Atlas›Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical›Guide 062
Guide X-062

Feldenkrais Method (ATM and Functional Integration)

Moshé Feldenkrais1972
A 27 · L 45 · M 2818 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Feldenkrais Method as described by the Feldenkrais Guild of North America (FGNA) and the UK National Occupational Standard SFHCNH28 Deliver Feldenkrais Method Teaching (Skills for Health, approved 2025). Training details follow the accredited professional training model overseen by the Training Accreditation Boards (EuroTAB, DTAB, AusTAB, NATAB), using one EuroTAB-accredited programme (Instituto Feldenkrais) as a worked example.

What it is. The Feldenkrais Method, developed by Moshé Feldenkrais, is a form of somatic education: a learning method, not a therapy or treatment. It uses gentle movement and directed attention to help people move more easily and effectively [source: FGNA About page]. It has two lesson formats [source: NOS SFHCNH28; FGNA About page; Cochrane Australia 2024]:

  • Awareness Through Movement (ATM): group lessons. The teacher gives verbal instructions in structured sequences that combine moving, thinking, sensing and feeling. Learners explore and differentiate movement options so they can carry them into daily life.
  • Functional Integration (FI): one-to-one lessons. The practitioner guides a fully clothed student through movement by non-invasive touch and verbal instruction. The student usually lies on a low padded table or sits in a chair.

How change is thought to happen. In the method's own account, people act according to a psychophysical self-image. Awareness is primary, and movement is used to make habits noticeable. When people explore small, easy variations and notice the differences, new options can be integrated "consciously and unconsciously" at their own pace [source: NOS SFHCNH28]. This is the method's own model, not an established mechanism. Feldenkrais's book Awareness Through Movement (1972) is the usual founding text for ATM [uncertain: not verified].

Who may deliver it.

  • ATM. A psychotherapist may teach ATM lessons only after reaching the ATM-teaching stage of an accredited Feldenkrais training (see section 2).
  • FI. FI is a hands-on format taught only after the full training. For a psychotherapist it is described here for referral.
  • Psychotherapists without the training. They can still use the method alongside therapy: refer the client, collaborate with the practitioner, and work with the body-awareness skills the client brings into sessions [source: Van Note 2026; synthesis].

Regulation.

  • No statutory regulation of Feldenkrais practitioners was identified in any jurisdiction [uncertain: not verified].
  • The credentials are professional and trademark-based (FGNA: GCFP, GCFT, CFATMT) [source: FGNA certification FAQ].
  • The UK NOS is a voluntary occupational standard, not a licence [source: NOS SFHCNH28].

Evidence status (brief).

  • Cochrane Australia review for the NHMRC (2024). This review was prepared for Australia's review of private health insurance rebates for natural therapies. It included 21 studies. Ten of them compared Feldenkrais with an inactive control. Every result was rated very low certainty (GRADE). This applied both to chronic musculoskeletal conditions (pain, function, mental health) and to populations with mobility or falls risk (older adults, multiple sclerosis, intellectual disability).
  • No eligible evidence for some common uses. The review found no eligible inactive-control trials for stress, anxiety, mood disorders, other chronic pain, acute injury or Parkinson's disease.
  • Safety and comparisons. Safety was out of the review's scope, and no conclusions could be drawn against active treatments [source: Cochrane Australia 2024].
  • Rebate status. Whether Feldenkrais was restored to Australian rebate eligibility after the review is not confirmed here [uncertain: not verified].
  • Other reviews. Earlier systematic reviews exist, for example a 2015 review titled The Effectiveness of the Feldenkrais Method: A Systematic Review of the Evidence and a 2022 meta-analysis of the method as a physiotherapy tool. Their findings are not summarised here [uncertain: not verified].
  • Organisation claims. The FGNA states that many studies support the method [source: FGNA research page]. Read that claim against the independent GRADE rating above.
  • Practical meaning. Present ATM to clients as a body-awareness learning practice. Do not present it as a treatment for any physical disease or mental disorder [synthesis].

2. Framework

Format of an ATM lesson [source: NOS SFHCNH28; Cochrane Australia 2024; Belser 2021]:

  • Group and verbal. ATM is usually taught to groups. Lessons are verbally guided, planned sequences of movement.
  • Length. Published descriptions give lessons of about 30 to 60 minutes. One university community series used a 75-minute class: a short topic introduction, then a 45-minute ATM lesson, then a discussion period. These are descriptions of practice, not prescriptions.
  • Positions. Learners lie, sit, stand or walk. The same movement pattern may be revisited in different orientations to gravity.
  • Equipment. A mat, plus folded towels as supports. A journal is optional for reflection.

Typical arc of one ATM lesson. The NOS performance criteria and the teaching descriptions above describe a lesson in five parts. The ordering below is a synthesis [synthesis]:

  1. Preparation. Set up a safe space. Explain the teacher's role and the lesson structure, and the learner's own role (exploring, not performing).
  2. Initial noticing. Learners attend to how they are lying, sitting or standing before moving. This is often called a "scan" [uncertain: not verified as a fixed component].
  3. Exploration. A theme movement is introduced verbally and then developed through variations. The variations are small, slow, effort-reduced and interspersed with rest.
  4. Comparison and integration. Learners notice changes during and because of the lesson, for example one side compared with the other, or before compared with after.
  5. Processing and transfer. Learners relate what changed to daily activities, sometimes through discussion or journalling.

Number of lessons. No fixed number of lessons is published. ATM is commonly offered as weekly classes or short series; one example was a five-class series [source: Belser 2021]. FI sessions are individual, and their frequency is agreed with the practitioner [uncertain: not verified].

Moving between stages. There are no formal phase criteria. The teacher assesses movement patterns and habits, responds to learners' reactions within and between lessons, and evaluates each lesson to adapt the next [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criteria 7, 12, 13].

Training and credential route [source: FGNA certification FAQ; IFF InterTAB page; Instituto Feldenkrais FAQ]:

  • Accreditation. Professional trainings are accredited by a regional Training Accreditation Board:
    • EuroTAB: Europe and Israel
    • DTAB: Germany
    • AusTAB: Australia, New Zealand and Asia
    • NATAB: the Americas
  • What the boards do. The TABs review applications to accredit trainings and to certify trainers.
  • The IFF. The International Feldenkrais Federation provides administrative support for the InterTAB Forum. The Forum is not a decision-making body.
  • North American standard. According to the FGNA, professional trainings comprise 800 hours over at least 36 months. Graduating from an accredited programme leads to certification.
  • North American credentials. FGNA marks are Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (GCFP), Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher (GCFT) and Certified Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Teacher (CFATMT). Which training leads to which mark is not confirmed here [uncertain: not verified].
  • Worked example: Instituto Feldenkrais (EuroTAB-accredited).
    • Four years of 40 class days each, about 200 hours a year, 160 days and 800 hours in total. Segments usually run 7 to 10 days.
    • ATM teaching. After the second-year ATM practicum and at least 80 class days, students may teach and advertise paid ATM classes as "Teacher in Training", as long as they stay enrolled.
    • Full practitioner. After all four years, including the FI practicum, graduates are certified as Feldenkrais Practitioners and may teach both ATM and FI.
    • Prerequisites. None are stated.
  • UK. NOS SFHCNH28 sets out what a Feldenkrais teacher should be able to do and know. It is current, with an indicative review date of 2030.

Implication for psychotherapists.

  • Teaching ATM under the Feldenkrais name requires at least the ATM-authorisation stage of an accredited training. FI requires the full training.
  • A psychotherapist without this training should not run lessons labelled Feldenkrais, ATM or FI. The Guild presents Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® as registered marks [source: FGNA research page; synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

The principles named below are listed in NOS SFHCNH28 (knowledge items 5–6). The "practical meaning" lines are illustrative interpretations for a trained teacher [synthesis] unless another source is cited.

  • Primacy of awareness. The lesson's aim is noticing, not achieving a movement or a range. Practical meaning: praise attention, not performance.
  • Psychophysical self-image. Habits of moving, sensing, feeling and thinking are treated as one pattern. Practical meaning: invite curiosity about how the person organises an action, without diagnosing it.
  • Characteristics of effective somatic learning. Learning comes from exploration and differences, not from correction. Practical meaning: offer options rather than a "right" way.
  • Skeleton as primary reference. Learners attend to bones and support rather than to muscular effort. Practical meaning: direct attention to contact with the floor and to how force passes through the skeleton.
  • Functional movements. Lessons relate to real actions such as turning, reaching, rolling, sitting up and walking. Practical meaning: link each lesson to a daily task the learner cares about.
  • Timing, orientation, manipulation. These are the three elements of quality of movement named by the standard. Practical meaning: vary speed, the direction of attention, and how the hands or limbs engage.
  • Reversibility. A well-organised movement can be stopped or reversed at any moment. Practical meaning: if a learner cannot pause or reverse, the effort is probably too great, so reduce it.
  • Proportionality. Effort is distributed in proportion across the body. Practical meaning: notice where effort piles up, and invite sharing it out or doing less.
  • Differentiation and integration. Parts are separated and then recombined into a whole action. Practical meaning: explore one part alone, then fold it back into the whole movement.
  • Proximal–distal inversion. The usual moving part and the usual stable part swap roles. Practical meaning: offer a variation in which the "stable" part moves.
  • Weber–Fechner law. The standard lists its application. The usual teaching implication is that less effort makes finer differences perceptible [synthesis]. Practical meaning: invite smaller and lighter movement so that differences can be sensed.
  • Slow, small "dosing" and rest. These are taught as key to nervous-system learning [source: Belser 2021]. Practical meaning: never push for range or repetition. Use rest generously.
  • Ease and comfort rather than pain. Attention is directed to ease and comfort, not to pain [source: Belser 2021]. Practical meaning: any movement that hurts is reduced, imagined or skipped.
  • Consent, including to touch. The teacher explains their role and obtains consent, including consent to work with touch [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 2]. Practical meaning: in ATM, ask before any hands-on assistance. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.
  • The teacher's own use of self. Teachers keep their own posture and movement in line with Feldenkrais principles [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 9]. Practical meaning: speak and move unhurriedly, and model ease.
  • Ethics, law and records. Teachers work to professional codes and current law and keep records [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criteria 14–15]. Practical meaning: a psychotherapist teaching ATM keeps their own professional code's standards on consent, boundaries and records.
  • No prescriptions. This guide gives no repetition counts, durations or intensities as instructions. Published lesson lengths are descriptions only [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

How this inventory is organised.

  • Part A (ATM lesson components). These are the components of an ATM lesson as the professional standard and teaching descriptions present them. Only a psychotherapist who has reached the ATM-teaching stage of an accredited training should deliver them under the Feldenkrais name.
  • Part B (FI and adjunctive use). This part covers FI, described for referral, and the psychotherapist's role when a client also attends ATM or FI.
  • No counts. Feldenkrais lesson content is described qualitatively. No repetition counts, durations or intensities are given as instructions.

Part A. Awareness Through Movement (for trained teachers)

A1. Pre-lesson screening and physical-safety check

  • Purpose and when.
    • Use before a learner's first lesson, and again whenever their health changes.
    • People often come with injuries, long-standing physical or neurological conditions, or chronic pain [source: NOS SFHCNH28, knowledge item 9].
    • A published Feldenkrais contraindication list was not identified [uncertain: not verified]. The screening below is general safe-practice synthesis [synthesis].
  • Steps.
    1. Ask about each of these:
      • recent surgery or fractures
      • acute injury, or pain that is new or worsening
      • known osteoporosis
      • pregnancy
      • dizziness or fainting on lying down or getting up
      • balance problems or falls
      • neurological or cardiac conditions
      • joint replacements and any movement restrictions a clinician has given
      • difficulty getting down to, or up from, the floor
    2. Where anything is uncertain, ask the learner to check with their treating clinician before attending. Offer chair-based or standing positions instead of lying on the floor.
    3. Note the answers in the record [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 15].
    4. For a psychotherapy client. Also agree in advance how emotional material that comes up in a class will be handled (see B4). Consider whether being both the client's therapist and their ATM teacher creates a dual relationship (see section 5) [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Before we start, is there anything about your body I should know, such as injuries, surgery, dizziness, or anything a doctor has asked you to avoid? If lying on the floor isn't comfortable, we can do this sitting."
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who minimise symptoms in order to take part.
    • Postural dizziness.
    • Pain that is new, severe or neurological in character, such as numbness or weakness. Stop and refer to a medical clinician.
    • It is working when learners take the alternatives without apology.

A2. Creating the learning environment and using props

  • Purpose and when. Create and maintain a safe learning environment in every lesson, and use props and positioning aids where appropriate [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criteria 1 and 10].
  • Steps.
    1. Set up enough floor space for mats.
    2. Provide mats, and towels that can be folded as head, knee or hip supports [source: Belser 2021].
    3. Keep chairs available.
    4. Keep the room warm and quiet. Agree that learners may stop, rest, change position or leave at any time [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Use the towels however you like. A folded towel under the head or the knees can make lying more comfortable. You can rest or change position whenever you want."
  • Watch for.
    • Learners straining their neck when lying (offer head support).
    • Learners holding a position they find uncomfortable because they think they ought to.

A3. Explaining the teacher's role, the lesson structure and the learner's role; obtaining consent

  • Purpose and when. Use at the first lesson, and briefly at each later lesson [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criteria 2–3].
  • Steps.
    1. Explain that the lesson is guided by voice, and that learners follow the instructions in their own way.
    2. Explain that the aim is noticing, not doing a movement correctly or fully.
    3. Explain that movements are kept small, slow and easy, with rests.
    4. Touch. State whether you ever offer hands-on guidance in a group. Ask for consent before any touch, accept a "no" without question, and re-check consent during the lesson [source: NOS SFHCNH28; USABP Code VIII].
  • Example language (illustrative). "I'll describe movements, and you explore them at your own pace. There's no right way and nothing to achieve. Do less than you can, and rest whenever you want. I won't touch anyone without asking first, and 'no' is always fine."
  • Watch for.
    • Performance anxiety, such as watching neighbours or trying to get it right. Repeat that there is nothing to achieve.
    • It is working when learners stop checking with you and start checking with themselves.

A4. Initial noticing (reference "scan")

  • Purpose and when. Use at the start of a lesson, and often again at the end. It gives a sensory reference so that change can be noticed later [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 8]. Calling it a "scan" is common usage [uncertain: not verified as a fixed component].
  • Steps.
    1. In the starting position, invite learners to notice their points of contact with the floor or chair.
    2. Invite them to compare left with right, and to notice how they are breathing, without changing anything.
    3. Keep the questions open, and do not suggest what learners ought to feel [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Notice how you're lying right now. Which parts rest heavily on the floor, and which seem to lift away? Is one side different from the other? Just notice. There's no need to change anything."
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who become distressed by bodily attention, for example trauma survivors or people with health anxiety. Offer eyes open, a narrow focus on external contact points, or skipping this step (see section 5).
    • It is working when learners can report simple, concrete sensations.

A5. Verbal guidance of a movement theme

  • Purpose and when. This is the core of ATM: the teacher gives verbal instructions in structured sequences that combine moving, thinking, sensing and feeling [source: NOS SFHCNH28; Cochrane Australia 2024].
  • Steps.
    1. Introduce a functional theme, such as turning, rolling, reaching or sitting up.
    2. Describe each movement in words: which part moves, in which direction, and where to direct attention.
    3. Leave learners to find their own way; teachers usually guide verbally rather than by demonstration [uncertain: not verified].
    4. Pace your speech so that learners have time to sense.
    5. Draw on the method's core texts and lesson materials. A trained teacher can also adapt lessons and develop new ones [source: NOS SFHCNH28, knowledge items 4 and 12].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Slowly let your knees tip a little to the right, only as far as is easy, and bring them back to the middle. Notice what your pelvis does. Notice where your head is."
  • Watch for.
    • Breath-holding, clenched jaw or hands, and fast or effortful movement. These mean the effort is too great, so invite less.
    • It is working when movements become smoother and easier to reverse.

A6. Slow, small, effort-reduced movement

  • Purpose and when. Use throughout every lesson. Slow and small "dosing" is taught as a central element [source: Belser 2021]. Linked to this, reduced effort is thought to sharpen discrimination of differences (the Weber–Fechner principle named in NOS SFHCNH28) [synthesis].
  • Steps.
    1. Invite learners to move more slowly and less far than usual.
    2. Ask "how slow, how small?" as a question to explore, not a rule [source: Belser 2021].
    3. Warn that slowness can become constricting if it turns into perfectionism [source: Belser 2021].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Make the movement so small that you could stop at any moment. Can you do it with less effort still?"
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who turn slowness into rigid control. Invite freedom, and sometimes a little more speed or range [source: Belser 2021].
    • It is working when learners report finer sensations.

A7. Rest periods

  • Purpose and when. Use between variations and whenever a learner chooses. Rest is presented as a key element of nervous-system learning [source: Belser 2021].
  • Steps.
    1. Tell learners regularly to stop and rest.
    2. Invite them to notice any after-effects of the movement during the rest.
    3. Make clear that resting at any time is always allowed [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Stop and rest. Let everything settle. Is anything different from when we began?"
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who skip rests or feel guilty about resting.
    • Agitation in stillness. Offer eyes open, or small self-chosen movement.

A8. Variations: orientation, differentiation, constraints and inversion

  • Purpose and when. Use as a lesson develops. Variations make habits noticeable and offer new options [source: NOS SFHCNH28; Belser 2021].
  • Steps. The ways of varying a pattern [source: NOS SFHCNH28, knowledge item 5; Belser 2021]:
    • Repeat the same pattern lying, sitting, standing or walking, which changes its orientation to gravity.
    • Separate parts that usually move together, such as eyes and head, or head and pelvis (differentiation).
    • Combine them again into the whole action (integration).
    • Let the usually stable part move (proximal–distal inversion).
    • Vary timing, direction of attention, and how the hands are used.
    • Occasionally do the movement a little faster or larger, "while also doing it with freedom" [source: Belser 2021].
  • Example language (illustrative). "This time, let your eyes look to the left while your head turns right. Do only a little. Then rest, and do the original movement again. What's changed?"
  • Watch for.
    • Confusion or frustration with complex variations. Simplify, or return to the basic movement.
    • It is working when the original movement feels easier after the variations.

A9. Comparison and noticing change

  • Purpose and when. Use after variations, after working one side, and at the end of the lesson. The teacher helps learners notice changes during and because of the lesson [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 8].
  • Steps.
    1. Ask learners to compare one side with the other, now with the start, and the theme movement before and after the variations.
    2. Accept "no difference" as a valid observation [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Compare your two sides. Does one shoulder rest differently on the floor? Roll your head gently: is it easier one way than the other?"
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who feel obliged to report a change.
    • Learners who catastrophise asymmetries. Frame differences as information, not defects.

A10. Attending to ease and comfort, not pain

  • Purpose and when. Use throughout, and especially with learners who have chronic pain. The teaching contrasts attention to ease and comfort with attention to pain [source: Belser 2021].
  • Steps.
    1. Tell learners to stay within ease.
    2. If something hurts, do less, do it in imagination only, or skip it [synthesis].
    3. Never encourage working "through" pain [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "If anything hurts, make it smaller, or just imagine doing it. Stay where it's comfortable."
  • Watch for.
    • Learners who push through pain. Persistent or new pain needs medical review.

A11. Processing and transfer to daily life

  • Purpose and when. Use at the end of a lesson or series. Help learners process the lesson and relate it to daily activities [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criterion 11].
  • Steps.
    1. Have learners stand or walk and notice.
    2. Invite them to bring the noticing into an everyday task.
    3. Offer an optional journal, or a short group discussion [source: Belser 2021].
  • Example language (illustrative). "As you stand and walk, notice how your feet meet the floor. Later today, when you turn to look behind you, see if you remember how this felt."
  • Watch for.
    • Grandiose expectations of change. Keep transfer modest and concrete.
    • Learners who feel unsteady when they first stand. Allow time and offer support.

A12. Assessing, responding, adapting and recording

  • Purpose and when. Use in every lesson and between lessons [source: NOS SFHCNH28, performance criteria 7, 12, 13, 15; knowledge items 12, 14, 15].
  • Steps.
    1. Observe each learner's habits and movement patterns.
    2. Respond to their reactions by simplifying, offering alternatives or changing position.
    3. Evaluate the lesson and adapt the next one.
    4. Keep records as professional and legal requirements demand.
  • Example language (illustrative). "I noticed lying on your back was hard today. Next time we'll try this sitting."
  • Watch for. Patterns across lessons: increasing pain, avoidance, or distress that may need referral or discussion in therapy.

Part B. Functional Integration (for referral) and the psychotherapist's role

B1. Functional Integration: what the client will experience

  • Purpose and when.
    • FI is the individual, hands-on format. A psychotherapist uses this description to explain FI to a client being referred. It is not a procedure for the psychotherapist to perform.
    • FI is taught only by practitioners who have completed the full accredited training, including the FI practicum [source: Instituto Feldenkrais FAQ].
  • What happens [source: NOS SFHCNH28; FGNA About page; Cochrane Australia 2024]:
    • The student stays fully clothed, lying on a low padded table or sitting in a chair.
    • The practitioner guides the student through a range of movements using non-invasive touch and verbal instruction.
    • Integration is described as happening at the individual's own pace.
    • The practitioner also assesses movement patterns and may develop FI sequences from ATM lessons.
  • Touch standards to expect from any practitioner.
    • Consent to touch is part of the NOS performance criteria [source: NOS SFHCNH28].
    • The body-psychotherapy codes set the clearest touch standards [source: USABP Code VIII]:
      • consent before touch
      • consent monitored and re-recorded over time
      • the client's right to refuse or end touch at any time
      • touch used only for the client's benefit
      • genital or other sexual touch "always inappropriate"
    • Clients may ask for a chaperone or bring a support person, and may ask for touch only on areas they choose [synthesis].
    • FI involves no intimate-area work. Any concern in the pelvic or perineal area is a matter for referral to a regulated clinician [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "In a Functional Integration session you stay fully dressed, usually lying on a low table. The practitioner moves you gently with their hands and talks you through it. You can ask them to explain anything, tell them where you don't want to be touched, and stop the session at any time."
  • Watch for. After an FI session, check in with the client about:
    • how the touch felt
    • whether consent was asked and respected
    • any unexpected emotional or physical after-effects

B2. Deciding to suggest ATM or FI, and making the referral

  • Purpose and when.
    • Consider it when a client wants a gentle, learning-based body practice: for example to build bodily awareness, ease movement habits, or support self-regulation work in therapy [source: Van Note 2026].
    • Do not suggest it as a treatment for a medical or psychiatric condition. The evidence is very low certainty, with no eligible trials for anxiety, stress or mood disorders [source: Cochrane Australia 2024].
    • Professional codes ask therapists to refer appropriately and to work within their competence [source: UKCP Code items 23–24; BACP Ethical Framework para 13; AAMFT Code 1.10, 3.10].
  • Steps.
    1. Discuss what the client hopes for, and set realistic expectations.
    2. Check the A1 safety items, and ask the client to seek medical clearance where relevant.
    3. Point the client to a certified practitioner through the national Guild or association directory, for example the FGNA practitioner search. Explain the credential to look for: graduation from a TAB-accredited training, or GCFP/GCFT/CFATMT in North America [source: FGNA certification FAQ].
    4. Clients with trauma histories.
      • Suggest starting with group ATM, which involves no required touch, before FI.
      • Rehearse in therapy how to say no, ask for changes, or stop.
      • Agree how the client will bring any reactions back to therapy [synthesis].
    5. Receive no referral fees [source: EABP Ethics Guidelines 5.d].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Some people find a gentle movement class useful for getting to know how their body feels, without having to talk about it. It isn't a treatment, and the research on it is limited. If you're curious, a group class is a low-pressure place to start, and you can stop whenever you like."
  • Watch for.
    • Compliance with the therapist's suggestion rather than the client's own interest.
    • Avoidance of the therapy process itself.
    • Unrealistic expectations of cure.

B3. Collaboration with the Feldenkrais teacher or practitioner

  • Purpose and when. Use when the client attends ATM or FI while in psychotherapy. The EABP guidelines ask therapists to think carefully about the implications when a client receives similar services from another professional, and to discuss this with the client to minimise confusion [source: EABP Ethics Guidelines 6.b].
  • Steps.
    1. Get the client's written consent before any contact with the practitioner.
    2. Agree what information is shared: usually safety-relevant points and the client's goals, not therapy content.
    3. Clarify roles. Psychotherapists address emotional and trauma material, while Feldenkrais practitioners build somatic capacities [source: Van Note 2026].
    4. Agree a route for the practitioner to raise concerns.
  • Example language (illustrative). "Would it help if I spoke briefly with your Feldenkrais teacher? I'd only share what you agree to, perhaps that you'd like to work gently and may need to pause sometimes."
  • Watch for.
    • Splitting, where the client tells each professional different things.
    • The practitioner drifting into psychological interpretation, or the therapist drifting into movement instruction outside their training.

B4. Integrating ATM-derived body awareness into psychotherapy sessions

  • Purpose and when.
    • Use when the client brings ATM experiences into therapy, or when building interoceptive and discriminative skills supports other work.
    • One practitioner author describes ATM and FI as building skills that therapists want clients to have:
      • interoception
      • sensory discrimination, such as effort versus ease or one side versus the other
      • noticing internal experience in small steps
    • The same author argues that clients can practise these capacities outside the intensity of trauma processing, which may help them stay connected during therapies such as EMDR [source: Van Note 2026].
    • These are practice-based claims rather than research findings [source: Van Note 2026].
  • Steps.
    1. Ask the client what they noticed in class.
    2. Invite them to use the same kind of small, concrete noticing in session, such as points of contact, effort versus ease, or one side versus the other.
    3. Link early body cues to the regulation strategies the client already uses.
    4. Do not lead a movement sequence yourself unless you are trained to teach ATM [synthesis].
    5. Keep in mind the author's point that "regulation" is not the same as simply being calm [source: Van Note 2026].
  • Example language (illustrative). "You said the class helped you notice when you were working too hard. Can you notice anything like that right now, as we talk about this? Where is the effort?"
  • Watch for.
    • Body focus used to avoid emotional material, or the reverse: body focus that floods the client.
    • It is working when the client notices early cues and can choose a response.

B5. When emotional material or memories surface during or after a lesson

  • Purpose and when. Use when a client reports strong emotion, images or apparent memories after ATM or FI. The sources here do not address this, and the guidance below is synthesis [synthesis].
  • Steps.
    1. Normalise the experience without interpreting it.
    2. Help the client re-orient to the present and to their own capacity to regulate.
    3. Process the experience in psychotherapy, not in the movement class.
    4. Do not treat body sensations or images as proof that past events happened. Current memory research cautions that suggestion can shape recollection. Avoid suggestive questioning, and be cautious about any "body memory" framing [synthesis; uncertain: not verified against a specific review].
    5. If the client wants to continue lessons, agree adaptations with them, and with the practitioner if they consent. Examples: group rather than individual work, no touch, sitting rather than lying.
  • Example language (illustrative). "It makes sense that slowing down and paying attention to your body brought up strong feelings. We don't need to decide what it means. Let's notice how you are right now, and we can explore it here at a pace that works for you."
  • Watch for.
    • Dissociation and intrusive images.
    • Pressure from any source to recover memories.
    • Withdrawal from both therapy and the classes.

B6. Recognising adverse effects and boundary violations; reporting

  • Purpose and when. Use at any check-in about the client's ATM or FI experience.
  • Steps.
    1. Ask about:
      • new or worsening pain, dizziness or falls
      • distress triggered by touch
      • any touch that felt sexual, coercive or done without consent
    2. Physical adverse effects go to the client's medical clinician.
    3. Sexual or non-consensual touch. This is never acceptable [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP 5.b.1]. Support the client in deciding whether to report it to the practitioner's Guild or association, and to police where a crime may have occurred. Follow your own safeguarding duties [synthesis].
    4. If you are both therapist and ATM teacher. You remain bound by your own code's prohibitions on sexual contact and exploitation, and by its rules on dual relationships [source: BACP Ethical Framework paras 33–35; UKCP Code items 4–5, 8; APA Code 3.05, 10.05].
  • Example language (illustrative). "How did the session feel in terms of being touched? Was anything uncomfortable, or anything you didn't agree to? You can tell me, and we'll work out together what you want to do."
  • Watch for.
    • Shame or minimising ("it was probably nothing").
    • Loyalty to a practitioner the client likes.
    • Continued attendance despite discomfort.

5. Handling problems

The professional standard requires teachers to identify challenges learners face and help them find solutions, and to respond to their reactions within and between lessons [source: NOS SFHCNH28]. It does not list specific problems. The responses below are synthesis unless a source is cited [synthesis].

  • "Nothing is happening" / the learner feels stuck.
    • Make the movement smaller and slower, and add more rest [source: Belser 2021].
    • Simplify the variation or change position.
    • Accept "no difference" as a valid finding. Ask about one concrete sensation rather than "change".
    • In therapy: explore any pressure to perform that the client brings to the class.
  • Perfectionism and effortful control. The teaching notes that slowness can become constricting when the focus is on perfection [source: Belser 2021].
    • Invite freedom, sometimes a little more speed or range, and less concern with getting it right.
    • Remind the learner that there is no correct form.
  • Overwhelm, panic or dissociation during body attention.
    • Stop the instruction for that learner.
    • Invite eyes open, sitting up, pressing the feet into the floor, and naming things in the room.
    • Offer an outward focus of attention instead of an inward one.
    • Let the learner rest or leave without explanation.
    • Follow up in therapy (see B5).
    • In later lessons offer positions that feel less exposed, such as sitting rather than lying, and a place near the door.
  • Pain.
    • Reduce the movement, do it only in imagination, or skip it [source: Belser 2021, ease versus pain].
    • New, severe, neurological or worsening pain means stopping and referring to a medical clinician. Do not continue in the hope that the method will resolve it.
  • Dizziness or unsteadiness on getting up. Have the learner get up slowly in stages, and offer a chair or a wall. If it recurs, refer for medical review.
  • Touch-related distress (FI, or hands-on help in ATM).
    • Stop the touch immediately and re-check consent.
    • Switch to verbal-only guidance or to group ATM.
    • Bring the experience into therapy (see B1 and B6) [source: USABP Code VIII].
  • Non-attendance or not practising between lessons.
    • Explore meaning and barriers without pressure.
    • Remember that ATM is optional and not a treatment requirement.
    • Avoid turning it into homework compliance.
  • Rupture over the referral. The client may feel that the therapist wants to "hand off" the body work, or that their distress is being made physical.
    • Name the rupture and explain the reason for the suggestion.
    • Make clear that therapy continues regardless of what the client decides.
    • Withdraw the suggestion if the client prefers.
  • Dual relationship (the psychotherapist is also the client's ATM teacher).
    • Weigh the risk of harm against the benefit [source: BACP Ethical Framework para 33(b)]. Clarify boundaries, and take it to supervision.
    • Prefer referring the client to another teacher's class.
    • Do not combine individual hands-on FI with your own psychotherapy unless your code allows it and you hold both trainings. Mainstream talk-therapy codes contain no touch provision but prohibit sexual contact and require you to work within your competence. Body-psychotherapy codes regulate touch directly [source: UKCP Code items 4, 8, 23–24; USABP Code VIII; EABP Principle 7].
  • Unrealistic expectations or health claims.
    • Correct gently: independent review rates the evidence as very low certainty and found no eligible trials for anxiety, stress or mood disorders [source: Cochrane Australia 2024].
    • Encourage the client to keep up any medical care.
  • Practitioner overreach. For example: interpreting the client's psychology, discouraging medical care, or touch beyond what was agreed.
    • Discuss it with the client.
    • Consider contacting the practitioner, with the client's consent.
    • Support a complaint to the practitioner's Guild or association where appropriate (see B6).

Sources

Web sources

Books and reviews cited

  • Feldenkrais, M. (1972). Awareness Through Movement. [uncertain: not verified]
  • The Effectiveness of the Feldenkrais Method: A Systematic Review of the Evidence (2015). Authors and findings not verified here. [uncertain: not verified]
  • Effects of the Feldenkrais Method as a Physiotherapy Tool: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (2022). Authors and findings not verified here. [uncertain: not verified]
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