Ever since the inception of body psychotherapy, with Wilhelm Reich and his sources of inspiration in dance and gymnastics circles, the thoracic diaphragm or midriff has played a central role in understanding the body as a whole and the body as a medium for expressing emotions and agency. In this conference, we will focus on this structure, the diaphragm thoracalis, and highlight the role it plays in our thinking about what we do, while also looking at how we work with it in practice in the various traditions that exist in the field of body psychotherapy.

 

We will take as our starting point the Norwegian tradition, as it was developed in the 1930s and 40s, with important figures such as Wilhelm Reich, Trygve Braatøy, Aadel Bülow-Hansen, Nic Waal, Ola Raknes, Gerda Boyesen and Lillemor Johnsen.

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At the same time, we will look at how this starting point has been used to further develop practices, and how this seed from Oslo has spread across large parts of the world. We have invited leading therapists and professionals from these different traditions to return to Oslo so that we can discuss this central structure, namely the diaphragma thoracalis, here in the place where these traditions originated.