Some words about me

Richard Lawton Deep bodywork, Psychotherapeutic Bodywork, Postural Integration & Pulsing

I was led to body psychotherapy as a result of training as a massage therapist. During my training at Morley College, where I gained the ITEC diploma in anatomy, physiology & holistic massage, I noticed the emotional effects of massage, and it became clear that I was not just touching people's bodies as I worked, but their hearts and minds too. Fascinated, I investigated this further and discovered the world of psychotherapeutic bodywork.

I continued training in various bodywork and subtle-energy modalities, including Pulsing with Guy Gladstone. I also entered a 4-year training in creative Deep Bodywork with Silke Ziehl at The Open Centre, one of the longest-established centres for bodymind development in the UK. I am a qualified psychotherapeutic Deep Bodywork practitioner (Entelia Institute for Creative Bodywork) and a certified Postural Integrator (ICRI/ICPIT). I am one of the few people in the world to be certified as a Pulsing Master practitioner.

I have also undertaken training in Gestalt and Psychodrama groupwork with Ari Badaines, whose work at the Skyros centre has been reported in Top Sante magazine, and am currently completing a certificate in groupwork at the Gestalt Centre. I am proud to have trained with some of the best teachers in the world, people such as Silke Ziehl, Guy Gladstone and Ari Badaines who have demonstrated lifelong commitment to the humanistic approach and the human potential.

In 2009 I commenced a specialised training in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with Babette Rothschild, author of The Body Remembers.

My own journey of personal development and healing has taken me on many paths and has involved many different approaches. Over a period of several years I worked with Dr Michael Seear, the respected therapist and healer. (His work has been featured in The Times "Body & Soul" magazine 20 March 2004, and reported on the BBC).

My reflections on sexuality led me to explore Tantra, through which I gained powerful insights into both personal and societal attitudes towards sexuality. I am indebted to Brigitte Ariel for extending and deepening my understanding of the mind-body split and the spiritual dimension of sexuality.

In the past I was heavily involved in voluntary work with children in playschemes and PHAB clubs, both as an activity playleader and as a member of the management committee of York Playspace Group. During a career in the Civil Service I became Chairman of the Cabinet Office Playscheme Committee. I feel that playfulness is a quality that we should appreciate more as adults; children naturally play as an expression of the joy of being alive, of spontaneity and being in the moment. It is sad, then, that we associate such expressions only with children and not with adults.

I hold an Honours degree in Philosophy from York University.

I am an associate member of the UK Association for Humanistic Psychology Practitioners (UKAHPP) and working towards full accreditation; I am also registered and insured through the CThA. I am in regular supervision with a highly experienced body psychotherapist, and am fully committed to continuous professional development. This includes deepening and extending my professional skills and understanding, as well as continuing my own journey of self-awareness and personal development.

I bring to my work personal qualities of sensitivity, intuition and empathy. I am a deeply but quietly spiritual person, reflective, thoughtful, full of wonder at the magic and mystery of life. Yet I am also warm, humourous, playful and down-to-earth. I am fully aware of the tensions that can exist between our dreams & aspirations and the sometimes difficult reality of our daily lives. In working with clients I never dismiss or deny either. I have a passion for helping people find more room to breathe and more space to be fully alive, to help them on their journey of becoming all that they can be.

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