What is the Rosen Method?

Marion Rosen gives a client a session

The Rosen method was developed by Marion Rosen, a Jewish physical therapist who fled Germany during World War II. Her method grew out of her intimate knowledge of the physical body, and from her understanding that life experiences are held in the musculature of the body.

Here is a description of the Rosen Method from the Berkeley Center website:

“The bodywork combines touch with verbal dialogue that guides the client’s awareness of their inner experience so that they can discover the connections between the body, mind, and emotions. This happens by bringing conscious awareness to patterns of tension and holding in the body, and inviting that tension to release if and when it feels safe to do so for the client. 

The approach of Rosen Method Bodywork is not to do something to the client, but rather to be fully present with and attuned to the client, and to utilize touch as a tool to listen to the client’s body with our hands. 

Over time, as clients experience the safe, attuned presence of the Rosen Method Bodywork practitioner, it allows tension and holding in the body to soften. What emerges are the unconscious and unfelt feelings that were blocked and created the tension in the first place. As these feelings are allowed to be met and safely felt, new possibilities for ways of being and moving through the world.”

I see the Rosen Method as a true antidote to our times. Caring for ourselves, our hearts as well as our bodies, is fundamental to accessing our humanity. We need connection with one another and to ourselves to sustain strength and to counter the many forces that want us alienated and separate. As Marion Rosen wrote:

“Rosen method begins with the individual and their own growth yet it doesnt stop there. The individuals growth leads to action, and their actions cause a ripple effect in the world. What is wonderful is that it never stops. We do not know where it will lead- the possibilities are unending.”