David Boadella

David Boadella (born July 6, 1931 in London) is a British psychotherapist and founder of a modality of body psychotherapy called biosynthesis, and the author of numerous books as well as including poetry.

David Boadella is the son of a Harold (a Port of London transport officer) and Jessie Boadella (a secretary, maiden name Marsh). He served his military service in the British Army, Intelligence Corps between 1948 and 1952. He has one son and one daughter, Adam and Eilidh, from his first marriage in 1952 to a writer named Elsa Corbluth. He is currently married to Silvia Specht Boadella. They married in 1988 and their son Till was born that same year.

University studies
Boadella has studied education, psychology and literature. He holds the following degrees: B.A. (with honors) from the University of London, 1953, M.Ed. from the University of Nottingham, 1960. Dr.h.c. from the Open International University of Complementary Medicine, 1985.

Professional life
He worked as a teacher at various schools in Nottingham between 1960–1963, then as headmaster at Abbotsbury School in Abbotsbury in Dorset from 1963 and until at least 1970. , He worked as a bioenergetic therapist at Churchill Centre from 1968, he was a lecturer at University of Bristol 1968–1971 and Weymouth College of Education 1973–1975. Boadella was director of Abbotsbury Publications from 1970. He was also a founding member of Chesil Poets which was a community project in creative writing for adults established in 1973.

Boadella is a psychotherapist (SPV and UKCP). He underwent five years of training analysis under Reichian vegetotherapist Ola Raknes in Oslo, Norway, and he has since 1985 undergone training analysis in "psychosomatic centering" under Robert Moore in Denmark. In 1985 he was also awarded his honorary doctorate from the Open International University of Complementary Medicine for his pioneering work in the development and promotion of the disciplinary journal Energy & Character as well as for his contributions in that context.

Boadella began developing his biosynthesis modality in 1969 after five years of training in vegetotherapy, twelve years part time practice as a vegtotherapist, and 15 years working with the emotional problems of children in an educational context.

Other information
David Boadella reads French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish and Norwegian. His interests also include chess, judo, mountaineering, sculpture and music. The article about him in Contemporary Authors (published in 1975) quotes Boadella as being a libertarian and with respect to religion being "Sympathetic to Taoism, but no official adherence."

Source

 * "Energy & Character" vol.31 no.1, September, 2000. P.126-131,144

David Boadella