Freeing the Breath: Adjustment in Body Psychotherapy

In-depth clinical learning on a key area of practice, guided by leading experts.

Event overview:

For many clients, the body sits in the background of therapy,  noticed only when symptoms become too loud to ignore.

Breathing patterns, posture and habitual tension can quietly carry stories of compliance, self‑protection and long‑standing adaptations to stress. They shape how a person feels, relates and regulates, often without explicit awareness.

This 2‑hour clinical webinar explores “adjustment” in body psychotherapy: working directly with breath, posture and movement to soften chronic holding and invite more embodied choice.

You will see how small, respectful adjustments can gently shift the nervous system, deepen emotional contact and open up new possibilities in the therapeutic relationship.

We will examine:

• How breath, posture and movement express emotional history and relational patterns
• Ways to invite somatic adjustment without pushing, shaming or overwhelming
• The link between muscular holding, character adaptation and defensive structure
• When to focus on bodily expansion, and when constriction may be protective
• How the therapist’s own body position and breathing influence the work

We’ll also look at adjustment through a trauma‑informed lens, including why some clients experience direct body focus as intrusive, and how to maintain choice, pacing and safety at every step.

Clinical Takeaway

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Notice key somatic cues in breath, posture and movement during sessions
• Introduce simple adjustment‑oriented interventions in a consent‑led way
• Understand when bodily expansion supports regulation – and when it risks overload
• Integrate somatic observations into your formulation and ongoing treatment plan
• Use your own body awareness as an active clinical resource, not just background

This webinar forms part of The Body Psychotherapy Series

The Body Psychotherapy Series is a four‑part Grove Series CPD pathway with Nick Totton and Robert Rees, exploring adjustment, trauma discharge, relational and process‑oriented models of body psychotherapy.

Pricing and booking options

You can book this event on its own for £30 (optional CPD & recording purchase available), choose selected sessions, or purchase the full series as a bundled CPD course for a discounted rate of £120 (includes CPD certificates and recordings).

To only purchase selected events, follow the links below to visit each event page, or click here to go directly to the purchase page.

Dates and times

All on Zoom, 14:00-16:00 (UK time)

1. Freeing the Breath: Adjustment in Body Psychotherapy – 6th November 2026
2. Releasing Held Pain: Trauma Discharge and the Body – 27th November 2026
3. Two Bodies in the Room: Relational Body Psychotherapy – 4th December 2026
4. Following the Process: Spontaneity and Wildness in Body Psychotherapy – 8th January 2027