In Search of the Embodied Self

Editor’s Note: The following article was first appeared as a chapter in Michael Heller (Ed.) The Flesh of the Soul: The Body We Work With published by Peter Lang AG International Academic Publishers in Bern, and is used with permission. Following are the introductory comments of the authors. This article is based on a conference lecture by Gustl Marlock and Halko Weiss delivered in the format of a dialogue. Since the spirit of dialogue and openness to divergent ideas was maintained throughout, readers may notice inconsistencies at some points. We did not want to smooth them over in this printed version as our slightly differing approaches interwove with each other. In what follows we do not indicate which one of us is speaking which sentences since the ideas stand on their own. The authors are friends from compatible schools of body-inclusive psychotherapy—Hakomi Integrative Psychology (Weiss) and Unitive Psychology (Marlock)—who have exchanged ideas and supported each other for many years since their respective approaches share significant common ground: An emphasis on character analysis, states of consciousness, the therapeutic relationship, the mind-body interface, as well as the inclusion of Eastern thought and transpersonal dimensions. The methods differ in that Hakomi has a more holistic approach based in systems theory, while Unitive Psychology maintains a more deeply scholarly connection to traditional depth psychology. Gustl Marlock and Halko Weiss are practitioners and trainers of Unitive Psychology and Hakomi Therapy respectively. They are licensed Clinical Psychologists in Germany who joined as co-editors of the Handbook of Body-Psychotherapy published in Germany by Schattauer Verlag in 2006 as the most comprehensive authoritative reference book on Body Psychotherapy in the world today.