Nude group therapy

Group nudity and its beneficial effects have been long accepted in traditions such as Nordic sauna. In some forms of group therapy nudity may be considered normal or else may be encouraged whenever participants desire it. Such nudity is held to increase interpersonal transparency, remove inhibitions in the area of physical contact, decrease the sense of personal isolation and estrangement, and culminate in a feeling of freedom and belongingness. Nudity strips the individual of his ego pretensions and sometimes, of his ego defences. It helps to break down the walls of isolated cells of psychological privacy. Nudity in a group that encourages skin contact is held to be therapeutic in itself.