What is Bioenergetics?

In 1993 I had the opportunity to recieve bioenergetic therapy and loved it. I then begain training in it with the Chicago Society for Bioenergetic Analysis. Here is a description:

Bioenergetic Analysis is a somatic psychotherapy which combines work with the body and the mind to help individuals resolve emotional problems and to increase their potential for pleasure and joy in living. Based on the premise that there is no fundamental separation between the mind and the body, Bioenergetic Theory is a way of understanding personality in terms of one's body, it's form and movement; i.e. the body and mind are one and interact with each other as a whole.

Emotional stress from many areas of one's life--relationships, family, work, health--produce tension in the body. The body reacts to stress by contracting. Contractions in the muscular system are often the result of carrying unresolved emotional tension. These contractions can have a direct effect on the energy level of the individual, on the capacity for spontaneous and creative self-expression and on feelings of well-being with oneself, one's physical health and with others. Bioenergetic Therapy seeks to bring about the conscious integration of mind and body by working with the special relationship between various levels of experience: cognitive, emotional, physical, spiritual and energetic. More info at: www.bioenergetics-chicago.org.