Authentic Movement in Individual and Group Psychotherapy

The paper is aimed at determining the possibilities of using the concept of authentic movement as a phenomenon (not a body practice) in person-centered psychotherapy, also, at analyzing of the use of this phenomenon by psychotherapist, and in the process of psychological research. The paper provides a detailed analysis and description of the understanding of authenticity in various psychotherapeutic schools in comparison with the provisions of the person-centered approach. Sections of the paper are consistently devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of authenticity in general (the chapter one), the idea of authenticity and its movement characteristics in various psychotherapeutic schools (the chapter two), the movement in the psychotherapeutic process (the chapter three) and the attempt of empirical research of the phenomenon of authentic movement (the chapter four). The novelty of the paper lies in the separation of authentic movement as a practice and authentic movement as a phenomenon, secondly, in the development of the definition of authentic movement as a phenomenon, thirdly, it is the experience of empirical research of the phenomenon manifestations of authentic movement and its relationship with the components of the person's vitality. Key words: authenticity, authentic movement, congruence, spontaneity, personal potential, leading tendency, human potential, personal vitality, person-centered approach.