € (students, unemployed)

If you are interested to try this out "on your own body" you are cordially invited.

Aussenansicht Praxis Katharina Lenz