Haptotherapy
You can explain exactly why you are tired and still not feel when enough is enough. Haptotherapy does not start with that explanation, but with what your body signals.
What is haptotherapy?
Haptotherapy is a body-oriented form of therapy. The starting point is that your body signals continuously: tension in your shoulders, breathing that stays shallow, unease the moment someone comes too close. People who no longer notice those signals easily push past their own limits.
A session alternates between conversation and experiential exercises. The haptotherapist may use touch, seated or on the treatment table and always fully clothed, to show what is happening in your body and how you might handle it differently. Touch is a means and never an obligation: you decide what is and is not allowed.
Haptotherapy is intended for people who get stuck in tension, in setting boundaries or in contact with others. It is not a treatment for severe psychiatric conditions. A haptotherapist does not diagnose and does not prescribe medication.
What is known about it: haptotherapy is less researched than cognitive behavioural therapy or EMDR, and it is not part of the Dutch mental healthcare standards. There is one Dutch randomised trial among 134 pregnant women with severe fear of childbirth, in which only the haptotherapy group showed a clear reduction in that fear (Klabbers et al., Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2019). For other conditions the evidence is too limited to draw conclusions about effectiveness. What is firmly established are the requirements for the therapist: the Dutch Register of Haptotherapy (RHN) oversees training, continuing education, practice visits and professional discipline.
Who is it for?
For severe psychiatric conditions, such as psychosis, bipolar disorder or severe depression, haptotherapy is not the appropriate treatment. Discuss this with your GP or choose a BIG-registered provider.
How does it work?
1. Getting acquainted and your question
You discuss what you are struggling with and what you want to achieve. You also agree on what feels comfortable to you and where your limit lies.
2. Experiencing what your body does
Through exercises around posture, breathing and touch you notice in the moment what happens: where you hold on, when you disengage, when things settle.
3. Connecting it to daily life
What you notice in the session is linked to situations at home or at work. That way it becomes recognisable at the moment it counts.
4. Practising outside the treatment room
You practise stopping earlier, speaking up or simply breathing, and next time you discuss how that went.
A course of treatment often consists of five to fifteen sessions, but this differs per person and per question.
Related complaints
Related treatments
Frequently asked questions
Will I be touched during haptotherapy?
Is haptotherapy reimbursed?
How does it differ from psychomotor therapy?
Is a haptotherapist BIG-registered?
Ready for a first conversation?
Book an intake with a registered haptotherapist and discuss whether this approach fits your question.
Sources: Dutch Register of Haptotherapy (RHN) · Klabbers et al. (2019), Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology