Dr Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar, PhD

I have arrived in England from Israel in 1999, and am a therapist, writer and trainer. At a time when my homeland is full of conflict, hatred and uncertainty, I am commited to cultivating clear communication, integrity and healing. In 2009 I have moved back to Israel where I practice psychotherapy. I continue teaching in the UK, Europe and Israel.

In my therapeutic practice, I am a UKCP registered psychotherapist, and EABP accreditted Body-psychotherapist, having created Integrative-Mindbody-Therapy (IMT): an innovative therapeutic approach combining various psychotherapeutic modalities with hypnotherapy, NLP and body-psychotherapy, with a strong relational base. I am a member of various professional organisations, and have completed my PhD on the touching place between relational psychoanalysis, body-psychotherapy and trancework. In my thirteen years of practice, I have gained particular experience and interest in helping people with psychosexual issues (for individuals and couples), depression, eating disorders, and people with history of abuse or trauma. I am also very keen on working with men in geeral and with fathers in particular. 

As a writer, I have published about 70 papers in psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, NLP and bodywork magazines. List of publications can be seen by clicking here.  

As a trainer and workshop leader, I have been training professional therapists in aspects of bodywork and body-psychotherapy. I have also been leading workshops on topics of hypnotic communication and therapeutic principles for therapists and non-professionals. I teach elements of IMT to therapists and practitioners. Currently, I am teaching body-psychotherapy in Reidman College in Israel and in "במרחב משותף" (In a Shared Space) - the centre for relational coaching and psychotherapy, with my lovely partners Carmella Keet     and Micky Gerber    

To follow a path of healing and growth one must have roots, and I have been blessed by many such good lineages: I am indebted to my teachers and influences – Silke Ziehl, Stephen Gilligan, Guy Gladstone, Shoshi Asheri, Ernest Rossi, Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir, Frank Farrelly and Bradford Keeney, to Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich and Milton Erickson, Gregory Bateson and Don Juan, Stephen Mitchell and Jessica Benjamin, Jose Saramago and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. My clients have taught me so much about skill and about love, and are always helping me to grow and develop as a person, and as a writer, teacher and therapist.

My wife Tom is my home and my breath, without her I wouldn’t be able to do this work - I can expand and reach out because my soul is at home. My daughter diffuses my solipsistic fantasies and stretches my narcissitic wound, she is the greatest joy - and greatest responsibility - I have ever known.