About Dirk Marivoet, MSc


Founder of Core Strokes®· Psychotherapist · Teacher · Author

A Life Dedicated to Body, Mind, and Soul Integration

Dirk Marivoet, MSc

Dirk Marivoet is a Belgian psychotherapist, physiotherapist, and psychomotor therapist with more than 40 years of clinical and teaching experience. After a decade at KU Leuven (University of Louvain), where he trained and supervised students in psychomotor therapy, he chose to continue his path outside academia in order to explore dimensions of embodiment, energy, and transpersonal work that reach beyond conventional frames.

Over the following decades, his work evolved at the crossroads of body psychotherapy, fascial research, breath-based regulation, and developmental character work. Drawing from Reichian, post-Reichian, and contemporary neurobiological perspectives, Dirk developed Core Strokes®—an integrative approach that reads the body as a living process shaped by breath, tissue, and relational experience.

Today, his clinical and teaching work focuses on supporting deep regulation, embodied presence, and the reorganization of long-held patterns through precise touch, breath guidance, and relational attunement. Dirk teaches internationally and continues to refine a somatic language that bridges scientific insight, lived experience, and the subtle intelligence of the body.

Training and Lineage

Dirk studied extensively with pioneers of body-mind integration and transpersonal psychology, drawing from somatic psychotherapy, Reichian and post-Reichian traditions, developmental bodywork, and consciousness-based approaches to healing.

  • Jack Painter, Ph.D. — founder of Postural Integration®, Energetic Integration®, and Pelvic-Heart Integration®.
  • John Pierrakos, M.D. — founder of Core Energetics®, continuing Wilhelm Reich’s legacy.
  • Al Pesso — founder of PBSP® (Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor).
  • Influences from Bioenergetics, Gestalt, Somatic Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, and Trauma-Informed Approaches (including Polyvagal and fascia research).

Dirk later became a certified international trainer and supervisor in Postural Integration®, Bodymind Integration, and Core Energetics®. Drawing on these lineages, he went on to develop his own synthesis: Core Strokes®, an integrative method that weaves together breath, fascia, movement, and consciousness.

Founder and Director

He is the founder and director of the International Institute for Bodymind Integration (IBI), where he teaches Core Strokes® internationally through professional training programs, workshops, and seminars. Dirk also serves as chair of the Core Science Foundation, supporting scientific research and education in integrative body psychotherapy.

Core Strokes®— A Living Synthesis

Through decades of clinical practice and international teaching, Dirk developed Core Strokes®, a spiral framework that unites:

These frameworks are held together by Neurofascial Encoding™ — the principle that describes how relational, emotional, and energetic experiences are inscribed into breath, fascia, and bodily pattern.

Today, Core Strokes® is taught across Europe and beyond, offering a path that weaves together science, psychology, bodywork, and spirituality.


Publications, Media and Teaching

Dirk is currently writing his major book on Core Strokes®, weaving fascia research, breath psychology, and clinical practice into a coherent and accessible framework. His articles and teachings have been presented at international conferences and published in professional journals. → View selected publications and media

Dirk is also a widely respected teacher of psychosomatics. He teaches internationally across a range of training institutes, offering in-depth exploration of:

  • Transpersonal dimensions of body psychotherapy
  • Character structures and developmental trauma
  • Fascia and embodied consciousness
  • Breath, energy, and the Reichian lineage


Vision and Commitment

Dirk’s work is guided by a deep commitment to:

  • Restoring connection between body, soul, and spirit
  • Supporting people to heal trauma, transform defenses, and awaken creativity
  • Bringing forward a transgenerational and ecological perspective, where healing the individual also heals the field we live in.


Contact and Connection

Dirk teaches Core Strokes® internationally, with established teaching roles and ongoing trainings in Belgium, France, Corsica, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece, South Africa, Mexico, and other global locations.

He also offers lectures, supervision, and individual sessions (online and in person).
🌍 Learn more about Core Strokes® trainings →
📩 Contact Dirk →


“I believe that every breath holds the possibility of renewal, every body carries the memory of wholeness, and every soul longs to return to its authentic rhythm.”

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