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Frequently asked questions

Questions people actually ask

Direct answers first, detail after. If your question is not here, write me and I will answer it and probably add it.

What is the Pantarei Approach?

The Pantarei Approach is a somatic bodywork method founded in Berlin in 2016 by Vered Manasse and Claudia Glowik. A session combines conversation with hands-on touch: you talk about something real in your life, and the practitioner helps you notice how it shows up in your body. The name comes from the Greek panta rhei, everything flows.

Is somatic bodywork the same as massage?

No. Massage works on your muscles to release physical tension, and you mostly receive it passively. In a Pantarei session you stay an active participant the whole time. The conversation continues during the hands-on work, and the touch is there to direct your attention, not to knead anything out of you. You leave a massage relaxed. You leave a session knowing something about yourself you did not know before, and sometimes also relaxed.

Is this therapy?

No. Pantarei is not psychotherapy and sessions do not diagnose or treat any medical or psychological condition. If you are dealing with a health condition, a doctor or licensed therapist is the right first stop. Sessions can sit alongside that kind of care without competing with it.

Do I have to believe in anything for this to work?

No. There is no energy talk and nothing to take on faith. The premise is ordinary: your body is involved in everything you experience, and paying attention to it gives you information that thinking alone does not. You are allowed to stay skeptical the entire time. Skeptics tend to make good clients because they notice what actually changes.

What does "student practitioner" mean?

It means I am completing the Pantarei Approach professional training here in Berlin, where the school is based. Student practitioners give real, full sessions as part of their certification path, within the school's training framework. You get a complete session, and you know exactly where your practitioner stands in their training. I hold that transparency as a feature, not a footnote.

What happens in the first session?

We talk for a while about what you want to look at. Then you lie down on a bodywork table, fully clothed, and I work with touch while we keep talking. A session runs about an hour. Afterward most people need a few minutes before they want to rejoin traffic. There is no preparation needed and nothing to bring.

Do I keep my clothes on?

Yes, the entire time. Comfortable clothes are ideal.

Where are you, and in what language do you work?

Sessions take place in Neukölln, Berlin, near Schönleinstraße. I work in English. I am American-Canadian and have lived in Berlin for ten years.

What kinds of things do people bring to sessions?

Decisions they keep postponing. A tension that shows up before every difficult conversation. Feeling flat in a life that looks fine on paper. The transition out of a job, a relationship, a country. A general sense of living from the neck up. You do not need a crisis to book a session. Curiosity is a complete reason.

How many sessions do I need?

There is no required package and no upsell waiting at the end. One session gives you a real experience of the work. Some things unfold better over a handful of sessions. You will be able to tell the difference yourself, which is rather the point of the practice.