The Acoustic Body® Approach

The Acoustic Body is a trauma-informed and inclusive approach that supports and strengthens learning skills alongside the development of social skills, emotional literacy and wellbeing. It’s a brain-friendly and body wise method combining creative and somatic tools that help to train the resilience of the central nervous system and stimulates plasticity in the brain by helping to deal with emotions, body, thoughts and memories at the same time, and not with one of them as a means to influence the others.

It has been proved to facilitate physical relaxation and mental clarity, relieve stress and pain, understand aspects of oneself, deepen the sense of presence and awareness, better emotional expression, etc. In other words, the Acoustic Body Approach is an answer to the everyday demands, the chronic and ongoing challenges, and the impact that stress has on most of us.

The Acoustic Body approach has been created by Catarina Brazão (somatic educator and social worker) and Markus Pesonen (composer and sound artist) and tested all over Europe during the last three years with over 3000 people from all ages and backgrounds. It has attracted the interest of healthcare professionals and therapists due to the fact that the approach meets the person, and recovery and wellbeing is achieved at their own pace and on their own terms.

The approach more In depth

The Acoustic Body approach can be applied in many settings and professions, be of value in many different situations and go as far and wide as our imagination and personal interests go. Here’s an interview from senior researcher Pia Houni about the Acoustic Body Approach:

What effects do you seek to achieve?
What does the CLIENTS get from your way of working?

The Acoustic Body approach teaches people how to listen within and become aware of their own physical, emotional and thinking body in order to help them handle difficult life situations and address emotional and relational deficits that cannot be reached by verbal means alone. It mainly uses sound journeys and psychosomatic unwinding exercises as a preventive and/or therapeutic tool of integrating the body-intellect-emotions triad. It also helps establish a new foundation from which to rework unconscious behavioural responses because it acts as a mirror and reflects our ambivalences.  

In this process, the sound journeys and psychosomatic unwinding exercises play the role of an active partner. They evoke emotional and physiological responses and are used to explore one's own inner world. They can have a very powerful effect on us—like a key that opens our psyche and facilitates access to our innermost experiences and feelings. This can lead to emotional release, insights, and the stimulation of creative and spiritual impulses.

The uniqueness of this approach lies in the synthesis and integration of sound, somatics, neuroscience, acoustic ecology, psychology and technology in its research and practice. 

Describe your own way of working. What exactly is happening?

Although the Acoustic Body model is established in a robust framework, refined over four years, and continues to evolve, its working approach is nonlinear, dynamic and highly based on the principles and practices of the improvised arts.

The work incorporates artistic, somatic and sometimes nature-based modalities and integrates experiential learning techniques to increase people’s ability to listen and pay attention, and also facilitate insight and positive change.

The sessions are always tailored to meet the needs of the specific setting and can be individual or for a group. They are designed according to what Markus and Catarina perceive to be supporting the people they are working with in discovering and expanding further their self-expression and imagination. 

An example of a short group session of 2 to 3 hours:

At the beginning of each group session, Markus and Catarina introduce themselves and explain their work and how the session goes. 

After the pre-talk, Catarina guides the participants into the exploration of their body awareness. This helps to quiet the mind and focus inwardly. Then they’re asked to lie down and Markus composes live the sound journey for the group.

As the sound journey comes to an end, the participants are invited to open the eyes, come back to the outer world, and we move on to the post integration and closure talk where everybody is invited to share their experiences of the whole session and deepen the understanding of the emerging material (images, memories, body sensations, vivid sensory experiences, strong feelings, and surprising insights) as well as the science of the body, brain and nervous system.

Who is IT for? What type of PEOPLE is best suited to your work model?

The Acoustic Body approach has been found especially effective for people seeking help with:

• stress and burnout situations;

• anxiety, depression, grief, and loss;

• old and burdening memories that need to be resolved;

• trauma;

• creativity blocks;

• chronic pain.

What effects and results did you notice?

People who have participated in one group session have reported:

• Physical relaxation and mental clarity

• Deepened body awareness

• Relieve stress and pain

• Understand aspects of oneself

• Deepened sense of presence and awareness

• Better emotional feeling and understanding 

• Feeling of being seen and heard

• Increased environmental consciousness

People who have participated in more than one group session have reported:

• Increased ability to cope with triggers

• Improved social listening skills

• Increased ability to engage in social activities

• Improved concentration and access to intuition

What are the key resources / challenges of working AS A TEAM?

One has to be willing to go outside of one’s professional comfort zone and accept to develop gradually the collaboration potential. It took some time to integrate the shared knowledge and develop processes that were safe enough to be tested. 

When both of them found their optimal contribution, there was a dynamic flow—which integrated the expertise and perspectives from both but also something new and unique that is not a characteristic of any of their particular background.   

Markus and Catarina believe that by interacting with experts from other fields, one tends to listen more and tries to understand things that would usually disregard and not pay attention to. This supports the kind of personal introspection that has the potential to lead to the opening of professional boundaries that limit one’s approach to the research and practice one does.

Catarina Brazão is a facilitator of individual and group processes, somatic educator and social worker. She holds a degree in social work in the field of mental health and draws upon years of study and practice in psychology, physical theatre, gender studies and trauma work. Catarina’s path is guided by her profound commitment to change and growth, supporting people in discovering their uniqueness and authenticity. With over fifteen years of experience working on one-on-one sessions and groups, she teaches an exclusive approach tailored to each person or group she works with.

How can Acoustic Body approach benefit your business or community?

We create taylor made immersive nature sound installation and bespoke workshops. If you would like to bring sounds and somatics to your people, don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule a free consultation. We are here to help you!