Beginning Body Dialogue: An Introduction to Physical Acting Techniques in Family Counseling

Dialogue is the crux of counseling and the basis of the majority of counseling techniques. At times, however, dialogue is insufficient to create therapeutic change. Family members may not communicate well, or they may use verbal techniques to manipulate or undermine"the therapeutic process (either consciously or unconsciously). A family counselor may find that the therapeutic process is stagnating and want something to get the process moving again. At times like these, physical activities such as family sculpting can be useful interventions to promote dialogue and get the therapeutic process on track (see Bitter & Corey, 2001).