The approach
Gouf Nefesh: the body and what it carries
“Body-mind” is a phrase you can read ten times without knowing what it covers. Here is what it means, and what happens during the hour a session lasts.
What is body-mind support?
Body-mind support is individual work in which talking and attention to the body go together: we listen to what is said, and also to the breath, to where your weight rests, to what tightens and what lets go while you speak. Gouf Nefesh, body and soul, is the name of my practice in central Jerusalem. I see women, children and teenagers there, in English, French or Hebrew, in person or by video call. A session lasts one hour. No exercise is compulsory, and nothing will move faster than you do.
Why go through the body
Understanding where a fear comes from does not always make it go. You can know exactly what you should do and still not manage it. That is where understanding stops, and where the body carries on answering the way it always has.
The body keeps the memory of what we have been through: our fears, our protections, everything we have learned to hold in. Taking that into account does not replace words; it gives them a second foothold.
There is no plan set in advance. We start from what comes up that day: what is said, what stays unsaid, and what the body does meanwhile.
What happens in a session
One hour, in person or by video call. Here is what happens in it, and nothing else is asked of you.
We talk
You say what you want, in whatever order you want. There is no account to give from the beginning, and not knowing where to start is a way in like any other.
I also pay attention to what the body does
A breath that stops, a shoulder that rises, a sentence left unfinished. I simply point it out, and we look together at what it opens. That is what body work is: attention to what happens while you speak.
Sometimes we go another way
A pencil, an instrument, a movement, when words will not come or keep going round in circles. It is a detour, not a performance: nobody looks at the result, nothing is kept, nothing is filmed, and you can say no without having to explain yourself.
And sometimes, contact
Sometimes physical contact helps. When it does, I suggest it beforehand, I tell you what I am going to do and why, and you are free to say no, then or partway through. Nothing is ever done by surprise. You stay fully dressed, and I see only women, children and teenagers.
What “Gouf Nefesh” means
Gouf is the body. Nefesh is the breath, the inner life, what English calls the soul. The two words go together because that is how the work goes: not the body first and the rest afterwards, both at once.
Who this work is for
I see women, children and teenagers, in central Jerusalem or by video call. The work takes two main forms, and each has its own page.
The boundaries, plainly
What I offer comes alongside medical or psychological care, never instead of it. A diagnosis, an assessment or a certificate is the work of a doctor or a psychologist, and I can point you to the right person.
Where this work comes from
I trained for three years at Machon Aboulafia in Jerusalem, where I am still supervised today: there are people behind me I answer to for the way I work. Before that I was a primary school teacher, and it was in the classroom that things changed.
How to start
With a fifteen-minute call, free and with no commitment, before any session. You ask your questions, you hear my voice, and you decide in your own time. And if you would rather know first what a first appointment looks like, it is all written down.
If this is not the right place for you
There are situations I do not take on, and others where someone else will serve you better than I would. If that is the case, I will tell you at our first exchange and point you elsewhere. That is more honest than beginning work that would lead nowhere.
And if the situation is urgent, do not wait for my reply: ERAN answers 24/7 on 1201, and 101 is the medical emergency number.
A first message is enough
You do not need to know what to say, or to explain your situation. A simple hello is enough to begin.
The first fifteen-minute call is free, with no obligation.