We are an international non-profit membership organization of psychotherapists devoted to the development and practice of Bioenergetic Analysis.
The Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis (IBA) was founded in 1956, in New York City, USA, by Alexander Lowen and two other students of Wilhelm Reich (John Pierrakos and William Walling). They separated a few years later and Alexander Lowen remained alone to manage the IBA.
In 1976, facing the international expansion of Bioenergetic Analysis and a growing demand in psychotherapist's trainings, Alexander Lowen turned the IBA into the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis (IIBA).
Since 2011, the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis (IIBA) has been registered in the Register of Associations of the Government of Catalonia (Spain) and has been keeping on supporting and encouraging its members in their work as bioenergetic therapists. Our members belong to the IIBA through membership in local societies (or as an exception as members at large). We currently have more than 1400 active members and about 50 affiliated local societies and institutes, distributed worldwide.
Our local societies function autonomously, understanding the unique characteristics of their national and professional situations. They are responsible for conducting trainings, recruit new members and offer programs to the professional and non-professional public. Our local societies are, along with our members, the ground of our global organization. (Often our local societies join to form larger regional organizations in order to pool resources and to coordinate programs.)
| The IIBA is a member of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP)...  |
... and an organizational member of the European Association for Body Pschotherapy (EABP)  |
We are an organization in which members can maintain a healthy allegiance to a bioenergetic center that holds the interests of members around the world. At the IIBA, we plan and execute activities that support and encourage the development of our members as bioenergetic therapists. We also support and enhance the work of our local societies and regional groups, and we promote the development and growth of modern Bioenergetic Analysis, as a theory and as a movement.
" The IIBA serves its members by conceiving, planning and executing activities that provide forums for sharing, teaching and groundbreaking. "
To accomplish this, we support cohesion and sharing within our community of members. (This cohesion includes a commitment to the maintenance and enhancement of the international character, and recognition of the responsibility of all members, and groups within our global community.)
Our mission extends into the future by continuing to support and encourage the development of new knowledge and skills in modern Bioenergetic Analysis, and the appropriate synthesis of knowledge from other fields and theories into the knowledge base available to its members.
Board of Trustees (BoT)
The government, management supervision and control of the IIBA is in the hands of BoT elected by our active members for a term of 3 years. Our BoT is committed to grow a method of organizational self-governance.
International Faculty
Our overall vision is embodied in the highly competent ethical practice of modern Bioenergetic Analysis. This part of the mission is carried forward especially by our International Faculty, a body of highly skilled teachers whose work includes the development of new theory and methods of practice. Our International Faculty assure the high quality trainings offered by our local societies or institutes. (This includes formal training leading to certification as a bioenergetic therapist, and ongoing continuing education.)
Our training curriculum is updated and continouosly revised by the International Faculty and approved by the BoT.
Executive Committee 2024
- President of the IIBA: Léia Maria de M. Cardenuto (Vila Madalena, Saõ Paulo, Brazil)
- Vice-President: Janet Pinneau (from Northridge CA, USA)
- Secretary & Treasurer: Vita Heinrich-Clauer (from Osnabrück, Germany)
Board of Trustees 2024
Representatives to the BoT 2024 for Europe:
- Patrizia Moselli (from Rome, Italy) - mail@siab-online.it - Term 2, Year 2 (re-elected in 12/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- Vita Heinrich-Clauer (from Osnabrück, Germany) - vitah134@gmail.com - Term 2, Year 2 (elected in 12/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- Yael Harel (from Moshav Bet-Halevi, Israel) - yaharel@gmail.com - Term 2, Year 2 (elected in 12/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- Manuela Tremante (from Rome, Italy) - manuelatremante@tiscali.it - Term 2, Year 1 (re-elected in 12/2023), 2nd term will finish in 03/2027).
Representatives to the BoT 2024 for NANZIBA:
- Janet Pinneau (from Northridge, USA) - janet.pinneau@att.net - Term 2, Year 2 (elected in 11/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- Paola Alessio (from New York, USA) - paolalessio@gmail.com - Term 2, Year 2 (elected in 11/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- James Elniski (from Santa Fe, USA) - jelnis@saic.edu - Interim Officer representative, serves until 03/2026 )
Representatives to the BoT 2024 for Latin America:
- Léia Maria de Mora Cardenuto (from Vila Madalena, Saõ Paulo, Brazil) - leiacardenuto52@gmail.com - Term 2, Year 2 (elected in 11/2022, 2nd term will finish in 03/2026)
- Ana Lúcia Faria (from Vila Madalena, Saõ Paulo, Brazil) - luciafariapsi@yahoo.com.br - Term 1, Year 2 (elected in 11/2022, 1st term will finish in 03/2026, possibility of being re-elected in 12/2025)
- Marilia Araujo de Vascondelos Leite (from Natal, RN, Brazil) - marilia_leite03@hotmail.com - Term 1, Year 1 (elected in 12/2023, 1st term will finish in 03/2027, possibility of being re-elected in 12/2026)
Representative to the BoT 2024 for the International Faculty:
- Anat Gihon (Mevasseret-Zion, Israel) - anatgihon@gmail.com - Term 1, Year 2 (elected in 11/2022, 1st term will finish in 03/26, possibility of being re-elected in 12/2025)
We do not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed, and efforts to do so represent a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment which have not been scientifically validated and by undermining self-esteem when sexual orientation fails to change.
No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation; nor, from a mental health perspective does sexual orientation need to be changed.
In addition, we oppose discrimination against individuals with same-sex attraction.
We celebrate gender, sexual & bodily diversity: We are founded on principles of acceptance of the human in all of us, and in the equal value of all human beings. We are aware that structural racism and inequities affect every society and organization and we are united in our struggle to face and restrain the destructive in ourselves and those we work with. We are committed to amend any policy and practice that perpetuates inequality or injustice within our organization and within the scope of our stated mission.
The members of the IIBA share in the sorrow, grief and outrage felt by many in response to the growing awareness of the destructive practices and policies against bodies of color. We stand in solidarity with those who recognize how the legacy of racial oppression and the instruments of institutionalized racism have contributed to the over-representation of black, brown, and indigenous people among those killed by Covid-19. This acting out of destructiveness goes directly against the philosophy and mission of the IIBA.
