[1] It was devised in the late 1960s by Jack Painter[2] (1933–2010) in California, US, after exploration in the fields of humanistic psychology and the human potential movement.
[1] During his time as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami, Painter became interested in working with the body and personally explored many different approaches – massage, acupuncture, Zen, yoga, the work of Ida Rolf and her Rolfing method,[4] Gestalt therapy developed by Fritz Perls, and the theories of Wilhelm Reich in the form of Vegetotherapy.
[10] The initial seven sessions address specific body areas and focus on releasing defensive armoring habits, characterized as "letting go of the old self".
[4] Since Postural Integration works simultaneously with the physical, mental and emotional aspects of the whole person, [12] it contains elements of both psychotherapy and bodywork, some practitioners qualified in psychotherapy focus more on the therapy aspect while others use it primarily as a form of bodywork with psychotherapy-based awareness and insights.
In the 1990s Psychotherapeutic Postural Integrational (PPI) developed in Strasbourg, France [14] out of Postural Integration with the inclusion of Jungian psychology and Gestalt therapy, the institute accredited by the European Association for Body Psychotherapy as qualifying their students in this method as ECP [15] practitioners of psychotherapy.