Mental Health Talk and Discussion with Fernando Criado Jimenéz, 10 June

Fernando Criado Jimenéz is a practicioner of Boswijk therapy which is a Dutch form of experiential, body-oriented psychotherapy developed by Jan Boswijk and Riekje Boswijk-Hummel through the Boswijk Institute in the Netherlands.

The approach combines elements of:

• Gestalt therapy
• Body-oriented therapy
• Buddhist psychology and mindfulness
• Transpersonal psychology
• Emotional processing and awareness work

The core idea is that many emotional problems come from disconnecting from feelings, the body, and deeper emotional needs. Instead of mainly analyzing problems intellectually, Boswijk therapy focuses on directly experiencing emotions “in the here and now.”

Main principles

According to the Boswijk model:

• Psychological patterns are stored not only in thoughts, but also in emotions, body tension, behavior, and perception.
• People often develop “survival strategies” from earlier life experiences.
• Healing happens by becoming aware of these patterns and fully experiencing underlying emotions in a safe environment.

Therapists may work with:

• body awareness,
• emotional expression,
• guided experiential exercises,
• mindfulness,
• relationship dynamics,
• and present-moment observation.

The therapy is often described as “a journey from the outside to the inside.”

What it’s used for

People seek Boswijk therapy for issues such as:

• anxiety,
• burnout,
• relationship difficulties,
• emotional numbness,
• grief,
• trauma,
• stress,
• low self-esteem,
• or feeling “stuck” in life.

Is it evidence-based?

Boswijk therapy is considered an integrative or alternative psychotherapy approach rather than a mainstream evidence-based clinical treatment like CBT or EMDR. Some elements it uses — such as mindfulness, body awareness, and experiential therapy — do have scientific support individually, but the Boswijk method itself has limited international scientific research.

In the Netherlands, it is mainly practiced through therapists trained at the Boswijk Institute and related practitioners.