In my thesis I have dealt with the use of the body in psychosocial support and help. In the theoretical part, I first wrote about social work and the existing practises of body involvement in the profession, such as body mapping and touch, then I presented different interpretations and understandings of the mind-body connection and introduced the concept of embodiment. I continued and concluded with a presentation of various approaches that involve the body. I divided the approaches into categories: trauma-informed approaches, psychotherapy, dance-movement psychotherapy, mindfulness techniques, complementary therapies, and alternative medicine. In the empirical section, I present the results obtained through semi-structured interviews with seven professionals working in the field of psychosocial support who incorporate the body into their work: Neva Kralj, Špela Peterlin – Nayeli, Damjan Makovec, Tjaša Stepičnik Perdih, Sara Stefančič, Tina Božič and Tanja Velkov Garagić The questions related to the educational background of the interviewees and the key knowledge they use with themselves and their clients/users. I asked them about the method and approach they use in their work and the impact of their work itself. I inquired about their understanding of the mind-body connection and their suggestions for how they might bring approaches or elements of it into social work practise and the profession. I found that most of the professionals had completed advanced training abroad and that they were integrating different approaches and skills into their work, as well as applying them to themselves. It became clear to me that for all of them, understanding the mind-body connection as inseparable is the basis for their behaviour and understanding. It is important to understand that taking care of ourselves and our embodiment is central to our work as we influence others through neuro-mirroring and kinesthetic resonance. The body needs to be brought back into social work, because only then can we work holistically by noticing and responding to the messages our bodies send us from their deep knowing. In this way we become competent and competitive again and prevent burnout, exhaustion, psychosomatic phenomena and feelings of powerlessness at work.
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