Trager Psychophysical Integration

Overview :

Origins

Psychophysical integration therapy began with Dr. Milton Trager (1908–1997), who earned a medical degree in midlife after working out his approach to healing chronic pain. Trager was born with a spinal deformity and overcame it through practicing a variety of athletic exercises. At the time that he discovered his approach to bodywork, he was training to become a boxer. His therapy came to public attention when Esalen Institute in California, the famous center of the human potential movement, invited him to give a demonstration of his technique during the mid-1970s. Trager abandoned his private medical practice in 1977 to devote full energy to the development and further understanding of psychophysical integration. The Trager Institute, which continues his work, was founded in 1980.

The Trager method consists of two parts, a passive aspect referred to as tablework and an active aspect called Mentastics, which is a self-care exercise program. Although the benefits of the Trager approach are said to be cumulative, practitioners and clients appear to be free to set their own schedules for a series of sessions. There is no minimum number of sessions that clients must agree to take.

Tablework

The tablework is performed on a comfortable padded table. Sessions last about 60-90 minutes. The practitioner moves the client in ways that he or she naturally moves, in such a way that he or she experiences how it feels to move effortlessly and freely on one's own. The movements resemble general mobilization techniques, and incorporate some manual, cervical, and lumbar traction. The goal of tablework is to allow the client "slowly to give up muscular and mental control and sink into a very deep state of relaxation not unlike that experienced in hypnosis."

Mentastics

Mentastics are free-flowing dance-like movements intended to increase the client's self-awareness, as well as providing tools to help the client move through and control chronic pain. The client is encouraged to "let go," which means that they are asked to begin a movement, then release their muscle tension and allow the weight of the body part involved to complete the motion. By experiencing movement as something pleasurable and positive rather than painful or negative, clients begin to loosen up, learn new movements more easily, and even begin inventing their own. In the early stages of treatment, clients are advised to do Mentastic movements at home for 10-15-minute sessions, three times per day.