It is in this climate that Pesso psychotherapy is attracting increasing attention. This is not because Pesso psychotherapy claims to have a solution for everything, but because it does answer the question how bodily experience and reaction can be incorporated into psychotherapy in a safe and professional manner. An essential factor in this is that the various forms of physical contact occur only at the client's initiative and only with persons other than the therapist. Readers of this book will notice that at the basis of Pesso psychotherapy lies an optimistic vision of mankind, which can briefly be summarized as follows. It is the natural tendency of a human being to seek ways of enjoying life, through pursuit of pleasure, satisfaction and contact with others.
Human nature demands that one's potential be fulfilled and further developed.
Furthermore, it works on the premise that the individual is driven in this process by an inner instinct. Internal conflicts between the instinctive need for fulfillment and internalized denial manifest themselves in physical symptoms. This is coupled with a methodology based on the understanding of human physical and psychological development. As the research of Margaret Mahler and Daniel Stern shows, personal identity is formed within a body process consisting of actions and functions. Meaningful memories which influence our daily life are rooted in action, movement and bodily contact.