What is naked therapy?
Naked therapy is a form of mental health treatment that isn’t sexual in nature. It helps people become more comfortable with their bodies. It began in the 1930s when Howard Warren, who is a Princeton psychologist, and at the time was president of the American Psychological Association, spent a week’s time at a nudist camp in Germany. After that, he wrote a paper called “Social Nudism and the Body Taboo.” Warren discovered that being naked made people feel more comfortable with themselves; less self-conscious. He found that it improved people’s health to walk around in a nudist colony. The lack of self-consciousness was freeing to these individuals. Naked therapy evolved, and in the 1960s, Paul Bindrim began a therapy group where people were naked in front of each other and felt comfortable. It provided a setting where nudity was less taboo. In 1967, Bindrim started a nude workshop that took place in Deer Park California. The workshop had anywhere from 15-25 clients, and they’d spend a weekend being completely nude, using swimming pools, and hanging out with each other.
Feeling good about your body in naked therapy
If you have issues accepting yourself and your body, naked therapy can help. You may struggle with comparing yourself with others, and if you do naked therapy in a group setting, you’ll internalize that everyone has a different body. It’s not about sexuality; it’s about body positivity and acceptance. It helps you undo the damage that society has done, where we’ve been conditioned to believe that there’s one or several “perfect” bodies and that anything else isn’t good enough. There are so many different bodies, and every body is beautiful.
Feeling good about yourself
Naked therapy can help you feel good not just about your body, but about yourself entirely. It can boost your confidence and self-esteem, it can help you feel less scared to take risks or try new things, and when you strip down the literal layers of your clothes, you’re left with your core self and who you actually are. You can have meaningful relationships and talk with the people around you in a group therapy session to understand yourself and accept yourself, and in turn, accept and understand others. Naked therapy can be transformational in understanding who you truly are.
Benefits of naked therapy
Naked therapy is a way to feel comfortable with yourself and get down to the core of your problems rather than hiding. One of the issues that people sometimes struggle with in therapy is vulnerability, but you have no choice but to be open and honest if you’re not wearing clothes. Naked therapy might be something that people are hesitant to try, but if they do, it can be truly transformative. It can lead to a stronger sense of self, increased overall confidence, humility, and acceptance of yourself and others.
Seeking mental health treatment when you’re scared
If you feel that you’re hitting a roadblock in life and having difficulty accessing your problems, you might try naked therapy or any other form of mental health treatment that speaks to you. Whether you work with a psychologist in your local area or online, therapy can be a huge game-changer in your life.
This is a featured post by site sponsor Better Help.
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