Rosen Method Bodywork

Two hands resting on a person's back
“C-PTSD and Somatic Therapy - There are various somatic therapies that can help our bodies heal including Rosen Work, which can be very helpful in aiding the recovery of the ability to therapeutically emote both tears and anger”
— Pete Walker - Complex PTSD: from surviving to thriving p.46

Rosen Method Bodywork (RMB) is somatic bodywork distinguished by its gentle, direct touch, using hands that listen rather than manipulate, along with verbal dialogue between the client and practitioner. I describe Rosen as witnessed meditation.

During a session a client lays on a massage table, undressed to their level of comfort.

Rosen (pronounced rose - in) is often used by people who are seeking relief from chronic issues including headaches, back pain, muscle tension, joint pain, insomnia fatigue. The work can be supportive for people seeking emotional healing and for survivors of trauma or abuse, including religious trauma / conditioning - purity culture, rapture anxiety and denying queer/LGBTQIA+ identity.

Rosen Method Bodywork can also support those setting intentions and/or integrating psychedelic experiences.

Rosen Method Bodywork is a great support tool for those in psychotherapy to integrate the body and mind connection.

Rosen Method is also great as a stand alone practice, and does not need to be congruent with psychotherapy.

As a Rosen session unfolds, habitual tension and old patterns and memories may be released, freeing the client to experience more aliveness, deep emotions, new choices in life, and a greater sense of well-being.

Marion Rosen, founder of Rosen Method, was a physical therapist trained at Mayo Clinic, and worked in Berkeley, CA, who had a vision of the whole person in which the body can function fully and breathe freely; a vision of human beings experiencing the whole range of emotions and sensations.

FAQs

From potential clients

  • Rosen Method explores where tension is held in the body, either felt or unconsciously held. It is not reiki and it is not a massage. I describe it as 'witnessed meditation' as someone (the practitioner) holds the space/container to explore and we move at the pace of the body, which is many times slower than our brains, which yes, can help with trauma and startle reflex (hyper vigilance). Rosen works with the parasympathetic nervous system.

  • No. The only similarities are that a massage table is used for the session. Rosen Method Bodywork is not energy work.

  • Rosen Method is a lesson to trust the process and listen to one's body. I do recommend two sessions closer together to start, as the first one is more getting to know one another along with initial nerves and questions, and a follow up session where everyone is more familiar with the process.

    After that, as you feel lead, there is no 'proper way to do Rosen' and sometimes there is integration needed between sessions before rushing into the next. And yes it varies, case by case and person by person. I am big proponent of trusting the process, which seems to work for most people.

  • Yes, after consent forms are signed.

  • A three - Rosen Method is not energy work, it works at the pace of the body, which is many times slower than our brains, and is based on attachment theory and emotional regulation / disregulation.

  • Yes clients can and do have emotions of all ranges, all emotions are validated.