Körperpsychotherapie studieren – Entwurf eines universitären Curriculums nach dem Vorbild US-amerikanischer Masterstudiengänge

Since over 25 years US-American Master programs in Body Psychotherapy graduate future psychotherapists, thus granting them access to licensure. This model serves as an inspiration to the development of a German Master-Curriculum, coming at a fitting moment in time, now that Germany reforms all University degrees and with it the accredited programs for Psychotherapists. Starting with an introduction into the history, terms and traditional streams of Body Psychotherapy (BPT) and a presentation of the major categorisations for the various BPT methods, the author then introduces her own contribution: a fifth stream of BPT methods, called “the self-realizing stream”. The second part of this thesis recognizes the importance of body psychotherapy in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders, and presents an empirical study that was carried out in psychosomatic clinics in Germany. The analysis of questionnaires and interviews reveals a need for academic body psychotherapists. Main part of the dissertation introduces the US-American Master Programs in BPT, with a closer look at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Their emphasis on lab work demands from their students an ongoing interweaving of theories, practice and one’s own biography: a sort of somatic learning in a biographical context. The program furthermore includes topics, which are for the most part missing in German psychotherapy trainings, like cultural awareness and spirituality. Looking at the transfer into a German setting, ways of teaching and learning as well as the combination of science and self-exploration are being reflected. One central aspect of the drafted curriculum – the development of a therapeutic stance based on a humanistic model of man – is explored as the author critically reviews the content and values of the Clinical Psychology Programs and the experiences with the Bologna Process. In trying to find a spiritual home for the BPT in German Universities the author proposes the Motology, a discipline and science, that shares a conceptual and practical common ground with the BPT and knows how to bring master teachings into an academic setting.