Nude psychotherapy

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Nude psychotherapy was the use of

encounter group
movement as a way to challenge preconceptions and promote intimacy and trust, but suffered a decline in the 1980s. In contemporary America, nudity has been incorporated into workshops and therapies for health and wellbeing generally conducted outside the medical and psychological professions.

Origins

In 1932 a Princeton psychologist

nudist camp. A year later, he published a paper entitled Social Nudism and the Body Taboo, which was a largely sympathetic consideration of the social and psychological significance of nudism.[2][3] Warren described nudism in therapeutic terms, pointing out its 'easy camaraderie' and lack of 'self-consciousness' . He noted an 'improvement in general health' among participants. Other psychologists published further papers on the effect of nudity in the 1940s and 1950s.[2]

In 1967, a group psychotherapist in California, Paul Bindrim, noticed that towards the end of a long period of group psychotherapy called a "marathon", the participants would be sufficiently open and trusting of each other to feel comfortable enough to be spontaneously naked in each other's company. Bindrim theorized that intentionally introducing nudity in the early stages of a group might accelerate the process of mutual trust and emotional openness. Bindrim corresponded with Abraham Maslow on the subject of nude psychotherapy groups, which Maslow, who was then-president of the American Psychological Association, supported. Maslow supported the idea stating he saw the social taboo on nudity to be a matter of custom rather than of any ethical or moral importance. Maslow warned that he thought discretion, sensitivity and caution would have to be present in any execution of the idea.[4] Maslow later cautioned that the sensation of nudity and sensual pleasure should not be mistaken by participants for the genuine achievement of a psychological "high" and feared it might impede the development of real empathy between individuals.[5]

In 1967, Bindrim conducted his first nude workshop in

consensual, the investigation was later dropped.[2] Bindrim became increasingly sensitive to the public relations obstacle posed by the phrase "nude psychotherapy" causing him recast his approach and by the late 1970s his promotional materials made only a passing reference to nudity. With the change in psychotherapeutic fashion as the 1970s progressed, the decision was eventually made to remove the emphasis on nudity altogether.[4]

Contemporary

Nudity may be incorporated in many therapeutic practices that include mental health, but these are rarely done within the traditional psychotherapeutic professions.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Chung & Hyland 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d Tartakovsky 2011.
  3. ^ Warren 1933.
  4. ^ a b Nicholson 2007.
  5. ^ Grogan 2008, pp. 192–194.
  6. ^ Fountain 2010.
  7. ^ Kaphan.
  8. ^ BetterHelp 2022.

References

Books

  • Chung, Man Cheung; Hyland, Michael E. (2011-12-05). History and Philosophy of Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
    ISBN 978-1-4443-4576-6
    . Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  • Grogan, Jessica Lynn (2008). A Cultural History of the Humanistic Psychology Movement in America. The University of Texas at Austin. American Studies.
    ISBN 978-0549636526
    .

Journal articles

Websites
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