Propositions for nervous system sensitive systemic counseling
Abstract
The embodiment of systemic counseling has been in progress for a long time – but there has been little conceptual systematization regarding the integration of biological processes on the level of the nervous system. In this text, a model of nervous system sensitive systemic counseling is developed, based on aggregated findings in working with clients, that relates systemic counseling according to the Heidelberg School with the concepts of Somatic Experiencing according to Peter Levine. It is argued that both schools postulate very similar principles of action, intervention logics and aspects of process moderation – and that the differences of both approaches put the limelight on essential complements to systemic counseling in that a nervous system sensitive approach provides relevant added value in terms of effectiveness and practical responsiveness. In this sense, the increasing integration of both approaches appears as a return to the core of systemic counseling: the counseling of living systems.
