Core Energetics: Body-Centred Energy Work in Coaching
Core Energetics, developed by John Pierrakos, brings bodily sensation and feeling into the conversation alongside thought, and works with them through breath, posture and gentle movement where that fits. Its name is held as a trademark by its owners. Research on body-oriented psychotherapy exists, including a randomised trial for chronic depression, but a search for outcome studies of this method did not find any.
What it is
A body-centred coaching conversation starts with where you feel something in your body, rather than with a story about it. The coach asks you to stay with the sensation for a while and notice how it changes, before moving to what it means.
The approach takes the body to be part of how emotion is held and expressed, so a feeling can be worked with through breath, posture or movement as well as through words. Whether that holds up for you is a question the research below can only partly answer.
Where it comes from
The approach is attributed to John Pierrakos. His 1990 article 'The Core Energetic Process' is one published account of it (Pierrakos, 1990).
A 2013 randomised trial tested body psychotherapy for chronic depression, which is part of the wider research base for body-oriented work (Röhricht et al., 2013).
The principles underneath
Body and feeling as one field
Sensation, emotion and thought are worked with together, so a feeling can be reached through the body as well as through words (Price & Hooven, 2018).
Sensation as a way in
Noticing a bodily sensation closely can be a route into a feeling that talking about it does not reach (Price & Hooven, 2018).
Holding that can be felt
Long-held tension is treated as something that can be felt and worked with, rather than only described.
How a session runs
- Name what is going on for you, and where you feel it in your body.
- The coach or body psychotherapist asks you to stay with that sensation for a while and notice how it changes, rather than moving straight to a story about it.
- If it fits, the practitioner uses breath, posture or gentle movement with you to deepen contact with the feeling.
- The practitioner notices with you what emotion, memory or image comes up as the sensation shifts, and helps you put it into your own words.
- Reflect with the practitioner on what the body seems to be asking for, and agree what you will simply notice before the next session.
When it tends to fit
- A feeling sits in your chest or belly, and talking about it does not shift it.
- Tension comes back in the same places whenever a certain kind of situation arrives.
- You want to work with physical sensation and emotion together, rather than only with thoughts.
What the research shows
Evidence: Practitioner tradition — little or no outcome research
No outcome study of this method was found in a search for the method and its results. The nearest research is on body-oriented therapy. An exploratory randomised controlled trial of body psychotherapy for patients with chronic depression has been published (Röhricht et al., 2013). A 2018 paper sets out the theory and approach of a body-oriented therapy built on interoceptive awareness, which is the ability to sense signals from inside the body, and its use for emotion regulation (Price & Hooven, 2018). The 1990 article is by the approach's originator, and its title does not indicate an outcome study.
Where the evidence is thin: Neither the trial nor the 2018 paper tests this method by name. The trial concerns body psychotherapy for depression, and the 2018 paper concerns a related body-oriented approach. Research on body-oriented work is limited, and the evidence here is weaker than for the talking-based approaches on this site.
Sources
- Pierrakos, J. C. (1990). The Core Energetic Process. Self & Society.
- Röhricht, F., Papadopoulos, N., & Priebe, S. (2013). An exploratory randomized controlled trial of body psychotherapy for patients with chronic depression. Journal of Affective Disorders.
- Price, C. J., & Hooven, C. (2018). Interoceptive awareness skills for emotion regulation: Theory and approach of mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT). Frontiers in Psychology.
Where it stops
Body-based work can bring up intense feeling or old memories quickly. Sensations raised in these sessions are not worked with alone between sessions. If you have experienced trauma, or feel overwhelmed by sensation, work with a qualified body psychotherapist or clinician.
A sensation is information, not a diagnosis. Reading a feeling in the body does not establish what it is about, and the story built around it can be wrong.
Practices for this approach
- Focusing and the Felt Sense, Made Practical
Listening to the body’s pre-verbal knowledge — the six steps and their mechanisms
- Interoception, Explained
Sensing the inner body — and why it underwrites emotion and self-regulation
- Body Scan Meditation, Made Practical
Interoception, non-judgment, and how to move from head to toe with real attention
- Emotional Granularity: Precision as a Regulation Skill
Why a richer feelings vocabulary gives you more ways to respond