Association News

It is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome you to the APPPAH 20th International Congress! Our Congress Chair, Co-Chair, and Committee are looking forward to hosting this special event at the beautiful Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in sunny San Diego, California. We are beyond ecstatic to have you! New times require new leaders, capable of bringing increased creativity and awareness to their work with the knowledge and skills required to be agents of positive change. In periods of significant scientific, psychological, and social transformation, old paradigms begin to erode, and new ways of thinking, leading, and interacting spring into action. The APPPAH 20th International Congress is designed to spotlight these new discoveries and open windows into ways of thinking appropriate for an interconnected pre- and perinatal global learning environment.

The latest issue of IBPJ is now online. This issue marks the end of Dr Jacqueline Carleton's 15 years as Editor-in Chief and Founding Editor – first of the USABP Journal and then of the IBPJ Journal. A good reason for an extra long issue!

It’s conference time. Well, okay it’s still almost a year away, but it is time to generate interest in pre-conference workshops, keynote speakers, pull-out sessions, and of course the grand extravaganza (who doesn’t love dinner and dancing?). As our tradition, Somatic Psychotherapy Today will focus its Winter 2016 issue on the upcoming USABP Conference, July 21-23 in Providence, Rhode Island, and the EABP Congress, October 13-16 in Athens, Greece.

What is it in us that makes it possible for us to heal based on our faith in a positive outcome? Join LifeSherpa, a nonprofit whose mission is to explore mindfulness as engagement with everyday life, as participants share their experiences. Many of the people who participate in LifeSherpa/s explorations are body-oriented psychotherapists.

Authors Amika Dharmadhikari, Gajanan Kelkar, and Avinash Dharmadhikari of the Manashakti Institute in India generated discussion among the JOPPPAH editorial staff. It is the usual journal policy to publish only articles with unanimous support of the editorial team. Three of the four editorial team members found this article to meet the journal's quality standards for clinical contributions and valued its potential to add a unique cultural perspective. However, our Associate Editor, Dr. Thomas R Verny, dissented on this article over concerns that it did not contribute new insights and that it was not scientifically sound. He also expressed concern about the potential mixing of religion and science. However, since this is rather common in work from India, the rest of the team felt the article merited attention as it does present another cultural perspective that includes recognition of the soul in clinical approaches.

SPT Magazine offers our congratulations to Hiroki Yamaji, the 2018 winner of the Alice Ladas Research Award. His study was titled: An Efficacy Study of Somatic Psychoeducation at a Japanese University. Hiroki addressed the question of whether an 8-week somatic psychoeducation course for college students could result in students developing somatic awareness and trust in the organism, and enhance integral functioning that included general mindfulness, stress resilience, interpersonal empathy, responsibility for self-care, and generic skills.

"How does birth impact society? How does society impact birth? Join APPPAH for the 19th International Congress at the Berkeley Marina Double Tree Hotel in Berkeley, CA December 3-6, 2015, to explore the questions and answers.

Imagine spending time this Fall in Berlin, Germany. September 6 to 9, 2018, our colleagues worldwide will gather to explore 'Body Psychotherapy and Challenges...

The portals are ready! We can now register for the USABP Fall Conference at Pacifica Graduate Institute, at their Retreat Center. The pre-conferences on Thursday, November 1, 2018m are offered by Rae Johnson, Aline LaPierre and Lawrence Hedges. All three presenters are proven to offer excellent information and current insights in our field. The conference, entitled,The Science of Connection, is November 2-4 beginning at 8 am! 

You are invited to read our review of the USABP 2016 Conference entitled: "Sexuality, spirituality and the body: the art and science of somatic psychotherapy. Report on the USABP conference, 20th–23rd July 2016" recently published in Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy.