×‰?4×B!Ü &×‘C’×˜š Íü ÍüÍ(u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://DH_p4LrRS5PQN1FCGtbUdU7A0akOURfUjq-KC3D32aIÎ u´Í`ÍòÍ²×‰	Ú 7cassandra://cP_5Ew6ouxiIIXlBcg9NKAWKkhd6xygLyKV_Qx1R_NIÍMèÍ`ÍsÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YQkcaxrMpOCEaIVGfrVDmmSqGYz52ONpaXpPMnGgFi4Í3Í`ÌÆÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ir-R5UuF_tZL6obV5W_1_m2yup59eXwLEMzbHOcNsPgÎ t6 Í Í]Íð×X®ä°´-Í¥<×˜š   ÍüÍ(u×ˆœ×         ×ˆE×X®ä°´-Í¥=×‰E×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YQkcaxrMpOCEaIVGfrVDmmSqGYz52ONpaXpPMnGgFi4Í3Í`ÌÆÍ ×X®ä°´-Í¥>×X®ä°´-Í¥=ÍøÍ(×‘C‘×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://mCAhUf8-G4emiFkecfamOad08UTbq0pVNkqzRolsiAcÎ ¯Í`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://OJ_M0YtBgc53_q7TwspGTtLizRG68r7VHkzsgiJkd_sÍPÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://5bhrHVMJGdyhuEElCKXib3iHj6odHvg3u6Ye0_1Q_MMÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ww-OEsZbo4PmePUhXswY4oUhTXnxEJJa8pg1Y9JQYEMÍŽ5Í`Í ÍEÍñ×Xš6ä°VScÞ”\×ˆE×Xš6ä°VScÞ”]×‰EÚ ¾Vol 37
May, 2009
International Journal of Biosynthesis
Pre-and Perinatal Psychology
Somatic and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Somatic Therapy and Transpersonal Psychology
Creation and Courage
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çGracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me diÃ³ dos luceros, que cuando los abro.
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado,
Y en las multitudes
el hombre que yo amo.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oÃ­do que en todo su ancho
Graba noche y dÃ­a grillos y canarios
Martillos, turbinas, ladrillos, chubascos
Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el sonido y el abecedario.
Con Ã©l las palabras que pienso y declaro,
â€œMadre,â€ â€œamigo,â€hermano,â€ y luz alumbrando
La ruta del alma del que estoy amando.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados.
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
Valles y desiertos, montaÃ±as y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me diÃ³ el corazÃ³n, que agita su marco.
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al bueno tan lejos del malo.
Cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa, me ha dado el llanto.
AsÃ­ yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Los dos materiales que forman mi canto,
Y el canto de ustedes que es el mismo canto.
Y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me two beams of light, that when opened,
Can perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop,
And from within the multitude
The one that I love.
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me an ear that, in all of its width
Records â€“ night and day â€“ crickets and canaries,
Hammers and turbines and bricks and storms,
And the tender voice of my beloved.
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me sound and the alphabet.
With them the words that I think and declare:
â€œMother,â€ â€œFriend,â€ â€œBrotherâ€ and the light shining.
The route of the soul from which comes love.
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me the ability to walk with my tired feet.
With them I have traversed cities and puddles
Valleys and deserts, mountains and plains.
And your house, your street and your patio.
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me a heart, that causes my frame to shudder,
When I see the fruit of the human brain,
When I see good so far from bad,
When I see within the clarity of your eyesâ€¦
Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyoneâ€™s song, which is my very song.
Gracias a La Vida (Thank you to Life)
poem by Violeta Parra
English translation by William MorÃ­n
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://8pD1sboBO1q4hwPysYAzXTaiaF_aPRWK-OUPwv93sNsÍfÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš6ä°VScÞ”a×‰EÚLContents
Articles
6
8
9
11
15
19
26
36
47
56
Book Review
62
63
64
67
73
Editorial
A Bridge Between Worlds: a Personal Message for Eva Reich
by David Boadella
Eva Reich: â€œThe peace on earth begins in the uterusâ€
by Renata Reich Moise
At the turn of the pendulumâ€™s swing
by Renata Reich Moise
The Battle for a New Humanity
by Eva Reich
Household Use of the Orgone Energy Accumulator
by Renata Reich Moise
Reich Was Right - Self Regulation from Wilhelm Reich to
Contemporary Applied Neuroscience
by Jacqueline A. Carleton
Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II:
The Process of Re-embodiment
by Courtenay Young
Feminity, Gender and Essence in Body-Psychotherapy
Part I: Reflections on theory, clinical and teaching experience
by Liliana Acero
Systemic Intervention in Biosynthesis: how to work with
relational field with families
by Esther Frankel
PsychothÃ©rapie Corporelles, Fondements et Methodes
Reviewed by Jerome Liss
The Hill Speaks
Reviewed by David Boadella
Consciousness without end
Reviewed by David Boadella
Training and Courses in Biosynthesis
Editorial Information
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 Í!ÍÓÌ’9×H¿mailto:esther.frankel@gmail.com××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ•	 ÍjÍS|9×H¹mailto:mncorrea@gmail.com××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ• Í!ÍCÍ(9×HÚ $http://www.biossintese.psc.br/energy××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ• ÍKÍóÌ’9×H¿mailto:esther.frankel@gmail.com××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ• ÍKÍã|9×H¹mailto:mncorrea@gmail.com××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ• Í!ÍS}9×H»http://www.biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ× ×XšAä°VScÞ• ÍKÍC|9×H¼mailto:info@biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ×‰EÚ_Editorial
by: Silvia Specht Boadella
David Boadella
Esther Frankel
Milton CorrÃªa
T
his issue pays homage to Eva Reich who, as
written in the Personal message by David
Boadella, dedicated her life to build creative
bridges between worlds. Evaâ€™s passion
for truth and her clear enthusiasm for helping people in
trouble was an inspiration for David and Silvia and also
for us and we hope that she can inspire all the people
who want a better and peaceful world.
An introductory biography (and the obituary) of Eva
Reich is presented by her daughter Renata Reich Moise,
with the title The peace on earth begins in the uterus,
which describes Evaâ€™s travels to 30 countries, battling
for a better world. In this article Renata also reminds us
about â€œButterfly Baby Massageâ€, created by Eva, and
that in Berlin, special ambulances rush to homes where
babies are crying inconsolably, using her methods to
calm the babies.
The article Household Use of the Orgone by Renata
Reich presents a touching story about the beginning of
Eva Reichâ€™s life as the daugther of Wilhelm Reich and
as the revolutionary doctor in a small town in the coast
of USA. Renata shows how Eva for as long as 10 years,
with love and courage used creatively, all her skills,
traditional western medicine, natural medicine, and
Orgone medicine. She diagnosed people, combining her
understanding of character structure, Reichian blood test
looking for t-bacilus, as well using skills she had learned
in medical school. With care and admiration Renata lists
some clinical notes that Eva wrote about her clients and
how Eva treated them with orgone acummulator. The
design of some acummulators is described by Renata and
she shows also how they was used to help Eva Reich in
her illness before she died.
At the turn of the pendulumâ€™s swing is a collection
of texts from an Eva Reich diary organized by Renata Reich.
In this intimate writing Eva express her soul, despair,
anger, idealism and faith.
Eva Reich in her article The Battle for a New humanity
wrote about her preventive work based on the
biological evolution according to the findings of Wilhelm
Reich. The biological evolution which produces human
beings who could tolerate gentleness and pleasure in
life, who would shun violence and to whom war would
be anachronistic. She also claims that self-regulation and
responsible freedom must be encouraged from infancy
onward. She shows that the biological evolution is possible
from the â€œright of the babies to be wanted babiesâ€.
Eva Reich writing from her vast experience traveling
around the world, brings hope that is possible to change
how the world works when childbirth education available
to all expectant parents.
In her article Reich was right: self regulation
from Wilhelm Reich to Contemporary applied Neuroscience
Jacqueline Carleton explores the relevance
of Reichâ€™s thought, in special his basic principle of self
regulation, to contemporary neuroscientific research and
to neuroscientifically-based treatments of trauma. She
presents an interesting bridge between the pioneer ideas
of Reich and the recent researches of neuroscience and
neuropsychoanalysis.
The article Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy
without Touch: The process of Re-embodiment by
Courtenay Young, presents an overview of Body Psychotherapy
according of Neuroscience, Anthopology,
Psychosocial, Cultural images, Transitional objects, narrative
therapy and body images, He explores and deepens
the concepts of embodiment and re-embodiment. In this
article Courtenay advises about the indiscriminated use
of touch without a carefully ethical posture adequate
to the real necessities of the client and as he states â€œwe
donâ€™t touch because we have learnt about touch and
the effects of touch and because we can now achieve
almost exactly the same effects in different ways, if
needed, without touch. We can only now work without
touch because we have worked extensively with touch;
maybe we have embodied touch sufficiently so that we
can touch our clients differently, without touching them
physicallyâ€. Courtenay emphasizes the importance of
therapeutic alliance and the quality of emotional attachment
between client and therapist for an effective
benefit of therapy.
In her article Femininity, Gender and Essence in
Body-Psuchotherapy: reflections on theory, clinical
and teaching experience, Liliana Acero presents
a critical review of how women and female sexuality
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She argues that, the absence of a clear use of
a Gender Theory has biased theoretical formulations,
research and practice even neoreichian psychotherapy.
Some aspects of contemporary psychology views on
these topics are outlined and conclude with examples
on Latin American cultural and social researches on
womenâ€™s social behaviour.
Systemic psychotherapy integrated with individual
somatic Biosynthesis psychotherapy is presented by
Esther Frankel in her article Systemic Intervention in
Biosynthesis: How to work in the relational field
with families. With a personal introduction to the
systemic theme, Esther writes about her own process of
healing and shows from her clinical experiences how the
systemic and individual somatic psychotherapy are complementary.
Theoretical links based on the Biosynthesis
Life Fields, and field of intentionality model are shown
in a practical session with family constellation.
The book PsychothÃ©rapie Corporelles, Fondements
et Methodes, by Michel Heller is reviewed by
Jerome Liss. The feeling that we are returning to ancient
origins of body awareness, and therefore the Western
history of Freud, Reich, Lowen and Boadella, is seen as
coming from deeper roots. Especially interesting is the
presentation of Darwinian notions regarding the evolution
of the body and emotions and Cannonâ€™s work
regarding homeostasis. As pointed by Jerome the understanding
of the basic message of this book is essential
for body psychotherapists.
David Boadella reviews the book The Hill Speaks by
the poet Elsa Corbluth. As David comments: this new
collection may sound local, but is quite global in scope.
For Elsa a landscape on earth is an opening to a landscape
of the heart. Whether it is a flower, a tree, a rock, or a
mountain, she presents this from her artistic vision as a
bridge between her vision of the world of nature, where
even hills have a voice and can speak, and the inner passions
of being human. The book is full of breath-taking
currents that lead us into worlds of myth and legend, or
back to solid earth with a bump.
The new book of Pim van Lommel, Consciousness
is reviewed by David Boadella. This book
Volume 37, May 2009
International Journal of Biosynthesis
The 82th English publication, since January 1970
Covering prenatal and perinatal psychology, somatic
and psychodinamic psychotherapy, somatic therapy
and transpersonal psychology
ISSN 0013-7472
Copyright Â© by the International Institute for
Biosynthesis IIBS. All rights reserved
Publishers and International Editors:
Dr. h. c. David Boadella and
Dr. phil. Silvia Specht Boadella
International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
BenzerÃ¼ti 6, CH-9410 Heiden, Switzerland
tel: +41-71-891 68 55
fax: +41-71-891-58 55
e-mail: info@biosynthesis.org
www.biosynthesis.org
Producers and Managing Editors:
Dr. Milton CorrÃªa (PhD) and Dr. Esther Frankel (MA)
Biosynthesis School of Rio de Janeiro
Rua BarÃ£o de Ipanema, 56/902, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Brazil - CEP 22050-030
tel: +55-21-3816 3626, +55-21-8891 3626
fax: +55-21-2523 5617
e-mail: mncorrea@gmail.com
e-mail: esther.frankel@gmail.com
Order and subscriptions:
Orders and subscriptions can be required by
http://www.biossintese.psc.br/energy-character.html
or by e-mail: mncorrea@gmail.com or
by fax +55-21-2523 5617
Please send complete contact information
Submissions of articles:
without end,
presents a deep study of the near-death experiences and
consciousness. Van Lommel, who was for 26 years a
cardiologist at a hospital in Arnhem, Holland, concludes
that consciousness is not produced by the brain, but acts
through the brain, and is trans-somatic, in the sense that
is not locally dependent on the life processes of the body.
The book is supported by over 450 detailed footnotes,
and 360 major references to neurological, biological,
quantum-physical, psycho-energetic and philosophical
sources. Lommelâ€™s detailed but panoramic survey of the
field of consciousness beyond the brain and the body, is
a masterpiece of clinical, scientific and cultural research.
Authors should send their articles in the RTF or Word
format for Windows PC to Dr. Esther Frankel and
Dr. Milton CorrÃªa by eletronic mail:
esther.frankel@gmail.com
mncorrea@gmail.com
milton.correa@biossintese.psc.br
Authors whose work is accepted for publication will be
required to revise their work to conform
Energy & Character style
Art Project
Milton CorrÃªa, Luis C. Gomes, Walter Guerra
Design, Layout and Typesetting:
Micael Hocherman CorrÃªa
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a Personal Message for Eva Reich
by David Boadella
I
first met you at the San Francisco conference, at
Esalen, in 1974, on Wilhelm Reich and the Politics
of the Body. I was inspired by your passion
for truth and your clear enthusiasm for helping
people in trouble. I felt you to be a builder of bridges:
between male and female energies, between the excitement
of the child, and the forcefulness of the adult.
Our paths crossed from time to time over the years, in
different countries on both sides of the Atlantic. When
my daughter died suddenly in 1980, you were one of the
first to ring me up with support and empathy. Later you
visited me at my home in Dorset, and we sat together
on Chesil beach, listening to the rhythm of the sea. The
pulsation of the waves reminded you of your lifeâ€™s work
with expansion and contraction.
When the first growth centre in Europe was established,
at Quaesitor in London, you were one of the
first therapists to be invited there. You oriented yourself
so quickly in the neighbourhood in a way that taught
the leader of that centre how practical you are and how
quick to put your feet down on new ground.
In the early nineteen eighties you and I were jointly
invited to give lectures on our work at a conference centre
in west London. I found your speaking very direct, and
able to arouse lively responses from the audience. They
could see that you embodied what you spoke about.
I encouraged you to write more, and was hap py
that I could publish several of your fine articles in
Energy & Character. You were always provocative,
ne ver conservative.
After I moved to Switzerland in 1985, Silvia and
I invited you as a guest trainer to our Institute for
Biosynthesis, in ZÃ¼rich. Your teaching was forceful and
passionate and transmitted a deep trust in the ability of
a person to regain vitality. You taught that the healing
of wounds is indeed possible. Later you were a guest in
our house, and you sat comfortably on the floor making
easy and natural contact with our baby son, who was
just starting to crawl then.
You travelled widely, as I did at that time, to many
8
7th European Congress of Body Psychotherapy - 1999, Homage to Eva Reich
David Boadella, Gerda Boyesen, Malcom Brown, Eva Reich and Renata Reich.
places in the world. In your travels you were constantly
reminding people of the needs of the newborn, and
challenging them to rethink their views. You built bridges
towards a more dynamic understanding of what the
pulse of life is about. When you were once in Venezuela
you saw videos of Biosynthesis sessions I had given in
a therapeutic group in Caracas. You told me then that
they deeply influenced your development of your own
soft and non-invasive style of therapy. You said it reconnected
you to the spirit of your fatherâ€™s work which
was founded in establishing emotional contact with the
expressive language of the living.
At the last time we met, at the EABP conference in
Travemunde, North Germany, in 1999 you paid public
tribute to this influence, and to our common roots. At the
end of the conference you were awarded an Honorary
Membership of the EABP, as a recognition and honouring
of your life-long work for the prevention of neurosis and
for what you described as your â€œbattle for humanityâ€.
Eva, for all that we could share together, at those
moments when our paths crossed, visibly, or invisibly, I
thank you from my heart, as I salute you, across the last
bridge, between life and death.
David Boadella A Bridge Between Worlds: a Personal Message for Eva Reich
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://2jSMEp87VmtcfP7NxfhmbBCWvrE8DAc3iP5Y9dxPeQEÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”i×‰EÚ¼Eva Reich: â€œThe peace on
earth begins in the uterusâ€
by Renata Reich Moise
E
va Renate Reich, MD, a resident of Hancock,
Maine, USA for more than 50 years, and an
internationally known lecturer on emotional
health, died Sunday August 10th
2008 in her
daughterâ€™s arms at her home on Hancock Point Road.
She was 84 years old and had been in failing health for
some time after a stroke of the spine on New Years Eve
2001 left her a paraplegic.
Dr. Reich was born in Vienna, Austria on April 27th
,
1924, the daughter of two luminaries in the world of
Freudian Psychoanalysis, Wilhelm Reich and Annie (Pink)
Reich. She and her younger sister Lore immigrated with
their mother to the United States in 1938 after their parentâ€™s
divorce, and lived in New York City. In this country
Eva attended Barnard College, and the Womanâ€™s Medical
College of Pennsylvania, earning her MD in degree in
1949 at the age of 25. During these years she was married
to and then divorced from Jerome Siskind, a social
worker, with whom she had corresponded daily during
World War 11. After a two year rotating internship she
became a General Practitioner (akin to Family Practice),
maternal child health always her special passion .
She met William (Bill) Moise, the artist, while both
worked at her fatherâ€™s laboratory in Rangeley, Maine.
There they studied Orgonomy, a science of energy and
Eva with Freckles, Oil on Canvas, Renata Reich, 1989
energy & character vol.37 may 2009
9
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://MbA83VSju1VJ3ZkdKdOLZs0s4KYs1H7nRIJnRt0fI8cÍ¹Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”j×Xš7ä°VScÞ”iÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://E8Ezx4ZCpIKCOxTYd7MeIoPWQMIrzTrNpThIH60dNiUÎ õ¿Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_Q5GG9nH6X7o7DiikFWOau46v76iIHf-nmG5vacoztkÍnüÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://RbEFzYwII2QYHRsIQc5Ul_z2KFsidmvAGoujq9G4Z5gÍYÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CI20PJ2XEHz-TJIbfB0ObytJwUgUPrCW9GOFkSQdTi4Í7&DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”k×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ajvWnt-8MqDElVP2sGCpIl0jlR6qRRR-zDJEdOHL9zQÎ JXÍ`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://oIPbxyPvC5rWA9aNpJ73LY_PgPDBvdPVIk7gqYbuE1cÍRËÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://OFu0bjvbzPL0wd7o-0gq0kBSHQAJPfZnRbD1edBPxI4Í.Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://6cNH0ewmk1ZZNk5FTj-BhZ74JWd4bNonuvNzTh0hbm8Î 7öHÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”l×‰EÚBbody therapy, and participated in many of Wilhelm
Reichâ€™s experiments.
In 1952 Eva and Bill moved to Hancock, Maine, where
she opened a small medical practice out of her home
while Bill taught art in the schools. At the age of 28, and
the first female MD in the area, Eva soon became loved
and respected as a country doctor. Through much of
the 1950s Eva and Bill were also deeply involved in her
fatherâ€™s work. After Wilhelm Reichâ€™s death while he was
imprisoned for his scientific ideas in 1957, Eva struggled
with depression and plunged herself even more deeply
into her rural private medical practice. She applied many
of the principles she had learned from her father with
good results.
Together she and her husband also operated a small
organic farm, where they were forerunners in the organic
food movement. In many ways Eva was always ahead of
her time, preaching the benefits of natural food, gentle
birth, and mother-child bonding long before these ideas
found the main stream.
In 1960 Eva gave birth at home to a daughter, Renata
Moise, the only child she would be able to carry. She
closed her medical practice in 1962, after suffering herself
the loss of several pregnancies.
She ran a Montessori school in her home for Renata
and neighboring children from 1963 to 1966. In 1970
she established mobile birth control clinics for all ages,
which served central and eastern Maine. Evaâ€™s principle
was to make her efforts available at low cost or free,
and she lived very simply.
After her divorce from Moise in 1974, Eva began
traveling around the world, invited to lecture on, and
demonstrate her fatherâ€™s work, as well as her own. William
Moise died in 1980.
Eva, who had studied infant emotional health under
her fatherâ€™s tutelage and as a primary care physician, developed
a gentle orgonomic treatment for upset infants
and colicky babies. She coined the term â€œButterfly Baby
Massageâ€, since the touch used was as gentle as the
touch used to pick up a butterfly. This method has been
taken up especially in Austria and Germany. In Berlin
there are special â€œambulancesâ€ which rush to houses
where babies are crying inconsolably, using Eva Reichâ€™s
methods to calm babies. She found that this level of
touch worked with both adults and children, melting
the body armor rather than breaking it down.
She eventually traveled to 30 countries and rounded
the world 7 times, giving lectures on Orgonomy, gentle
birth, breast feeding, sexuality, organic foods, birth, baby
10 Renata Reich Moise Eva Reich: â€œThe peace on earth begins in the uterusâ€
massage, as well as running therapeutic workshops, all
without a secretary. She believed in starting with the
wanted child, natural nonviolent birth, prepared parents,
bioenergetic therapy for the traumatized newborn, and
self regulation as a guiding principle in educational and
all institutions. Throughout her life Eva championed
peace, stating that peace on earth begins in the uterus.
Each summer she returned to the farm in Hancock
to be one with the land. Although not affiliated with
a religion, Eva felt led by god. In the United States and
Europe students have carried on her work, and she is
regarded as the founder of Gentle Bioenergetics.
After her retirement in 1992 due to a small stroke,
she lived year round on the farm again, able to garden,
ski, canoe, hike, and teach those who sought her out.
Even in her disability after the spinal stroke, she brought
deep lessons to all who cared for her. A few months
before her death, she remarked that, â€All old people
need is to be lovedâ€.
Dr. Reich leaves behind a daughter, Renata Moise and
son-in-law Antonio Blasi, both of Hancock, Maine; a
grandson William Christopher Ross, of Trenton, Maine;
a sister Lore Rubin of Pittsburgh, PA: a brother Peter
Reich and his wife Susan of Leverett, MA; a cousin
Sigrid Kirsners of Boston, MA; much loved nieces and
nephews, as well as her helpers Valerie, Kathy, Mary,
Danielle, and Laura.
A memorial service was held on Monday August 18th
at 4 pm in Hancock, at the Monteux School Forest Studio.
All was welcome back to Evaâ€™s house after at 53 Point
Road for food, music and talk, with a walk down Evaâ€™s
path to the shore.
Donations in Evaâ€™s name may be sent to the public
health nonprofit:
Downeast Health Services
52 Christian Ridge Road
Ellsworth, Maine 04605
This is the obituary which Renata wrote after Evaâ€™s death.
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://RbEFzYwII2QYHRsIQc5Ul_z2KFsidmvAGoujq9G4Z5gÍYÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”m×‰EÚøAt the turn
Of the pendulumâ€™s swing
by Renata Reich Moise
(To Eva),
T
he dream of your being, how it was when you walked upright, who you were, and are now, all like gauze
and fog, white cool vapor from the snow fields. I long for those days of impossible keeping on, of the
last touch of your paper dry hands and shoulders, skin stretched parchment over bone. How do I write
about you, woman of motherness, rooms filled with every piece of interest, of sustenance, of silk or
velvet scraps for my creation? Of explosion, passion, thunderstorm, to my still deer, calm and watching, behind the
willows or near the forest edge? And when I feel this way, you write back to me, across 23 years, in your beautiful
gliding hand, blue pen across yellowed unlined sheet.
9 April 1985 - Sitting at 7:30 am at kitchen
table, with snowflakes falling
(by Eva Reich)
Oh Lordâ€¦
I studied till midnight
Grinding facts into my overloaded brain
Or even getting up again
After a few hours sleep
I pushed my body
Even though it was spring outside
I sacrificed: being young
And dancing around a Maypole
I persisted for years
Driving toward a goal
My medical degree
To be a doctor
To be a doctor on an expedition had been
â€œknown
to meâ€ since fiveâ€¦
I was the first to stay in Medical school
After a marriage
I had Cried when admitted to an all women
school
Those were grim years, gray with war news
I washed dishes for my meals and
Lived in an expensive six dollar a week room
Eva and Canoe, late 1980s
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 11
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://OFu0bjvbzPL0wd7o-0gq0kBSHQAJPfZnRbD1edBPxI4Í.Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”n×Xš7ä°VScÞ”mÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://njNzH34w-oiiYMIJ0d0u2gfLTApaj8biEP19nhptOtAÎ »Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://qEhpe9uj9smljZQmFs_IOoIRCTPMICRFHTHYC4EIjgIÍV»Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CAUrwPraJG0F-Rtz_ICV6MQYwqkxy6LhqvfwKfKeiJYÍ1Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Bs4upEX-axGncKXnzjA6N4mcgWnNzfOHDq5R-3g9kkEÍ<CDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”o×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Vh5OosPfvaWYQUee-Q0cb1lapeuMcvAknwF0G9zZb_0Î ÛØÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://VGHnI6V__2hDGHE-78RZTeOo3ZEX0D9LxuUgja8qJ8QÍSÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://3QtTmXIxMBKVa6Yb4IAyQCm2Nsx-Ts_0KcSXM5peWyAÍ‰Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Ecq9k5erv9nbmNMZGH8XW3o-gdRHLgv9jcNIubZgd9IÍ)¨DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”p×‰EÚ	VI baby sat while studying and mostly the babies
sleptâ€¦.
We worked 36 hour days
The hospital fed us rotten food
Cockroaches crawled in the dark
and I knew I was draining my vitalityAnd
all through the ordeal
they said
Someday youâ€™ll make lots
of money
Thatâ€™s why itâ€™s OK to slave drive
You now
I weep for you medicineNow
you are the other way round
Profiteering from illness
Fie fie upon you
The highest of incomesI
tried GodWhen
I worked years (10)
As a country doctor
When I did the best I knew howHead
to toe exams with urinalysis and CBC
thrown in for $5.
They had drilled me so hard
To give of myself for free
â€œfor the experienceâ€
That I could not charge enough, lacking a buffer
to collect!
After ten years, still poor, with $100 in the
bank
And drained to the dregs,
Knowing suddenly from one step to the next,
cold post hemorrhage (Dec.1962)
Step to step, walking into a snow
white forest
Step to step- up rose a clear knowledge- from
somewhere in my belly
This is not what it is going to
Be
This is not what I want to
do with my life
This I must change- this stepRight
now- registering the change with surprise
I
carry many woundsâ€¦
The wounds of the past have been
Healed
By prayer
The issues are worse
More clear
The debacle of lifeâ€¦
All down the line
I followed my ideals,
Made no profit
12 Renata Reich Moise At the turn Of the pendulumâ€™s swing
Worked with concentration
On things â€œfor their own sakeâ€
Gave away what I had
Expecting God to heal
the world, as also myself
I see me objectively
Impulsive
Gambling my all
On God is OK
She cares for me
And will not let me
Drop to the uttermost point
Will catch me
Before I fall
Thus safe, I traveled far
Ten years traversed this
Earth- (1975-1985)
Add up the efforts, like
Seeds spread far and wide
Gods purpose beyond my
Comprehension
24 countries hundreds of workshopslectures,
talk talk talk-Seed
scattering10
April 1985
I
Snow flurry starts
In April
It is Time for Spring
Oh ye killers
Of the spring expansion
Exploding nuclear bombs
In the bowels of the earth
Is the only feeling
You know
The feel of a
Trigger in your hand?
You have lost
Without knowing
What it is you are missing
The luminous
Gentle spring expansion
Translucent apple blossoms
Petals floating earth ward
â€œI have lived in Maine almost 33 yearsâ€
Allâ€™s not well with the world
II
Things have been lost
On earth
Without the profiteers
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CAUrwPraJG0F-Rtz_ICV6MQYwqkxy6LhqvfwKfKeiJYÍ1Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš7ä°VScÞ”q×‰EÚØBeing aware
Interest rates are not
what life is all about
you are ravaging the earth
you are extinguishing species
Once a crowd of ducks
Coated the swells of
Autumnal blue green ocean coves
In Maine, and the
Sky was blackened by
The Vâ€™s of flying
Water fowl
You profiteer do not
Even know what it is
That you have destroyed
â€œLife does not payâ€
it is not based on the profit motive
III
To the war mongers, The death merchants,
and the life-killers
I must break the deadlock
Which seals my lips
(when I am in the USA)
The cry of outrage
From that courtroom
SceneRepressed
in
my father
and in witness-me
Yes you do know what
You are doing.
Yet we must forgive you.
You know, profiteer, warmonger,
Power happy influencer, bully
Squanderer of hard won
LibertyYou
criminals, bending
The law to your will,
In the so called bastion
of freedomThe
innocence
of each crop of new
life, in humans
if continually massacred,
for expedience.
IV
I am sitting on my bed
Shivering
On the edge of the mattress
My companions in this room
Are silent plants,
Whose being-ness in silence
Reinforces mine.
Yet once, at the
Congress in London,
Plants, I heard your brethren
Greet me with electronic
Music, warbles, twitters,
Responses- life to life
V
Drinking Cocoa
At my kitchen table
Heavy of heart and body
Where is the inner push
Like the push of a seedâ€™s germ from the earth?
The driving force of my years
Of hard work,
The motivation of
My ideals?
I followed the path of my
Truth
And it led me to this
kitchen table
defeated and drained of energy
And therefore I understand nothing,
for life is so strong
and keeps surviving
(but how much longer?)
VI
I canâ€™t meet my goddess
Of life and peace
Looking into the
Alter: two plates filled with little papers
I cannot meet
The profound-truth
That bottom tone of honesty
When I am marching
Up and down the alter steps
Careful not to fall, raising up a robe with slip
on satin collar
It was better, for many
Years sitting on roots down at the water
Praying my heart out
For change in the world
(maybe I should go again?)
VII
I feel very alone
No one can give me answers
I have stopped asking.
I suffer my spiritual nausea
in silenceâ€¦
They keep on
killing the life
and babble of salvationâ€¦
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 13
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GPoor Jesus-spirit,
Look, they are still at it!
VIII
Where ever I turn
the path is blocked â€“
I had activated my activity
To a burn out point
And now is a rest time,
A low pause point,
A vacuum of purpose
Of faith,
Awaiting a new infilling
This time I will not rush
Gladly
Daring my all
..â€Once more into the breach, dear friendsâ€ â€“
was Billâ€™s fondest quotation
I weep â€“ alone â€“ for him,
Because I am a rudderless sail boat,
Drifting,
Before repairsIn
my former manner
I would have gone to Africa
To spend myself as a doctor on that
Hungry catastropheBut
is not the answer
To modify the climate
To re-establish East West flow
And get the moisture in
From the ocean
With the cloudbuster?
The discrepancies of my life
Are too great for my
Small human aging vehicle
Of a bodyI
find myself waiting(WR
asked â€œfor what-?â€)
For my next life! Thatâ€™s what!
Where things may be a bit
Better!
Yet, no longer with notions
Of suicide,
I have the patience to
Wait it out, till my ending
Which is sometimes, with curiosity, in my mind
(â€œthey also serve who only
stand and waitâ€ was my own favorite quotation)
EndingsBalanced
by beginnings
Death recycled,The
divine compost pile
Of every forest littered floorâ€¦
14 Renata Reich Moise At the turn Of the pendulumâ€™s swing
Renata Reich Moise, granddaughter of Wilhelm Reich,
was born in Hancock, Maine, USA in 1960, the only
child of Eva Reich MD and the late artist, William Moise.
In addition to being an artist, Renata obtained a Masters
of Sciences in Nurse Midwifery from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1994. She lives in Maine, and currently
practices in a group of four Nurse Midwives who deliver
babies at the local hospital. Her husband, Antonio Blasi,
is a Modern Jazz Saxophonist, as well as a sea kayak
guide. Her son, Christopher Ross, age 24, leads the
band Stiff Whisker.
This writing soothes
That growing spot of pain,
Iâ€™ve carried from my childhood,
That melancholy
Yearning painConnects
me to the Russians.
Oh how I loved them
When I woke from dream
the other morningâ€“
11 April 1985
Morning silence
Still below freezing
Yet promise of spring
In greening of grass
And a chickadeeâ€™s chirp
There comes a pause
At the turn of direction
Of the pendulumâ€™s swing
I have slept deeply â€“
And woke without depression
When Eva lay dying in her bedroom, and I, with friends
and family, sat near, wrung through and through with
the deep rattle of her breath and my own grim strong
duty, at that very time, torn between vigil and action,
on the second, or maybe the third day of her extended
death, I found this writing, or it found me.
Profile of the author
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://lUyG8ot8rNwIUWNI9qT9a-FeJB1DV4A8VHBM1GZZCeAÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”u×‰EÚûThe Battle for a New Humanity
by Eva Reich
D
r. Wilhelm Reich discovered an effective therapy for the dissolution of character armoring. However,
he always stressed the importance of the prevention of neurosis rather than subsequent treatment.
Society creates conditions which stunt the direct growth and unfolding of the human personality
to full potential. Active interference with natural functions is the norm in western civilization. If
Wilhelm Reich was correct that the primary life instinct
is â€œgoodâ€, that self-regulation is a basic natural law,
and that it is only the blocking of the life energy which
creates â€œsecondaryâ€ impulsesÂ¹ then we ought to act
above all to protect life in the young as it is growing and
functioning from the beginning.
I agree with Wilhelm Reich that â€œpolitics is a disease
of mankind,â€ and, therefore, it is futile to put our energy
into bringing about political revo1ution. I would prefer
to bring about the biological revolution, a revolution of a
return to the unarmored state, of a change which would
allow the â€œgenital characterâ€ to survive growing up into
adulthood. The biological revolution follows the sexual
revolution, Reich said. The biological revolution would
produce human beings who could tolerate gentleness
and pleasure in life, who would shun violence and to
whom war would be anachronistic. I recommend further
studies confirming that tribes who allow both body
pleasure in infancy and premarital sexual intercourse in
youth show no violence, crime or perversion.Â²
Unimpeded growth of the human potential is as yet
a dream on earth. It seems to me that a chain of events
affects each human being from conception on. The earliest
events are most crucial, simply because they happen
first on the time-line.
Also, the same amount of force has a more damaging
impact on a small seedling, whose stem becomes kinked,
than the same force exerted upon the twig or a large
tree. We must reconcile two viewpoints, the â€œparadise
lost school,â€ which prefers to mourn over damaging
traumas of childhood, and the â€œgrowth movementâ€
in which grown-ups are stretching out toward a more
expanded creative life of the here and now.
I have worked toward the prevention of trauma inEva
Reich, 1989
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 15
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I call this effort â€œthe battle for the new humanity.â€ It
is a battle, because anyone who tries to make changes
in institutions affecting human life, such as birthing
hospitals or schools, will soon encounter obstacles and
blocks from persons in power. Wilhelm Reich described
the nature of this opposition in his book, â€œThe Murder
of Christâ€. He defined a character type, â€œthe Emotional
Plagueâ€ individual, who cannot tolerate letting others
find their way to full, free-flowing life, and who must always
interfere or exert power, brainwash or control others.
This plague is infectious, and is handed down from
generation to generation. However, I am finding that
the chain of transmission can be broken. For instance,
parents who were battered and beaten as children, can,
if they become conscious of their own past pain due to
mistreatment, stop beating their own infants. They can
overcome the compulsion to hand in their own script
of an unhappy childhood. It helps to recognize oneâ€™s
own unconscious life script, which has the nature of a
hypnotic command.Â³
The principle of self-regulation affirms that nature is
not chaotic, but organized and is in a state of dynamic
balance between opposite trends. Furthermore, selfregulation
does not result in chaos, but eventually in
a state of fluid order. Self-regulation and responsible
freedom must be encouraged from infancy onward.
Freedom cannot be imposed later on human beings who
have grown upunder authoritarian rule. Self-regulation
demands that people who are affected by institutions
should also have a voice in their function.
Procedures and rules should grow out of experience,
and not be arbitrarily handed down from the old to the
young. The reasons for rules must not be forgotten, Every
generation should have the right to question existing
rules and try out new ways.
Grown-ups owe children a safe environment. For
instance, Paul Ritter, a city planner in Perth, Australia,
and author of The Free Family4
has designed a suburb
in which, from the backyard of each home, children can
walk or bicycle for miles without crossing motor traffic,
through a system of over- and underpasses. Human
priorities should come first in all design, and Life needs
should have priority over present Death expenditures.
Lifeâ€™s self-regulation also requires that at no time
should every member of the human community be
forced into the same mold. Since each varies from the
other, though all function according to common life
principles, institutional structure whether state, local
government or schoolâ€”must allow individual expression
within the limits of â€œnot hurting othersâ€. The alternative
is an antâ€”like society, waging interplanetary destruction.
We must guard the right of the underdog, the minority,
16 Eva Reich The Battle for a New Humanity
the alternative voice to be heard in the land, A society
which shoots its own critics or brainwashes them with
psycho-political electrical shock to the brain, is anti-life.
The group which practices communal living and group
sex, while holding property in common, must allow their
own children, on growing up, to choose private life in
a two-lover, small family, if they desire, operating by
the law of opposites to change their lifestyle from the
previous generation.
The law of opposites is my term for describing the
process in which youth, in separating from parental lifestyles,
may either incorporate the parentsâ€™ way of being
or change it to an extreme alternative. An example would
be the general change toward longer hair and beards,
influenced by the Beatles around 1960. Another example
would be the change in America from a desire for
â€œromantic loveâ€ with marital expectations to a position
of â€œnon commitmentâ€ among the â€œcool generationâ€ of
college students living in co-ed dormitories and practicing
sexual freedom.
Our planet contains varying degrees of human liberation.
I do not believe a truly new kind of unarmored human
life can arise on earth in one section while elsewhere
totalitarian repression of human rights is practiced in
America; the Equal Rights Amendment for the rights of
women, after fifty years, has not yet become law. A bill
of childrenâ€™s rights needs to be proposed as well. Many
countries, including Australia, lack any declaration of
human rights in their constitutions.
Because of the irritation which armored life feels in
the presence of unarmored life, there has been a war
going on between grownâ€“ups and against children,
throughout the history of the Western world5
. It was Wilhelm
Reich who finally understood and pinpointed the
details of this war, and who pointed out its motivation.
The extremely restrictive Sparta attacked Athens. Hitler
attacked the Netherlands. Once the shooting starts, there
is little time for the slow changes which allow for a new
kind of life to make its appearance. With the incredible
reality of nuclear war and overkill, at the push of a button
facing us today, we can lose nothing by trying the
new, unarmored way; it has never been fully tried yet.
Traveling around the globe, l have had the opportunity
to study human structures bioenergetically. I have
convinced myself that as yet there exists no country on
earth where life is not distorted by external pressure.
Though each country varies a bit in exactly how and
where it causes armoring to become a necessary survival
mechanism, the end result is the same. Everywhere I
meet human beings who have suffered unjust tortures
of one kind or another during their growth period, and
who now wish to liberate themselves to undo the results
of previous conflicts. From each situation, I try to
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://76hHr74OdylO6GRpMym3nWbDxJqqv3sjgQeI82JDwO8ÍDÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”y×‰EÚdeduce what was preventable, to learn what changes
are needed to make a better world in the future. This
approach is very fruitful. It has made an optimist of me,
for I know â€œIt Can be Doneâ€. That was the slogan on
the laboratory wall of my father. The fruits of my tiny
efforts reinforce my hopefulness.
Where does the biological revolution begin?
The first factor in the chain is the right of babies to
be wanted babies. This requires the availability of 100%
birth control services for all who require them, irrespective
of age or marital status. This means the last and the
least woman on earth, on reaching menarche, should
be instructed in the various methods of contraception.
The service should be near at hand when she actually
commences heterosexual intercourse, even though she
may be a minor, still living with her parents. I battled for
several years (1972-1975) in my home state of Maine to
make birth control for all a reality. A description of the
events which happened as I tried to apply Wilhelm Reichâ€™s
Sexpol platform (forty years after he first proposed this
policy) would fill a volume. Birth control clinics need to be
widely available and publicized so that all people know
about them. When birth control fails (which it does in
only a small percent of cases), it should be backed up by
legal abortion services. Birth control is aimed at making
possible the birth of wanted offspring and the prevention
of unwanted pregnancies.
Arthur Janov has shown, through Primal Therapy,
that the unwanted baby may experience pain even in
the uterus. Babies are human beings and should be
treated as such. Babies do feel, even at birth, and also
remember their pain. Therefore, no painful procedures
should be inflicted on them unnecessarily or against their
will. What male infant would choose to be circumcised
without anesthesia? Let us stop hurting the young; let
us stop putting burning silver nitrate drops into their
eyes after birth, for instance. The medical reason given
for this practice is that it prevents gonorrhea, which can
cause blindness. Instead, why not test ( by both smear
and culture) every pregnant woman for the infection at
term and again during labor?
This simple preventive test is easily done and avoids
functionally impairing eyesight. The baby whose eye
has been hurt by the chemical quickly learns to resist
the second drop in the other eye. We teach pain before
we utter a welcome! Though every procedure has an
apparent rational reason, let us question, and find better
ways. Let us find the truth and the counter-truth in
each situation as we gradually change our treatment of
the young to nonviolent, humanitarian ways. In order
to change the world, we need to proceed in a logical,
step-by-step fashion. We must make childbirth education
available to all expectant parents. This consumeroriented
group is actually changing human awareness
on the subject of birthing: The International Childbirth
Education Association, through its courses, is fostering a
positive, joyful, creative attitude to parenting6
; for some
decades meddlesome, controlling, mechanistic obstetrics
has been the vogue in the United States. Sadly enough, it
is being copied all over the world. The National Organization
of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in
Childbirth (NAPSAC)7
holds annual congresses for those
searching for better ways of birthing. Consciousness is
being raised and nonviolent, natural births, followed by
loving massage of the infantâ€™s body within the motherâ€™s
energy field (aura) can become the goal of new parents.
Groups of new parents can meet and exchange experiences
concerning childbirth. Gentle, butterfly-touch
bioenergetic therapy, given immediately following a
difficult birth, can heal the consequent birth trauma.
Fourth trimester adjustment problems of babies result
from violent births or cruel treatment by insensitive
grownÂ·ups. Babies need warmth, body contact, breast
milk. They would vote for being with their mothers, not
isolated in a white glaring nursery. They would prefer the
oral pleasure of a living nipple from which warm milk
streams into their quivering mouths over a cold rubber
nipple, or being propped on a pillow for feeding. When
needs are fully satisfied in infancy, the person is free to
develop into total independence later on. The argument
that it is good for people to suffer is a vicious one. This
argument, sometimes veiled in the eastern religious
terminology of â€œkarmaâ€, makes excuses for cruelty to
the young. I believe we must change human structure
by changing each of the harmful assaults on the young.
I would like to conclude with a plea to all professional
psychotherapists, who are making their living by treating
human misery, to tithe some of their time and effort
into activity in the social scene, aimed toward preventing
some of the specific root causes of neurosis. My hope is
for a world where selfÂ·regulation will be a guiding principle.
Only by our allowing human character structure to
become healthy will we at last actualize healthy human
social and political institutions in the New Age.
NOTES
1 Secondary impulses are defined by Elsworth Baker in Man in the Trap,
(New York: Discus Books, 1974), as â€œExpressions of the body which
have to come through the armor and are therefore forceful and
destructive? He defines armor as â€œThe sum total of the muscular
attitudes (chronic muscular spasms) which an individual develops
as a defense against breakthrough emotions and vegetative sensations,
especially anxiety, rage and sexual excitation, functionally
identical with character armor.â€
2 James W. Prescott, â€œBody Pleasure and the Origins of Violence,â€
The Futurist, April 1975. Published by the World Future Society, P.
O. Box 30369, Washington D. C, 40014.
3 Claude Steiner, Scripts People Live. (New York:Grove Press, 1974.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 17
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://0r1f2DcP4dPWSF6Md2d1xAUbWpUwcY9cxocB4JOwy9wÍ[Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”z×Xš8ä°VScÞ”yÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://RyyckMEeM5KVp-rONPGrCDzCesqL7F3V0bL9nPNqg8wÎ èiÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://U3iin1rM8d8bpKo9tdBAF5w24Df7Ww2CNmOkjQjWghMÍi|Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://BAu6lELdq3eB9ytnyN7k2fONxf_j-mNzwHaaVzqHhhAÍDÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://QH7M0mH2eWSPS9VJPlHsYjkJaKLOhwNHJ8klbJfm3xQÍ÷ºPÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”{×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://sMYY7YDWeX2Ig5XdzJ0KfynM8vxuP4W5L5elMK94ayoÎ üÔÍ`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://NmVXsvw92pLIv_9EO1u3OBq1sLbYtv8i7WckB5o5atwÍ\Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://4BSQi6M8xrXSVg-bqyrdGHNkquY1pGCAng49mVMqhYIÍEÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://oDKIorOVBAX6IvzwUrWJouznryiA8-qZWwuvP4sFgyMÎ ÄðHÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”|×‰EÚ4 Ritter, P., Ritter, J., â€œSelf Regulation in Birth,â€ pp.113-122. D. Boadella,
Ed,, In the Wake of Reich, London: Coventure, 1976.
5 Richard Farson, Birthrights, (New York: Macmillan, 1974). Paperback
edition; New York: Penguin, 1978.
6 ICEA, 195 Waterford Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45459. ICEA Supplies
Center, P. O. Box 70258, Seattle, Washington, 98107.
7 NAPSAC, P. O. Box 1307, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Eisworth, â€œThe Concept of Self-regulation.â€ Orgone Energy
Bulletin, I, No. 4 (1949), pp. 160-164.
â€”â€”, â€œGenital Anxiety in Nursing Mothers.â€ Orgone Energy Bulletin,
IV, 1952, pp. 19-31.
â€”â€”, â€œA Further Study of Genital Anxiety in Nursing Mothers? Journal
of Orgonomy, III, No. 1 (1969), pp. 46-55.
Boyesen, Mona Lisa and Boyesen, Gerda, â€œSpontaneous Movements
and Visceral Armor,â€ Energy and Character, VIII, No. 1 (1977), p, 32.
Charon, Mary, â€œArmoring in 7-yr. Old Baby.â€ Journal of Orgonomy,
HI, No. 1 (1969), pp. 57â€”68.
Denison, Lucille, â€œThe Child and His Struggle.â€ International Journal
for Sex-Economy
and Orgone Research, IV, 1945, pp. 173-190.
Dreyfuss, Ann and Feinstine, A, â€œI Am My Body, My Body is Meâ€. San
Francisco: Josey Bass, 1976.
Ganz, M.A, â€œFunctiona1 Child-rearing.â€ Journal of Orgonomy, X, No.
2 (1976), pp. 249â€¢262.
Jones, Peter, â€œâ€™The Use of Vegeto-therapy in Childbirth,â€ in D. Boadella,
In the Wake of Reich. London: Coventure, 1976, pp. 123-137.
Konia, C, â€œCircumcision: An Assault on the Newborn. â€œJournal of
Orgonomy, X, No. 2 (1976), PD. 276-278.
Leboyer, Frederick, Birth Without Violence. New York:Knopf, 1975.
Neill, A.S, â€œSelf-regulation and the Outside World.â€ Orgone Energy
Bulletin, II, No. 2 (1950), pp. 68-70.
Ollendorff, Ilsa, â€œAbout Self-regulation in a Healthy Childâ€, in Annals
of the Orgone Institute, Volume I. W.
Reich, Ed. Rangeley, Maine, Orgone Institute, 1947, pp. 81-90.
Philipson, Tage, also known as Paul Martin. â€œSex-economicâ€˜Upbringingâ€™
â€œ, International Journal for Sex-Economy and Orgone Research, I,
1942, pp. 18-32.
Prescott, James, â€œBodily Pleasure and the Origins of Violence.â€ The
Futurist, April 1975.
Raphael, Chester, â€œOrgone Treatment During Labor.â€ Orgone Energy
Bulletin, III, No. 2 (1951), pp. 90-98.
Reich, Eva, â€œThe Biological Revolutionâ€, International Journal of Life
Energy (Toronto), I, No. 2 (1979), pp. 110-124.
Reich, Eva, â€œDr. Eva Reich - all Interview.â€ International Journal of Life
Energy (Toronto), I, No. 4 (1979), pp. 221-251. Transcript of radio
broadcast at Melbourne, Australia in November, 1976.
Reich, Wilhelm, â€œArmoring in a Newborn Infant.â€ Orgone Energy
Bulletin, No. 3 (1951),
pp. 121-138.
â€”â€”, â€œChildren of the Future.â€ Orgone Energy Bulletin, II, No. 4
(1950), pp. 194-206.
â€”â€”, â€œThe Expressive Language of the Living in Orgone Therapy.â€ in
W. Reich, Character Analysis. New York: Orgone Institute Press,
1949, 3rd edition, pp. 357-397.
____, Listen, Little Man! New York: Orgone Institute Press, 1948.
â€”â€”, â€œOn Laws Needed for the Protection of Life in Newborns and
of Truth.â€ Orgone Energy Bulletin, V, Nos. 1 and 2 (1953), pp. 3-4.
Ritter, Paul and Ritter, Jean, â€œSelf-regulation in Birthâ€, in In the Wake
of Reich. D. Boadella, Ed. London: Coventure, 1976. pp. 113-122.
18 Eva Reich The Battle for a New Humanity
Eva Reich, M.D was born in 1924 in Vienna, Austria, the
oldest of three children born to Dr. Wilhelm Reich. She
lived in Vienna, Berlin and Prague until emigration to the
United States in 1938. She died in Hancock, Maine, USA
August 10th 2008.
She attended Montessori schools in Vienna and Berlin;
Gymnasium in Vienna and Prague; high school at â€œprogressiveâ€
Walden school in New York City; and college at
Brooklyn College and Barnard College in New York City,
She graduated with a B.A. in biology in 1944. She received
an M.D. from Women Medical College of Pennsylvania in
1948, followed by a rotating, two-year internship at the
Jewish Hospital of Philadelphia (now called the Albert
Einstein Hospital, Northern Division).
She then joined Dr. Wilhelm Reich as a Research Assistant
to the Wilhelm Reich Foundation at Orgonon, Rangeley,
Maine, from 1950-51, where she had a chance to study
Orgonomy and learn about several of Wilhelm Reichâ€™s
basic experiments, such as orgonometry, and the use of
the orgone energy accumulator for medical purposes.
She was present during the 1951 Oranor experiment and
later during the OROP expedition in the Arizona desert in
1954â€“55. In 1951-52 she served as pediatric resident at
Harlem Hospital. She had a general medical practice, applying
principles of orgone therapy. She lives in Hancock,
Maine, where she has a farm home. She has been active
in sex education, birth control, natural birth (in the home),
and the bioenergetic treatment of babiesâ€™ birth trauma by
â€œbutterfly touchâ€ orgone therapy after birth. She lectures
and holds workshops internationally, in Australia, Italy,
France, Holland, Norway, England.
Sandel, Francine, â€œAdolescents and Babies in Trouble.â€ Orgonomic
Medicine, II, No 1 (1956), pp. 42-50,
Saxe, Felicia, â€œArmored Human Beings versus The Healthy Child.â€
Annals of the Orgone Institute, I, 1947, pp. 35-72.
â€”â€”, â€œA Case Historyâ€, International Journal for Sex-Economy and
Orgone Research, IV,
1945, pp. 59-71.
Silvert, Myron, â€œOrgonomic Practices in Obstetrics?â€ Organomic
Medicine, I, No 1 (1955), pp. 54-64.
Waal, Nic, Anne Grieg and Mogens Rasmussen. â€œThe Psycho-diagnosis
of the Bodyâ€, in In the Wake of Reich. D. Boadella, Ed. London:
Coventure, 1976, pp. 266-281.
Please note: the preceding bibliography was compiled by Harold
Treacy, President, Reich Archive West, 301 Washington Street, San
Francisco, CA 94115, by request of Eva Reich, M.D., consultant to
Reich Archive Westâ€™s Wilhelm Reich Bibliography Project.
Profile of the author
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://BAu6lELdq3eB9ytnyN7k2fONxf_j-mNzwHaaVzqHhhAÍDÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš8ä°VScÞ”}×‰EÚ5Household Use of the
Orgone Energy Accumulator
by Renata Moise Reich
T
o begin, I feel it important to present some background about the Orgone Energy Accumulator,
and how my family has used the accumulator over four generations.
My parents, William Moise and Eva Reich settled in 1952 on the rugged Atlantic coast of North
America, in Hancock, Maine, USA. They chose Hancock over the South Pacific because Margaret Mead
met with them and advised them to save the world closer to home â€“ this really happened- and because the towns
around Hancock needed both a doctor (my mother) and an art teacher (my father). Most importantly, Hancock
was within a few hours drive of Rangeley, Maine, the interior village of lakes surrounded by mountains, where my
motherâ€™s father, the scientist Wilhelm Reich, had established his summer home and laboratories. He named this
complex in Rangeley, Orgonon, after the energetic substance he called Orgone Energy. He chose Rangeley because
of the clear atmosphere (at that time) and the low summer humidity; he had found that his experimental results
changed during the high humidity of New York summers.
Imagine this: a young woman doctor
arrives in an area which has never
before seen a woman doctor. Some
homes do not yet have indoor plumbing
or electricity. There are several
families who have fifteen or twenty
children. There is no health insurance
for anyone and certainly no special
health care program for the poor or
elderly. This is an isolated, beautiful and
difficult land; populated by fishermen,
farmers, or woods men. Some have
jobs, but most work for themselves.
Women do the hard work of raising,
feeding, and clothing their families,
or working for the wealthy â€œsummer
peopleâ€ in the few warm months.
EvaÂ´s house, Oil on canvas, Renata Reich, 2004
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 19
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with her husband, opens her medical office in the farm
house where they live, and they set up what looks like
an anti-aircraft gun in the garden. The husband is an
artist, handsome and friendly. The woman doctor, her
hair gray at the age of 28, is serious, intense, and speaks
English with a slight German accent. The caution the
villagers feel is quickly over come, because they do need
a doctor badly, and Eva proves to be a most excellent
doctor. Also, her husband, Bill as he is called, joins the
fire department, drinks beer with the neighbors, and is
delightfully attractive.
This part of the story is, of course, unfolding before I
was born, and has been told to me; but it is also verified
by the hand written medical records of her practice. For
ten years, between 1952 until 1962, (except for the time
off in the late 1950s spent on the expedition west with
Wilhelm Reich), my mother practiced medicine using
all of her skills; she used traditional western medicine,
suggested healthy diets of fresh foods, and she recommended
and provided Orgone medicine. She diagnosed
people, combining her understanding of their character
structure, as well as using the skills she had learned in
medical school. She looked at their blood under her
microscope, both counting red and white blood cells,
but also performed the Reich Blood Test, looking for
tâ€“bacillus. She used the box accumulator and the Dor
Buster on her patients, as well as sent patients home with
smaller accumulators for wounds treatment.
In simplistic terms, the accumulator absorbs (accumulates)
the Orgone Energy from the surrounding
atmosphere. This is the energy which Wilhelm Reich first
found streaming through the human body. He realized
that the blockage of this flow affected the orgasm reflex
and the full happy functioning of the human organism.
He then found this same flow of energy to exist in all
living or organic things, like trees, wool, plants, and
even the atmosphere. I like to think it is the same as
â€œChiâ€. He found it was attracted to water, which was
likely why his experiments in humid New York summers
were so much weakerâ€“the Orgone in the atmosphere
was less willing to let go of the water and flow into the
accumulator. He discovered the amazing rapid healing
of wounds, especially burns, if the accumulator was
applied right away for 15 to 30 minutes. Even using
the accumulator after the fact, intermittently, speeded
healing dramatically. He found the remarkable sense of
well being and happiness brought on by spending a few
minutes sitting within the person size â€œOrgone Boxâ€.
He felt that this â€œchargingâ€ of the organism would be
helpful in preventing future cancers, when the cancer
was caused by a chronically low or contracted energy
field of the body. This was before the widespread toxic
contamination of our environment; although a strong
immune system, well charged with Orgone, is better
able to withstand a carcinogenic environment. He found
that cancer patients who used the large accumula tor
felt invigorated and happier, but he did not find th e m
â€œcuredâ€ of cancer. He realized that prevention was
much more effective. His observations then led him into
weather work, as he learned to gently draw and mo ve
the atmospheric Orgone energy, bringing gentle rains
during drought, or clearing low pressure systems when
they became stuck.
Unfortunately for Wilhelm Reich and humanity, his
work was ridiculed by the media, and his Orgone Box
was dubbed â€œThe Sex Boxâ€ in the popular press of the
United States. The FDA (the Federal Drug Administrati on
of the USA) spent millions of 1950s dollars discrediting
him. Eventually, in 1954, the FDA made it illegal for Reich
or his organization to ship accumulators across state
lines or disseminate information about the accumulator
(this became known as the â€œinjunctionâ€). A student of
his shipped accumulators, and Reich was arrested. It is
written that none of the many of patients who had full
body accumulators in theirs homes desired to return
their accumulators. His books were burned (and ordered
burned) by the government, and he was forced to order
accumulators disassembled. Reich responded to his court
hearing with a letter stating he was a scientist, and the
court did not have the right to judge his work. For this
â€œfailure to appearâ€, he was sentenced for contempt
of court, to 2 years in Federal Prison, where Wilhelm
Reich died, and was found in his cell on the morning
of Nov 3, 1957.
Eva, however, had moved to Hancock and begun
her medical practice before the legal/governmental
persecution and she bravely continued to use Orgone
medicine within her solo medical practice during those
terrible years. I believe it would have felt unconscionable
for her to withhold the accumulator, or her knowledge
of Orgone Medicine, from her patients who needed it.
My mother closed her medical practice in 1962, when
I was two years old, after suffering several pregnancy
losses herself. Eva kept hand written records of her
years in practice in manila folders. She begins each with
a patient history, noting issues like birth or childhood
traumas, sexual history and enjoyment, as well as all of
20 Renata Reich Moise Household Use of the Orgone Energy Accumulator
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filed together, making an interesting historical picture
of the fabric of the community.
Over the fall and spring of 1953, Eva saw a young
woman, C., age 21, married with one child. Eva notes:
pallor, underweight, pelvic spasm. On 10/10/53 Eva
writes â€œThink Anorgoniaâ€¦states husband is nervousâ€;
on 5/10 /53 C. comes with headache and weakness...
very apathetic- is undercharged- at least on periphery.
Accu suggested, However, injunction interfered. â€By
5/31/56 Eva writes that C. is â€œin love for the first time. 9
months. No discharge yet (meaning discharge of excitation)
No previous excitation - never orgasm - aware of
living lie. Intercourse with husband every night, â€˜I just
lie there and grit teethâ€™ Aware she is guilty, will sacrifice
self and get sickâ€. 6/6/56 Eva writes : C. Chooses living
the lie, pallid.
Interestingly, in the same folder is a manâ€™s chart, L. 28
yrs. old, who seems to be C.â€™s husband. He first comes
to Eva on 7/18/55 ;
â€œtired, all feeling gone x three years, doesnâ€™t feel
like eating, more nervous. Dor Buster used on boil
on neck, lanced.â€ 7/27/55 visit by L.; â€œstomach still
hurts. strong hitting impulses and rage. Med O B
used (medical orgone blanket)- pink all over. Unable
to raise voice but â€œlaughs about everythingâ€.
Feels living in throat- cough type gag reflex (easily
evoked). Org. reflex through- â€˜reacts with nausea
to all excitementâ€™â€.
One year later, on 7/6/56 L. was seen again.
â€œ24 hours of vomiting and diarrhea - (in parenthesis:
wife told him â€œyou can pack your bagsâ€œ- intercourse
nightly- she doesnâ€™t enjoy him). On 7/7/56
he returned. Eva writes; Dehydration. Fever blisters.
His family is there â€“ his mother. A spectacle. Stayed
on living room couch. Starts on skim milk. Advised
in a letter to come and discuss problem.â€
On 4/05/54, Eva saw first a 52 year old woman, E. :
â€œHusband W., laborer. Telephone-0 (none). Wants
routine check up, Feels miserable all over. 6 children,
youngest 9 yrs. used digitalis in the past but
it made her sickâ€œâ€¦.Eva then draws a picture of
blood cells, including T-spikes of Reichian blood test
(which suggest low charge, precancerous condition).
Blood pressure 190/100â€¦pulse 80â€¦ Expression
of despair..pallorâ€¦Emaciationâ€¦anemia, neg
urineâ€¦exam non remarkable..suggest use Accu, Rx
vit B12. E. did use the accumulator from 5/24/54
through 6/19/54, with several visits. By 6/19/54
Eva writes thatâ€ used accu since 5/24/54â€¦ has
better energyâ€¦Better color. Is digitalized. ..B/P
lower, 140/80 this week, was 190/100, seems to
be gaining some weightâ€. The patient did worsen
by August and was set to specialist- Eva writes â€œis a
cardiacâ€.
It is important to remember Eva Reich was practicing
medicine in a remote area, before the availability of numerous
medications for high blood pressure. Generally
we do not use the accumulator for high blood pressure,
as that hypertension can be a sign of over charge, but
Eva was greatly concerned about the patientâ€™s precancerous
blood picture.
On 12/27/52 Eva saw Mr. M., a 38 year old scallop
and lobsterman:
4 infected boils on inner right wrist, obtained after
shelling scallops. Eva writes in parentheses: Problem:
need better occupational protection. He had 101 degree
temperature and a swollen arm. â€œIncised skin-no results,
prescribed Penicillin 600,000 units (likely a shot), Sulfa
2 grams q 6 hours x 5 days with fluid, soakâ€. Mr. M.
returned the next day. â€œSome improvement. No fever
. Localizing. Start on org. blanket: improvised 4x daily
Â½ hour, penicillin 600,00 units. On 12/29/52 â€œready
for drainage Rt. 2 sites (she draws a picture here) Distal
one extends way into tendon sheaths. Call on Dr. Coffin
per phone advice. 2 iodophorm drains.â€ 12/30/52
â€œRedress- exchange (iodophorm) drains for plainâ€.
12/31/52 â€œmuch improved. Redress. To remove plain
drains himselfâ€. 1/2/52 â€œRedress: healing but distal Rt.
Opening still open into Bursa, use pillow org ac one
more weekâ€.
I have randomly selected medical charts to review, and
it appears Eva did use Orgone medicine on children in
her practice. On Labor Day, 1956, she saw a five year
old boy, R., who was not from the local area.
â€œInfected button abscess of toe, treated 1) compresses
2) followed by I and D (incision and drainage). Dor Buster
hastened drain â€œpointingâ€ process of abscess. Next day
drain outâ€“betterâ€.
The accumulator is simple. It is a layering of organic
material (cotton or wool work best), with inorganic
(steel wool). The steel must be on the inside (skin side);
aluminum doesnâ€™t work. The layers of organic and inorganic
should be each of equal thickness to each other,
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 21
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Q7vIA9nBbHYrCHT0dQyeH1FSDg3eUYWBgpT6M8-gTAUÍ`Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”‚×Xš9ä°VScÞ”ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://BFdEq8uAY3XAIkGfQfmJlWeMRXn4HhbV_kllywZ07YsÎ TùÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://lIv-Boq86QSHAG-zCCrSUrpkOGAtD_q2K_xP2cA0USIÍƒàÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://F792W44EPmHzT68rM0D9OcsJ3qlH6HH8vzWT-1YufMoÍ Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://p2Ekpuj635M_vj3-eOaDZMBYP81YJGW6X_yvSpdsIbsÍ=DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”ƒ×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Z5EIpBMAWU5zJsuMbOxL9TQx0z-HykFOoFN_0J4DPf4Î !Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XKJ78ylWlkWqylT-AA6IuJEqGbM83OtAM3Er0Usa6fYÍ„|Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://G_gvl4g6zc2SaTT_ZOUwaiU639D5TUCfE4uXyUy8GDYÍ{Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://vJ09H8oDrRLwyH-6u5vqpyd-TBVlMDfXR5CwiVf66BUÍ7«HÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”„‘× ×XšAä°VScÞ• Í4Í=9×H¯http://while.As××Ðˆ×‰EÚ¹and the pairs of layers should all be about the same
thickness to each other. My parents made the first little
accumulators over a steel funnel, like one would pour
fluids through, instead of over a bowl. So, for my whole
life, the accumulator that we used if we burnt our fingers
or cut ourselves, was called â€œThe Funnelâ€. The outside
layer had to be the organic one, covered by a thin soft
flannel or cotton cloth. Usually the accumulator was
three layers, for practicality sake, because if there are
too many layers it becomes harder to hold the whole
thing together, although â€œ10 foldâ€ (meaning ten layers)
accumulators certainly are stronger than three layers.
The Funnel was held together by strong gray Duct tape
around the bottom circular edge, holding down the
flannel cover over the layers.
The Dor Buster is to me a more mysterious device,
since my own experience with it is limited. Practically
speaking, it is simply a small accumulator built in the
shape of a box two foot square, metal on the outside,
and functions locally on the body, in the same manner as
the cloud buster does in the atmosphere. The Dor Buster
features four one inch diameter hollow, flexible metal
pipes bound together, coming out of a hole in the box.
One similar length of hollow, flexible pipe comes out of
the box near the bottom, and is meant to be immersed
in a pail of water when using the Dor Buster. Since water
pulls or attracts the energy, the end of the bundle of four
pipes is held near the body part that requires greater
flow of energy, often gently moved back and forth. I
remember my mother using the Dor Buster on localized
infections which needed to be â€œbrought to a headâ€.
Eva recalled an incident as a Medical Resident (the
several years of training in hospital after medical school)
when she brought an accumulator blanket into the
hospital and used it on a young girl who was in the
throes of an agonizing sickle cell crisis. The pain of the
girl magically disappeared. Soon after, hospital officials
forbade Eva to bring the blanket into the wards. The
same child had another sickle cell crisis: Eva told me the
girl screamed, over and over again, to be given â€œthat
blanketâ€, but of course, Eva could not.
My earliest memories of the accumulator are of the
box shaped, person sized accumulator my parents kept
in the tall barn of our farmstead. This barn also housed
several cows and many fowl in various stalls and cozy
alcoves, so it was an alive barn, rich with the smell of
hay and animals. As I described in my â€œLetter to Grandfatherâ€,
previously published by this Journal, I remember
being a bit bored; the crack of light above the simple
door, the sounds of the barn, then the wonderful feeling
of well being which flooding over me after a few minutes
sitting on the chair in the box, replacing my stuffed- up,
feverish feeling. This improved vitality would last a few
hours, and then back to the box for 15 more minutes.
We kept our family â€œFunnelâ€ on the self in the kitchen
entry way. Accumulators should be kept where they can
get fresh atmosphere readily, and not stored in bedrooms
or near television (and probably computers) â€“ they can
absorb what Reich termed â€œDORâ€ (dead Orgone energy)
as well. Accumulators in all shapes and sizes were the
staple first aid treatment in our household. Neighborhood
children became accustomed to it and saw the
benefits, just as their parents had come to see the results
in Eva Reichâ€™s medical practice.
The use of the small accumulator on burns is the most
significant and obvious effect. I was 14 years old, and
cooking at a friends house before I ever experienced that
a burn would cause a blister! I had certainly had many
small burns, as we lived on a country farm; I cooked
frequently, at home and over campfires, and even played
with small fires that I built in the muddy driveway for
the warmth of my tiny adventuring dolls. When a burn
is experienced, immediate application of the local accumulator
is best- the hand, for instance, is held within
the bowel, not against the bowel, but within the cavity.
Actually the pain of the burn becomes sharper for several
minutes initially. Then the pain is felt to leave, and
a feeling of warmth, and sometimes pleasant tingling is
eventually felt. This treatment should extend for between
15 and 30 minutes; more than 30 minutes is generally
not needed. When one removes the accumulator, the
burned area will look and feel as if several weeks have
passed in the healing of the burn. More minor burns are
gone completely, with no red area. Burns which would
have blistered are pain free; no blister is present, but
the skin of the burn area is dry, thin, a bit darker, and
harder than the surrounding healthy skin; within hours or
a few days, this layer will begin to flake off and healthy
pink, new skin is evident underneath. My guess is that
the new skin is underneath the dry area right away, but
I would not advise peeling off the dry protective layer.
The pain free part is a major advantage, and the healthy
new skin needs the protection for a little while.As a
teenager I cooked at a country inn and restaurant my
father and I owned; I remember clearly burning my hand
badly during the busy dinner hour, using the accumulator,
and within a half hour washing dishes without any
thought to my burn. My parents used the accumulator
to successfully treat wounds of the animals of our farm,
in particular I remember the remarkable recovery, via ac22
Renata Reich Moise Household Use of the Orgone Energy Accumulator
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://F792W44EPmHzT68rM0D9OcsJ3qlH6HH8vzWT-1YufMoÍ Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”…×‰EÚýcumulator, of our female turkey who had been attacked
by the fox; her skin torn from much of her breast and
her wing shredded.
In more recent times, I reached for a cup of water
which had been placed in a microwave; for some reason,
whether a malfunction of the machine or perhaps that
specific porcelain mug was not meant for microwaves,
the actual mug itself had been heated to the boiling
point. I had grasped the handle tightly between my
thumb and fingers in the usual manner, bringing it
against my palm- the searing pain of the heat hit me as
I lifted the full cup up out of the machine, which was
on a counter at waist height. I did not simply drop the
cup since it was full of boiling water and I was afraid
of further burns from the splash if it fell in front of me.
After hastily sitting it down (perhaps 3 seconds), I was
aware with shock that the skin on all areas of those
fingers and my palm, where I had held the cup, was
white, wrinkled, and bizarre, as if a layer of thin pastry,
instead of skin, had been molded and wrinkled by the
pressure of the grasp. Immediately I put the hand within
the bowel accumulator, but had no hope that I would be
healed. I am a Nurse Midwife, and must use this hand
for examining and delivering. Despairingly, I believed that
I would be unable to perform these duties for several
weeks, at minimum. Within the accumulator, the pain
escalated briefly to a nearly unbearable level, increased
from what I had previously thought was severe! (The
fact that I initially had pain means that this was a second
degree burn, versus a third degree burn, which has no
pain initially).
I sat for 30 minutes, amazed as the severe pain
gradually left, and the familiar warm tingling sensation
replaced it. After this time, I removed my hand- the accumulator
had worked- the broad areas of burn were
now made up of the dry, hard, thin skin that I have
described. I had a little difficult in bending my index
finger and thumb because of the lack of skin flexibility,
but there was no blister and no pain and virtually no
redness, only the slightly browner color. I retreated the
hand several times that day, and perhaps the next. Other
than a temporary stiffness and decreased sensation until
the dry layer came off, I had no residual effect and could
work as normal.
An example of delayed treatment, of what may have
been a third degree burn, I found most interesting. My
husband leads ocean kayak tours, and was forced to
deploy a hand held burning flare to ward off a fishing
boat in heavy fog. A burning piece of the flare material
fell onto his inner wrist, burning a 1 1/2 cm round hole
deep into the tissue, just missing large blood vessels and
the tendon. I was away at the International Conference
at Orgonon, and when I returned the wound was four
days old. He had not applied the accumulator, thinking
that since he hadnâ€™t done it right away, there was no use.
He also said he had no pain, and so he wasnâ€™t alarmed,
and didnâ€™t mention it. When I noticed the wound I was
became alarmed- the hole appeared slightly infected
and very deep, the edges blackened and not alive. He
said the burn had not really changed or begun to heal
at all over the four days. He also was in a very busy
part of his season and had little patience for sitting still
with an accumulator bowel over his wrist. I fashioned
a tiny accumulator out of a band aid (as outer most
layer) and three layers of materials, covered with gauze,
and taped it over his wrist. I decided that this wound
needed lengthy treatment- 24 hours continuous, if possible.
After 24 hours the wound showed pink new skin
at the edges, and the redness around had abated. We
continued with frequent treatments (but not continuous
as it proved difficult to adhere to his wrist) over the
next several days, watching as the wound healed rapidly
inward toward the center.
In the past I suffered from migraine headaches and
found amazing relief from lying under the blanket (head
included) for longer than the usual treatment- the headache
ebbed and I fell asleep, without the usual cycle of
severe pain and vomiting. Normally it is recommended
that the accumulator not be used over the head for more
than a few minutes, and a person not sleep under it.
My most prolonged treatment use of the accumulator
occurred over the last 7 years, in the attempt to prevent
bed sores in a disabled elderly person- my mother, Eva
Reich. I also strongly believe that the full body use of
the accumulator blanket kept her alive much longer
than expected, or perhaps even longer than she herself
desired. She had told me of a case from her own medical
practice in the 1950s; Eva was called to the home and
bedside of an elderly woman; the woman exhibited the
prolonged spaces and gasping breath of approaching
death. The family was gathered around. Eva decided
to apply the accumulator blanket she carried with her.
Very shortly after the blanket was laid across her, the old
lady opened her eyes and said strongly â€œget that thing
off me!!â€ She revived and lived 6 more months, much
to the dismay of the old woman herself. The family felt
furious with Eva for reviving her, the care giving being a
huge burden. The old woman had wanted to die.
On New Years Eve of 2001, Eva Reich suffered a stroke
of the spine, the result being complete paralysis except
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 23
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completely alert, able to eat, etc. For a woman of such
great vitality, this situation felt absolutely tragic. During
a three month hospitalization she regained much of her
upper body, but had lost forever the ability to control her
bowels and bladder, or walk normally, her spinal nerves
being damaged. While in the hospital the nurses turned
her frequently, and due to good previous nutrition Eva
did not develop any bed sores; unusual in a woman of
78. My decision was to bring her home, rather than send
her to a nursing home. I made this decision more from
a gut reaction than from sensible consideration of the
difficulties, but I do not regret the years spent.
We renovated her farm house, across the street from
my home, accessible by wheel chair, both inside and out.
I hired a few friends as part time care givers, and Eva
came home in early March of 2002. Eventually I decided
that she would wear diapers, as the indwelling catheter
caused frequent urinary infections. By this time her bladder
released urine continually. As a nurse I worried about
her skin integrity, both from the pressure of bed rest, but
also from the irritation of urine. Because we could not
afford 24 hour nurses, Eva spent the night time hours
sleeping in her home; she could call for help if needed,
but I could think of no realistic way to turn her every
two hours or change her diaper in the night. From the
beginning of her return, I instructed the helpers to apply
a small accumulator pad to her coccyx (the base of her
spine) for a few minutes several times each day. We also
used the full body accumulator on her nearly every day
for 10-30 minutes. We continued her natural foods diet;
as we live in such a northern climate, her meals were not
strictly raw or fresh, but were organic and vegetarian.
As the years passed, her mobility and ability to sit
up, or even leave the bed at all, became limited. Moving
became painful. We placed foam pads over her
mattress, as well as a fleece layer, but all layers shortly
became compressed. We did not always remember to
use the accumulator pad on her bottom as the other
daily personal care tasks for Eva mounted. I realize now
that her vitamin D level was likely low, which may have
contributed to her pain with movement. Unfortunately,
in the midst of so many health issues, her doctor and
I neglected to test for this deficiency. Her doctor is a
wonderful man. He let us care for her in the ways that
we liked and gave us advice if needed. He was not aware
of our regular use of the accumulator, although he was
aware of Evaâ€™s connection to Wilhelm Reich and her own
belief in many alternative therapies. Her doctor made
home visits occasionally, and remarked many times how
amazing it seemed that Eva continued living as long as
she did, with such vitality.
Eva became thinner, which put even more pressure on
the bones of her bottom. In the last several years of her
life, an occasional red, broken skin area opened on her
coccyx; when this happened, we remembered and again
applied the local accumulator diligently. Healing then
occurred within a few days. In the last year her nutrition
also suffered because she disliked the taste of food; Eva
had more difficulty chewing and swallowing (even fresh
juices), which along with her increased bedridden state,
made keeping her skin healthy more difficult.
During the last year of her life Eva began to dislike the
accumulator blanket, although she would still allow the
local treatment of her bottom. She suffered at times from
more dementia, but also was often realistic and coherent.
Eva knew that she would never walk the fields or garden
again; â€œhop aroundâ€, as she called it, and wondered
why she didnâ€™t simply die. During this year her doctor
kindly offered her in-hospital palliative sedation (intraveEva
Reich, 2002
24 Renata Reich Moise Household Use of the Orgone Energy Accumulator
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://V3IiB_OCyfLznn3GGpo5KLL6xQwPOJAZ_O-ubZ8FPYgÍ"³Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”‰×‰EÚ©nous narcotic which would have helped her go to sleep
and quietly die), but she declined. â€œNot yetâ€ Eva said.
My sense is that she no longer wanted the increase of
energy from the accumulator blanket; it interfered with
her natural process. I also believe that a strong absorption
occurs via application of the accumulator over the
chakra of the coccyx, and in this way, by trying to treat
potential bedsores, we were inadvertently giving her
doses of Orgone energy into her whole being. Previous
experience with that chakra occurred when I made my
husband a small accumulator using an old cumber bund
(the waist strap from a tuxedo) for the framework. My
husband wore it in cumber bund fashion, directly over
his coccyx, and obtained a tremendous charge into his
whole system.
There are two uses therefore: the use on injuries and
the maintenance use to â€œcharge up â€œ the energy system
of the being by daily whole body treatment. I donâ€™t
think this daily â€œcharge upâ€ is needed in most people
until near middle age. For most children, teenagers, or
20somethings, the accumulator is most useful for illness
and injuries, since humans tend to have good energy
until perhaps the 30s or 40s. Armoring (blockage) of
energy is another issue, and I have seen instances where
regular whole body accumulator usage seemed to loosen
somewhat the armoring. It took longer for this individual
to be aware of the warmth or feeling of â€œenoughâ€ than
a less armored person. I believe that â€œOrgone therapyâ€
in the body work sense is more effective than the accumulator
(in regards to melting armor), but likely the
two used together would help the most.
Although I have used small accumulators for wounds
all my life, eight years ago was the beginning of my daily
use of the Orgone blanket (or in my husbands case, daily
vest, blanket, cumber bund, or sit- in box) to increase
vitality. (Making an accumulator blanket is tedious, since
I unroll steel wool in layers, which tends to bunch up
or fall apart; in other words, it is a project!) I remember
distinctly the first trial run of our big blanket; one at a
time, we lay on the couch under it. Huge smiles grew on
our faces. Both of us felt immensely â€œdelightedâ€, almost
â€œhighâ€ in a wonderful, clear- headed way.
I continue to use the blanket to revive after a strenuous
work day, clear myself after a long computer session,
â€œrevâ€ up before going to work (instead of coffee),
and even to help myself relax in the middle of the night
if I have insomnia. The accumulator seems to provide
balancing, in whatever direction is needed. As we age,
we have found applications of accumulators of all sizes
good for treating joint and muscular pain. My husbandâ€™s
mother, a spry little woman of 85, uses the accumulator
pad I sent her for her arthritic pain at night; it works so
well she asked that I make pads for her friends!
The accumulator is not a magic or mystical device; it
is simply a mechanism for concentrating the energy that
flows through us and nature. I hope for the day when
use of the accumulator can be spoken of openly. I work
within the American hospital system, as an employee;
well supported in many aspects of natural birth practice.
But I can not use the accumulator or suggest it to my
patients. So, I am not truly able to be who I really am.
In a way, perhaps, I am â€œliving the lieâ€, as Eva wrote
about her patient. I can speak about â€œenergy flowâ€
and â€œbreathing all the way downâ€, but I canâ€™t bring
an Orgone blanket to a tired woman in labor and help
her to regain strength. I canâ€™t recommend accumulator
treatment to the patient with the burn, or fibromyalgia.
I am not alone in this dilemma. Nearly all of us who
know about accumulators and also are licensed to practice
within the medical establishment of the USA do not
recommend the accumulator to patients, even though
we use it ourselves. I believe this is caused by both a fear
of legal attack and being thought of as â€œcrazyâ€ by the
establishment around us.
My mother spent her life spreading information about
her fatherâ€™s work around the world, and teaching people
in many countries how to make their own accumulators.
Her father died in prison due to the persecution of this
work. Eva didnâ€™t work for institutions or carry malpractice
insurance. Many thought she was â€œcrazyâ€. She tried as
hard as she could in one life time, driven by this body of
knowledge. Now her old farm is empty; the full moon
shines over the white barn and the winter fields. Her
spirit is nearby. She is thrilled that I can feel â€œdelightedâ€
so easily, she encourages me to paint. She is thrilled that
my son is making music with his band. And, I believe she
understands that I am doing the best I can, in trying to
combine my two worlds.
The Orgone Energy Accumulator is but one piece
of a much larger body of work. The Accumulator can
be used effectively for practical purposes, without any
understanding of the principles behind it. Understanding
the principles, however, grounds the Accumulator
in reality and legitimizes it. With this understanding, the
Accumulator is no longer a â€œmagic boxâ€ or placebo, but
a manifestation of the amazing healing qualities of the
energy all around us.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 25
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://w8pItXinsfAIxGM26Tu2DCA7r6MluSpSn4L3AgI4uCYÍ8Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”Š×Xš9ä°VScÞ”‰ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://PRRZkE4upj-3AycYHT-gSFjdo6diXC0YCoGMmU_kcBsÎ ›¤Í`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XOa2KEKZ8N2LPz3-yUcStBYlEYVsyqV4Uw-z36aNMW0ÍwXÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CKR94kD0NjllWInZ7GgTKLV46oDtPOlqiWfDdFdVOt8Í%óÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://riQuta088pV4462_YYGRGrR-tHyLhAXuWOUhjv5DSXcÎ ?ˆLÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš9ä°VScÞ”‹×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SsNAcmM64dL9dkHiUZMpon46TQXHBFEjM6DlNa9E3icÎ ×êÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ZSEER8SH4n1693azWuV3GnItt2LTrYNISJgl6vcWjf4ÍƒºÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://jCybhFAIS7sDA87H_WoTr1CKDPVbFs-qIZYERLDXblUÍÊÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://vS2i5rFjXgsYavMXbslRJTZEQWqPo4UV011P31Fo1vcÍŽÄHÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”Œ×‰EÚReich Was Right
Self Regulation from Wilhelm Reich to
Contemporary Applied Neuroscience
1
by Jacqueline A. Carleton
Introduction
I
n this paper, I begin to explore the relevance of
Reichâ€™s thought, especially his basic principle
of self regulation, to contemporary neuroscientific
research and to neuroscientificallybased
treatments of trauma. The two treatments I have
selected to reference for this paper are Peter Levineâ€™s
Somatic ExperiencingÂ© and Pat Ogdenâ€™s Sensorimotor
ProcessingÂ©. In subsequent papers, many of the topics
only touched upon lightly will be greatly expanded.2
After a brief introduction, this paper will be divided
into 5 sections:
1. Reich, Freud and Self Regulation
2. Reich and the Autonomic Nervous System
3. Reich, Pierrakos and Contemporary Neuroscience
4. Neuroscientific Principles in Adult Treatment
5. Case Vignette and Conclusion
For Reich, self regulation was a philosophy of childrearing
as well as a principle of healthy adult functioning
throughout the lifespan. He was particularly
interested in the prevention of developmental trauma
and of shock trauma to infants, especially newborns. In
the late 1930â€™s, as an outgrowth of his theoretical and
clinical experience with adults and his profound interest
1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the European Association for
Body Psychotherapy Conference, November 8-11, 2008, Paris.
2 One of the areas I find fascinating is complex self-organizing systems theory.
One could view self regulation as one aspect of the human psyche/nervous
systemâ€™s self-organization. That is how Reich saw it.
Expectation, Gustav Klimt, 1905
26 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CKR94kD0NjllWInZ7GgTKLV46oDtPOlqiWfDdFdVOt8Í%óÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”×‰EÚ˜in children, Wilhelm Reich began to formulate a theory of
child-rearing and healthy adult functioning that he and
his followers would refer to as â€œself regulationâ€. For Reich,
self regulation was a biological concept which, when
properly applied by parents and caregivers, would allow
optimal development of the infant organism as a whole.
He advocated such things as allowing the newborn to
remain close to or on its motherâ€™s body, breastfeeding on
demand, toilet training only when initiated by the child,
and freedom for children to masturbate and explore
each otherâ€™s bodies (Carleton, 1987). He also pointed to
the importance of the eye contact between the mother
and the baby in his writing on the possible etiology of
schizophrenia. Reich believed that children raised this
way would grow up to be emotionally healthy adults
capable of full sexual expression in intimate relationships.
His underlying assumption was that healthy sexuality
in a healthy bodymind was a â€œnormal functionâ€ and
that optimally all we really have to do is not inhibit or
pervert it in the developing organism. These assertions
were mind-boggling and paradigm-challenging to many
of his contemporaries as were many of his important
socio-political ideas. Emphasizing self regulation as a
biological concept taking into account what was then
known about the autonomic nervous system, he intuited
many of the concepts that contemporary neuroscience
and attachment research have now made quite concrete.
Reich, Freaud and self regulation:
An introduction
First, a little historyâ€¦ By 1930, when he came to
write CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS, Freud had,
according to Reich, betrayed much of his own earlier
work, including Reichâ€™s contributions to it. In a 1952
interview with Kurt Eissler for The Sigmund Freud Archives
(Higgins and Raphael, 1976), Reich states that
Freud wrote CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS in
direct response to a lecture Reich gave in Freudâ€™s home.
In any case, Freud does suggest a poor prognosis for the
relationship between sexuality (which we can simply see
as life energy) and society. Freud derives an antithesis
between civilization and sexuality from the circumstance
that sexual love is a relationship between two individuals
in which a third can only be superfluous or disturbing,
whereas civilization depends on relationships between a
considerable number of individuals. (Freud, 1930,p.108)
[More generally,] sublimation of instinct is an especially
conspicuous feature of cultural development; it is what
makes it possible for higher psychical activities, scientific,
artistic or ideological, to play such an important part in
civilized lifeâ€¦ ( Freud, 1930, p.97).
To paraphrase Freud, civilization is dependent upon
the primacy of the neo-cortex, which can and must be
the regulator and controller of the remainder of the
bodymind. This attitude underlay much psychoanalytic
thought in the 20th
century and was frequently applied
to the treatment of infants and children. Reich and the
body psychotherapies which his work spawned (along
with contemporary applications of neuroscience such
as those promulgated by Allan Schore and discussed
below), see it differently.
Reich refused to accept the inevitability of such an
antithesis or the necessity for such instinctual sublimation
in the interest of cultural development. He therefore
rejected the necessity for regulating infant feeding, elimination
or sexuality, seeing them as natural functions and
expressions of the organism. Reich, in fact, posited that
true sublimation of antisocial impulses would be possible
only in the absence of repression. Infantile and antisocial
impulses can be given up only when normal physiological
needs can be gratified (Reich, 1945, p.19). Reich, then,
distinguishes between natural, biological needs and impulses
and the secondary antisocial impulses which result
from their repression. Nature and culture in his view,
are not, as Freud concluded, inherently antithetical. If a
personâ€™s (especially an infantâ€™s) primary instinctual needs
are gratified, it increases his capacity for both love and
work. In Reichâ€™s opinion, (following Rousseau) there can
be harmony between nature and culture (Reich, 1945,
p.25). If normal impulses are not suppressed, society
need not fear their revolt.
After the birth of his son, Reich became particularly
interested in how infants could be treated to promote
their self regulation from the beginning of life. He felt
that in contrast to the strictly controlled infant treatment
of his day, usually identified with John Watson and B.F.
Skinner, babies should be fed, preferably breastfed, on
demand, circumcised only when medically indicated,
would toilet train themselves when physiologically capable,
and should be free to explore whatever gave them
pleasure in their own and each otherâ€™s bodies.
Are these ideas still â€œrevolutionaryâ€ or have they
been incorporated into contemporary child-rearing?
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 27
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://jCybhFAIS7sDA87H_WoTr1CKDPVbFs-qIZYERLDXblUÍÊÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”Ž×Xš:ä°VScÞ”ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://pjGFpWyutQWIe6Cvk_Re74j3U9hmN-G9aj6N_2mHmyoÎ ÊCÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://DBdE4A2B16qImgFeRgT-4Gf5t4FGab_HpVo_2awJLkkÍ|áÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Q-ZTYVRUAm5vM_H-jFLGdBVXLjcbU_h2_rR1fqmq6MQÍšÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://VToGI_JAztJdul_rVLOEA88uiNa0D6u9xZqYoxGoP_EÍQDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://dlITGyjXipx7_NWs1zpDvYecOweiqSCOE8YmJ8Wf5FcÎ Ï¥Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ZqdYo5-5AavDrXNiU54FYdBWNJ-Q5BwtSAGXy6cuYQAÍ€Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Cd2NICAPSkYQBxWStIy_chrq_9sTf-FtDhJgHGPmk6YÍpÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://1gTvUJ3UC3RV7mF3EQhQbAEgNWNMVcKo0HtVMt83upYÍjÇHÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”×‰EÚÔAlthough some segments of the culture have adopted,
or better yet never lost these practices, they are far from
universal. For my doctoral dissertation, in the 1970â€™s I
interviewed at length both Ilse Ollendorff (Reichâ€™s wife
and the mother of his son, Peter) and Gladys Meyer
(Theodore Wolffâ€™s widow) and also Evelyn Tropp (Oscar
Troppâ€™s widow) as well as some of their children, and also
some adults who had gone to Summerhill as children.
At that time, all my interviewees considered themselves
part of a â€œcognitive minorityâ€ and quite distinct from
the cultural mainstream. And, when I presented some
of these ideas at a Somatic Experiencing Conference in
California recently, a surprising number of mental health
professionals said that Reichâ€™s suggestions were far from
common practice.
More recently, Peter Levine and Maggie Klein wrote
prescriptively about the treatment of infants in Trauma
Through a Childâ€™s Eyes. I found enormous similarities
to Reichâ€™s ideas in what they propounded, again bringing
home the lack of full cultural acceptance of such
practices. Levine and Klein emphasize the importance of
both the prevention of developmental trauma and the
development of what would now be called resilience.
They employ slightly different vocabulary informed by
more recent research. What was speculative on the part
of Reich is neuroscientifically-based and elaborated by
Levine and Klein. An extended comparison will be made
in later papers in this series.
In recent years, the term â€œself regulationâ€ has again
become current, this time in the literature of applied
neuroscience and neuropsychoanalysis. Authors such as
Allan Schore (1994, 2003), Amini, et al. (1996), Daniel
Siegel (1999), and Louis Cozolino (2002), have used the
term to refer to the affect regulation developed by the
infant in concert with the effective parent or caregiver.
Peter Fonagy and his associates (1995) have explored the
relationship between affect regulation and the development
of the self. (See also literature review by Shapiro
and Moore.)
So contemporary neuroscientific research has picked
up where Freud, and subsequently Reich, left off. With
tools such as fMRIâ€™s, scientists are able to trace happenings
in the nervous system that Freud and Reich
could only intuit or suggest. Freud left the neurological
research in which he had been trained to find a whole
new â€œscienceâ€ of psychology. Reich at first followed
his mentor but subsequently disagreed with him about,
28 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right
among other things, the biological/energetic basis of
psychosexual development. What Freud ultimately saw
as metaphoric, Reich saw as strictly physical/energetic.
Reich and the autonomic nervous
system
Utilizing the model/metaphor of the amoeba, Reich
noted that the human organism is in a constant state
of expansion and contraction at every level. Most easily
observed in pulse and in respiration, this principle is
characteristic of every cell and organ in the body. He
observed this expansion and contraction, sympathetic/
parasympathetic alternation, most poignantly in the
human orgasm and a lot of his work eventually centered
on the meaning and achievement of healthy
sexual functioning. As we know, it also characterizes
the emotions and is evident in the natural oscillation at
low stress levels of the sympathetic and parasympathetic
branches of the nervous system. Withdrawal of energy
he termed anorgonia, and blockage by muscular contraction
he termed armoring. Reich observed clinically that
the control of anxiety was the main function of either
armoring or withdrawal of energy from a body part. In
the 1930â€™s, building on the work of Walter and Kathe
Misch, and also the experiments of Krause and Muller,
Reich began to associate anxiety with a blocked response
of the sympathetic nervous system and to associate the
parasympathetic with pleasure. Alternatively, the vagal
system he associated with libidinal expansion and movement
outward while the sympathetic was essentially the
system of libidinal retreat, drawing back into oneself.
What is important is not so much the details but the
overarching principle of expansion and contraction
characteristic of a healthy organism. Peter Levine would
later characterize it as autonomic pendulation.
According to his biographer Myron Sharaf
(1983):
â€¦Reich was the first psychoanalyst to emphasize
the role of sympathetic response in neurotic illness.
It is interesting to note that current bio-feedback
techniques often involve the replacement of anxiety
states [sympathetic] with calmer ones by conditioning
the patient to relaxing (parasympathetic)
thoughts and feelingsâ€¦.It should be stressed that
Reichâ€™s therapy, unlike bio-feedback techniques, did
not aim at the avoidance of anxiety states. On the
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Q-ZTYVRUAm5vM_H-jFLGdBVXLjcbU_h2_rR1fqmq6MQÍšÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”‘×‰EÚ¿contrary, the binding of anxiety in the armor was
more of a problem than free-floating anxiety itself.
Intense anxiety was often aroused in the course of
therapy as the armor loosened. The patient was
helped to work through his anxiety states, not avoid
them. The cardinal therapeutic problem became
the fear of intense emotions and, in particular, the
fear of strong pleasurable sensations (what Reich
termed â€œpleasure anxietyâ€) (Sharaf,1983, p. 208).
In a personal communication, Kristi Foster,
a doctoral student at Santa Barbara Graduate
Institute, points out that:
This concept of autonomic nervous system response
ties in with polyvagal theory. Polyvagal theory states
that in situations of sympathetic nervous system activation
the capacity for the ventral vagal, or social
nervous system, to function is impaired (Sahar, Shalev,
& Porges, 2001). Attendant with impaired social
nervous system functioning is a shutting down in
nerve pathways to the gut. This shutting down
of nerve pathways to the gut affects the enteric
nervous system, or gut brain, and also lessens oneâ€™s
capacity for pleasure (Porges, 1998).
What Porgesâ€™ (1998) theory suggests parallels the
work of Reich (1942/1973). An impaired capacity to
experience pleasure leaves one with a tendency toward
anxiety. This tendency toward anxiety pushes one toward
social shut-down as well as enteric nervous system shut
down. This shutting down of social or bodily intelligence
creates an inability to read the warning signals generated
by oneâ€™s body.
So Reich was concerned with what would be seen by
neuroscientists and traumatologists such as Pat Ogden
and Peter Levine1
and their colleagues as dissociation
of the anxiety. But, unlike many Reichians and neoReichians,
they have developed many techniques for
titrating the amount of anxiety that is aroused in the
course of therapy. Great emphasis is placed on gradual
introduction of highly activating material, with the therapist
keeping a close watch on the patientâ€™s gradually
increasing tolerance and thereby, resilience. Some of
these principles will be outlined below in the section on
clinical applications.
1 Perusing Peter Levineâ€™s doctoral dissertation, I noticed that he briefly noted
(pp.65-6) the significance of Wilhelm Reichâ€™s thought to the development of contemporary
paradigms used in many somatic psychotherapies, chief among them,
Somatic Experiencing. He specifically highlighted Reichâ€™s theory of energetic
charge/discharge involving the autonomic nervous system.
Reich, Pierrakos, and contemporary
neuroscience
In Reich and Freudâ€™s time, and still in John Pierrakosâ€™,
most patients came to therapy heavily armored, rigid,
with resistance that had to be penetrated.
That is how
I was originally trained by the Reichians (Orgonomists),
and then in Core Energetics. But, by and large, those are
not the people we see today. Today, our challenges are
containing, grounding, and preventing fragmentation as
we help our patients heal themselves. Over the years,
I have had to learn to modify techniques, to titrate, to
PREVENT people from going too deep all at once rather
than helping them go deeper quickly as I was trained to
do more than 30 years ago.
One particular patient comes to mind as I think of
what neuroscience has taught me: a North African man
I worked with many years ago. He had been repeatedly
traumatized by physical punishment in elementary school
and then by his parents at home. He told me about
one particularly significant event when he was about
8. His parents went out on a Sunday afternoon, leaving
him with a massive amount of arithmetic to learn for
a test the next day. He remembered trying for a while
and then, lured by the sounds of his brother and sister
playing in the courtyard, finally joined them. When his
parents returned, his father quizzed him on the math.
When it was obvious in his fatherâ€™s eyes that he didnâ€™t
learn enough, his father beat him so badly that he could
not go to school for the next several days. Nobody in
the family would speak to him, except for a maid who
crept up to his room and dressed the lacerations on his
back, buttocks and legs.
In one therapy session we agreed he needed to revisit
that afternoon expressing the feelings he was unable
to express at that time. As we worked through it, he
hit, punched, kicked, yelled obscenities (only in Arabic,
of course), etc. We worked until pretty near the end
of the session. When he got up to leave, we did some
grounding, but I could tell that he was still somewhat
dissociated, so I suggested he sit in the waiting room a
while before venturing out onto the streets.
He missed his next session because of an attack of
bronchitis, but that didnâ€™t register with either of us as
retraumatization. It was just the kind of thing that occasionally
occurred in therapy. In the following session,
he told me he was pretty out of it for the entire day following
that session and we both figured he had done
some good, deep work in that session.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 29
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session. Knowing what I have now gleaned from neuroscience
and trauma treatment, I would have conducted
the session quite differently. I would have first reviewed
with him what support and resources he had in his
present life, and had him articulate some safe person or
place that he could vividly imagine. Then, I would have
taken him piece by piece through that iconic afternoon,
bringing him back and forth between past and present,
allowing his nervous system to integrate after each
segment. We would not have been able to revisit that
traumatizing event in one session, but that would have
been fine because he would have been able to be fully
present when he left. I also suspect he would have been
able to return the next week to continue because the
overload on his nervous system would not have stimulated
the bronchitis in his lungs and caused him to miss
his next session. (Just to reassure you, he did survive, and
completed advanced degrees in both law and business
in the US and is currently holding an important position
in one of the Arab Emirates).
Reichâ€™s comprehension of the connection, even the
identity, between emotions and the body was a precursor
of both medicine and psychology today. Concepts such
as self regulation have been adopted and elaborated
upon with the assistance of technological advances in
neuroscience such as the fMRI. What we have called
â€œenergy,â€ neuroscientists call â€œresonanceâ€ and measure
the changes in brain waves when two people such
as mother and baby, as well as patient and therapist,
interact. Bridges that were wobbly and tentative spanning
the gulf between verbal psychotherapy (such as
cognitive behavioral and psychoanalysis) and body
psychotherapy are beginning to look to both sides like
the newest frontier.
Writers such as Allan Schore applying neuroscience to
psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, constantly allude to
the importance of the body, non-verbal communication,
etc., in the early mother-baby pair, in adult relationships
of many sorts, and in the psychotherapy office where
body psychotherapists are experts. Schore emphasizes
the body in virtually every paper he writes and every
presentation he gives. In a 2005 article, Schore heralds a
â€œnew paradigmâ€ in psychoanalysis which must inevitably
include non-verbal, bodily-based interventions directed
toward nonconscious, procedural processes. In this same
paper, he quotes V. M. Andrade in the International
Journal of Psychoanalysis, citing information from neuropsychoanalysis
as concluding, â€œAs a primary factor in
30 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right
psychic change, interpretation is limited in effectiveness
to pathologies arising from the verbal phase related to
explicit memories, with no effect in the pre-verbal phase
where implicit memories are to be foundâ€ (p.677). He
goes on to point out that body psychotherapy, originally
a product of â€œcertain pioneers of classical psychoanalysis
and trauma theoryâ€ has developed independently and
often in opposition to contemporary psychoanalysis. But,
the body psychotherapies are also now adopting an interdisciplinary
outlook. Psychoneurobiological data and attachment
research have supported a neglected dialogue
between psychoanalytic and somatic psychotherapies.
Interpersonal neurobiology and trauma research are
making enormous contributions. Theorists and researchers
have made important advances in understanding
exactly how the central nervous system processes both
trauma and its repair. On one hand, neuroscientific
research validates a lot of what Reich proposed so long
ago. It also articulates and refines and explains a lot
of our work. And, of course, it occasionally mandates
modification or even invalidates some of our practices.
In the final sections of this paper, I will outline a few
of the principles and resulting techniques that Levine
and Ogden and their colleagues have applied to the
treatment of adults and then conclude with a brief case
vignette. It will be seen that each of these principles and
techniques is fundamentally geared toward reestablishment
of self regulation. For if, as Peter Levine insists,
â€œtrauma is in the nervous system, not in the eventâ€, that
trauma is the interruption of the self-regulatory capacity
of the organism, specifically of the nervous system.
Neuroscientific principles in adult
treatment
Whether it is acute or developmental, the nervous
system needs to process trauma slowly. We must nudge
the nervous system to do what it needs to do, slowly and
carefully, to process and release the trauma, to allow the
bodymind to return to self regulation. The human organism,
with its unlimited neural plasticity, is designed to
heal even intense, extreme experience. As I have applied
such neuroscientific principles in a way that increasingly
honors this process, even patients I have worked with for
many years have had remarkable lessening of symptoms,
increased creativity, and improvements in relationships.
I am thinking of a man I have worked with for a long
time as he has fought his way through life-threatening
health problems for the last 20 years. Now, at 50, having
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://QBnl-gZUkwZTx8Ku1me7w_nF8UXmVo83J2y7ne3cXJoÍüÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”•×‰EÚÿworked through a lot of issues of childhood abuse, he
was just beginning to think he MIGHT want to entertain
the idea of a relationship with a woman for the first time
since his health crisis began. A few months ago I began
working with him carefully applying Somatic ExperiencingÂ©
principles of resourcing, titrating, pendulating,
etc. The results have been quite astonishing to both of
us. He has begun dating and discovered a sexuality far
deeper and more exciting than anything he remembers
feeling when he was younger and hormones were raging.
And concomitantly, the urge to do his creative work
has become unsquelchable. Each session leads to deep
relaxation which he cannot ignore (he is a workaholic),
followed shortly by creative and sexual openings. He
now openly admits that he feels my deep caring for him,
can allow me to touch him without inwardly flinching,
and pats the hand I place on his abdomen. A portion
of a session with him is in the vignette below.
The following concepts and procedures have been
gleaned mostly from two modalities of body psychotherapy,
Somatic ExperiencingÂ© and Sensorimotor ProcessingÂ©,
both of which are based on neuroscience and
trauma research. I will briefly survey five of their many
ways to facilitate the process: pendulation and titration,
resourcing, utilizing all components of experience, the
use of mindful language and discharge (state change).
Pendulation and titration are concepts easy to apply
to even purely psychodynamic sessions. Many of us were
trained to allow the patient to complete a horrific narrative
in the hope that the neocortex would make sense
of it and thereby lessen its ramifications in the personâ€™s
present life. The autonomic nervous system, however,
is hard-wired, in its optimal, resilient state, to pendulate
between sympathetic and parasympathetic modes.
Extrapolating, we have learned that the energy locked
into the system by trauma is most effectively released
in small increments. Therefore, pausing in the account
(which we call titration), to allow the nervous system to
â€œrecycleâ€ avoids iatrogenic retraumatization. This can be
done in a number of ways: by resourcing at the beginning
and as it unfolds, by asking the patient to focus
in the present and on bodily sensation, and by any one
of a number of grounding and stabilizing exercises. It is
also important to work within range of resilience: donâ€™t
push through resistance or promote catharsis. In this
approach, the narrative is used to track nervous system
activation, not search for memories.
Resources are whatever is positive in patientâ€™s life or
imagination: they can be any element of experience:
sensation, image, behavior, affect or meaning. It is
important to locate and list them with patients at the
outset of the therapeutic process. They are reparative in
themselves and can also be periodically introduced to
allow the autonomic nervous system to pendulate and
avoid retraumatization.
Titration keeps the nervous system activation within
the â€œwindow of tolerance.â€ It is important to allow
lots of time as the autonomic nervous system processes
more slowly than the motor system or cognition. Traumatic
material must be introduced slowly and in small
bits, allowing or fostering re-regulation of the nervous
system continuously.
Utilizing multiple components of experience enlarges
the experience, makes it wider and deeper and thereby
increases the healing capacity of the intervention. The
five components are:
â€¢ Sensation, which involves any of the 5 senses
â€¢ Images, which can be internal or external (red
ball in chest vs. sunset)
â€¢ Behavior can be verbal/nonverbal, voluntary/
involuntary, conscious/unconscious.
â€¢ Affects, or feelings, are actually patterns of
sensations
â€¢ Meaning refers to an explicit linguistic concept or
statement (Adapted from Somatic Experiencing
Training Manual, 2007, p.B1.27)
Language must be mindful, invitational, including
open-ended questions such as â€œHow would it be toâ€¦â€1
Discharge (state change) can take place through
awareness of any aspect of experience: sensation, images,
behavior or movements, affects, or through meaning
(cognition). Our exploration of this phenomenon has
been led by Peter Levineâ€™s ethological observations. Why
donâ€™t animals have PTSD? They shake after a traumatic
event, pick themselves up and walk away. This led to
Levineâ€™s exploration of what human beings can and
often manage to do. Trauma lies in the nervous system,
he concluded, not in the event. If a personâ€™s nervous
system cannot manage an event on its own, it must be
helped to process the activation which lies outside its
range of resilience, ultimately increasing that range. This
usually happens most efficiently when we work bottom
up (concentrating on sensations), rather than top down
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 31
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Mindful Statement
â€œWhy do you think you have that
reaction do your father?
â€œPerhaps you could try telling him
that you feel uncomfortableâ€¦â€
â€œIt feels like it is your faultâ€¦â€
â€œYou feel ashamedâ€”even though
you know that he wasnâ€™t appropriate?â€
â€œI notice when you talk about him your body tenses upâ€
â€œNotice what happens inside when you imagine telling him
that?â€
â€œYou feel ashamedâ€”even though you know that he wasnâ€™t
appropriate?â€
â€œYou feel ashamedâ€”even though you know that he wasnâ€™t
appropriate?â€
Fisher (2005)
(cognition): when we keep bringing awareness back
to sensation, emotions and meanings often spontaneously
change. We explore, savor and deepen sensation
whenever possible.
It is important to be able to recognize signs of discharge
without inhibiting them in both oneself and the
patient. â€œTraumatic symptoms are not caused by the
event itself. They arise when residual energy from the
experience is not discharged from the body. This energy
remains trapped in the nervous system where it can
wreak havoc on our bodies and minds.â€ (Levine,1997)
Indications of discharge or state change should be
noticed, supported and encouraged by the therapist. Examples
are: exhale, yawn (a parasympathetic response),
burping, tingling/numbing depending on context, sense
of flow, warmth/heat (can also be mobilization), sweating,
crying, shaking and trembling (trembling may have
fear mixed in), coughing.
Case Vignette
This brief vignette illustrates many of the points in
the previous section.
3/21/07 â€œToday I had one of the most profound
experiences of my lifeâ€ â€“ Journal Entry by Adam.
Adam, a 53 year-old playwright, enters the consulting
room and sits opposite me. He has recently broken
up with Deborah, an artist with whom he had been in
a relationship for about a year. She was his first lover in
close to 17 years, a period during which he was chronically
ill and in debt. After, at my suggestion, reading
Peter Levineâ€™s book, Waking The Tiger, Adam wants to
explore on a somatic level traumatic experiences from
his childhood that have made him frightened of intimacy
with a woman, and of feeling free to express himself
32 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right
artistically. We have been doing various forms of somatic
work over the years as seemed appropriate. One of his
most debilitating health problems has involved constant
pain and malfunctioning of his intestines. So, recently, I
had begun very gently placing my hand on his abdomen
for a few moments as he lay on the couch. We had very
gradually increased the time from one minute to about
ten. Over the next couple of months we were doing
that, and his symptoms improved markedly as did his
courage to seek a relationship with a woman.
In the session I am recounting, he mentions that
he wants to explore the trauma he experienced being
emotionally abandoned and rejected by his mother, but
I apparently surprise him by asking a broader question,
which takes the session in a direction neither of us had
anticipated.
â€œWhat images come up for you when you hear the
phrase, â€™traumatic experiences in your childhood?â€™â€
Adam is surprised by the first image that surfaces:
of his dad slapping him in the face when he was 12
years old. I ask him to return to that experience and to
let himself be there as it occurred. He closes his eyes
and begins to speak. Because I know him well, I am not
concerned that he will dissociate, so I do not comment
on his closed eyes.
â€œIt was a weekend in February, probably over Lincolnâ€™s
birthday,â€ he tells me â€and Dad had taken Mom and
me to a ski resort in Vermont. We stayed in some kind
of lodge. I think it was a Saturday afternoon when I
became furious at dad for lying to me about something
he had promised to do and then denied that he had. I
remember confronting him in the living room and accusing
him. I canâ€™t remember everything I said, but Iâ€™m
certain I said, â€˜Youâ€™re a liar!â€™ â€œ
At this point, Adamâ€™s legs have begun to tremble. Heâ€™s
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://m-04Yvv918tUBx_vMihuJqbLs1riB5xbTjh9PV0AVWsÍ/Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš:ä°VScÞ”™×‰EÚÇagitated and breathing rapidly as fear courses through
his body. I tell him to just allow the trembling and his
rapid breathing and to notice what else is happening in
his body as he feels himself solidly in contact with the
couch against which he is leaning and the floor on which
his feet are resting. He moves slightly to feel the couch
and the floor under his feet. I suggest he notice what
is happening in his arms and he says they are tingling,
especially his fingers. I assure him that this is a natural
discharge of the autonomic nervous systemâ€™s blocked
orienting response to danger, which could not be called
upon. As the trembling begins to subside, he mentions
that he scared himself by saying such a thing to his father.
But, then it becomes more complex.
Adam continuesâ€¦.
â€œAt that dad became enraged and slapped me very
hard in the face, probably with his left hand because I
remember holding the right side of my face afterwards.â€
Adam puts his hand up to the right side of his cheek
and his legs begin to shake harder than before, seemingly
uncontrollably. Heâ€™s shocked by the strength of the
movement in his legs, but I again encourage him to stay
in the moment. â€Itâ€™s your desire to flee,â€ I suggest. â€œYou
couldnâ€™t then. Itâ€™s all right. You need to let your legs run
the energy out now. Itâ€™s okay.â€ I invite him to imagine
himself running and he sees himself running up and then
down the ski slope to the room of his old nanny, Mary.
As his legs make more purposeful running movements,
they at first increase in strength and then subside.
â€œTell me what happened next.â€ Adamâ€™s legs slowly
come to rest as he speaks.
â€œI was stunned and hurt, more by his anger than the
pain. I certainly knew I was provoking him but it never
occurred to me to run before he could hit me, or to fight
back. Maybe it all happened too quickly, or more likely
I became immobilized out of fear. All I can remember is
my face stinging as the sound of the slap reverberated,
looking at dad with hurt and astonishment, then running
to my bedroom. I locked the door and began to sob. I
had never felt such profound hurt in my life. I had been
certain Dad didnâ€™t love me and now it was proven. Dad
came to the door and asked if I would let him in. Eventually
I did and he apologized, but I remained turned away
from him and wouldnâ€™t speak. I wanted to teach him
a lesson heâ€™d never forget: that if you fail and wound
someone, you cannot count on their forgiveness. â€œ
J: As you imagine yourself there in your bedroom with
your father, what do you feel in your body?
Adam: Nothing. I am numb, frozen, cold, unfeelingâ€¦
At this point Adam begins to sob. He reaches for my
hand with one of his hands and covers the right side of
his face again with the other.
His shoulders shake as he
cries and then they gradually relax and he releases my
hand and brings his other hand down from his face. We
both sit for a few moments, just letting his experience
wash over us. I contemplate just letting the session end
here, but counting on his resilience, I ask him if he would
like to take a step further. He sits up a little straighter,
and with interest reflecting in his eyes, says, â€œSure.â€
â€œCan you go back there now? Would you go back
there and talk to him?â€
Adam takes a deep breath. â€œWhat is it you might
want to say to him?â€ I ask carefully. â€œIâ€™m not sure I can
talk to him,â€ Adam replies, so I make a suggestion. â€œTry
talking to someone else, someone you trust who would
comfort you. Who would that be?â€
â€œMy friend, David. Heâ€™s warm and direct, a great
father. I wish Iâ€™d had a father like him.â€
â€œThen talk to David. Tell him how you feel and what
you need.â€
Adam imagines David sitting opposite his 12 year-old
self, allowing him to reach out and touch his hair and
then hold and comfort him. It morphs smoothly into being
held by his father. He mentioned later in the session
that the feeling of being held was â€œpalpable.â€ As soon
as he is able to speak, he is able to do so directly to his
father, often sobbing between sentences.
â€œI need you to recognize who I amâ€¦.to love and support
me; hold me. Canâ€™t you see how sad and frightened
I am, how shy? I get teased at school and youâ€™re not
there to help me (He had inherited a genetic anomaly of
overly large ears from his father, which were operated
on only much later and very traumatically). Nothing I do
ever gets your approval. Iâ€™m so lonely, Dad. I need you
so badly. Please hold me and tell me that you love me.â€
He is sobbing deeply again, but with less tension. I
encourage him to imagine his father reaching out and
touching him. Adam is able to describe his dad stroking
his hair, embracing him with love, apologizing with all
his heart. Adam is able to return the love.
After he has stopped sobbing Adam reminisces that
when his dad was dying in 2004, they never talked about
Adamâ€™s childhood misery, and Adam never asked for an
apology, but one was made obliquely to a nephew who
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 33
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down as an uncle and burst into tears. Adam knew his
father was speaking to him and was filled with gratitude
that his dad could come even that far in admitting his
failures as a parent.
After the session Adam reported feeling a surge of
optimism about his life that was new. Curiously there
was also a bruise around his right eye that lasted for
several days and then healed. He said he couldnâ€™t help
but assume that in re-enacting the experience of being
hit by his dad, there was a kind of body memory, which
brought the bruise back. A week later he wrote about
another result of the session.
â€œThe experience of being held by Dad was as palpable,
as real, as if it was actually happening. I felt an enormous
relief and surge of love; a combination of forgiveness
and profound connection to this man who I knew loved
me deeply yet could never express such feelings directly.
I was aware of healing myself and also him at the same
time, despite the fact that he was dead now. So I suppose
I was healing the part of him that I have carried in
me, the shadow. Somehow I felt the healing that occurred
had not o nly an emotional but a spiritual basis;
that somewhere I was releasing dad from his guilt and
shame over hitting me, and in acknowledging my need
for him to love me, and the fact that he did indeed love
me with all his heart, I was helping to make him whole
as well as myself.
I had worked with Adam for the majority of his celibate
17 years as he fought a syndrome of immune system
disorders. Progress had been slow, and only in the last
couple of years had I been sure he would survive. Sessions
such as that described above had to be carefully
titrated and worked through, but he and I both agreed
that it was this sort of work that had begun to materially
loosen his creative drive and his willingness to seek and
find a relationship with a woman.
4/14/08 Journal Entry by Adam
â€œMy work in therapy is yielding new results. Since
I began to acknowledge the pleasure I feel in selfdenial,
Iâ€™ve opened the door to examine the ways in
which I cut off pleasure and excitement. Piano playing
has become a kind of workshop and focus for
this process. Writing is the other. Jacquie has asked
me to be aware of how the excitement is building
when my creativity and pleasure begin to flow, and
34 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right
then notice how I cut myself off. Her feeling is that
I can learn to slow it down so it doesnâ€™t become
overwhelming. I believe I can channel it into the
work Iâ€™m doing. The truth is that since my early
teenage years, Iâ€™ve had very little experience with
real pleasure and truly immersive and transformational
creativity. Yes, itâ€™s been there in spurts, and
certainly when I was sexually active the channels
were more open, but Iâ€™ve never kept them open,
thrived on them, used them so that they became
a consistent part of my being. Thatâ€™s what I need
now; thatâ€™s what will allow me to have a full and
satisfying life.â€
Conclusion
This vignette brings together and illustrates some of
the principles and techniques that have been fashioned
by contemporary trauma specialists, based on neuroscientific
evidence for much of Reichâ€™s work. Body
psychotherapists, it seems to me, are at the nexus of an
amazing number of treatment options which are being
increasingly accepted and utilized by increasing numbers
of psychotherapists. Only a few could be described in
this paper. Itâ€™s an exciting time for us to reassess some
of the early figures in the field such as Reich, while we
welcome and embrace and propagate new ideas and
techniques.
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energy & character vol.37 may 2009 35
Jacqueline Carleton, is the founding editor of the US
Association for Body Psychotherapy Journal and serves
on the associationâ€™s board of directors as treasurer. She
has been a clinical member of the EABP for many years.
She has practiced body psychotherapy for more than 35
years and taught in Europe and Latin America for the
past 25 years. The heart of her work remains her private
practice in New York City.
Profile of the author
The American legacy of Reich. Body, Movement and Dance in
Psychotherapy, 3, 5-18.
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Psychotherapy without Touch:
Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
by Courtenay Young
Introduction:
T
his article follows on as a second
distinct part to an article I wrote with
the same main title (Young, 2005a). I
would now like to go into the subject
a little more detail. In that first article, I looked at
why we might need to be much more clear about
why, when, how, and where we touch. And I also
looked at various techniques that we can use that
essentially come from within body-psychotherapy,
but none of which involve touch. I now want to go
a little wider and deeper. I would like to explore the
concept of â€˜embodimentâ€™ or (as we shall see) the
process of re-embodiment. David Boadella spoke
eloquently, at the 2006 4th Biosynthesis Conference
in Lisbon, about 4 different levels or types of
integration and how the therapeutic relationship or
alliance is the containment for the process of integration.
I want to look at the goal or intention of
body psychotherapy and the purpose that I believe
underlies the therapeutic alliance in body-psychotherapy.
I believe that â€“ as a body psychotherapist â€“ I
am working to assist the client get a better sense
of, or achieve a better state of â€˜embodimentâ€™: by
that I mean a felt sense of self within oneâ€™s body,
when one feels centred, grounded, autonomous,
empowered, in contact with oneâ€™s authentic feelings
and with a healthy boundary to others and the
outside world. This concept is not unique to any one
method of body-psychotherapy, but â€“ I believe â€“ is
probably common to all, though the language varies
considerably from method to method.
Sitting Woman with Legs Drawn Up, Egon Schiele, 1917
36 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
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Whilst we all want our clients to get better (and
ultimately not to need our therapy), we might not be
quite so clear as to what our immediate goals or intentions
are. I think that we are, as body psychotherapists,
probably working on a meta-level to assist our clients
to get a better sense of, or state of, â€˜embodimentâ€™. By
this I am meaning that we are working to help them
towards a place or a time where they can experience
themselves more within their body; that they have a better
proprioceptive sense; that they have a regular, closer,
deeper, and more intimate relationship with their bodies;
that their â€˜groundingâ€™ in their body is better; that they
can relate better from their body to other â€˜bodiesâ€™; and
that their body has an interconnected sense of being
in its wider situation. This, I believe, would also tend to
give them a better state of their health, less stress and
more relaxation, a clearer set of relationships with other
people, a healthier interaction with their environment,
a better sense of themselves in society, and sometimes
even a greater connection with spirit.
In people with (say) schizoid character structures,
there is traditionally a profound splitting-off or â€˜disembodimentâ€™
from the personâ€™s felt sense of self, from their
body. In people, for example, with borderline personality
disorders, there is often (if not nearly always) a deep existential
fear of their bodily (or felt sense) experience, as
it can be either chaotic or like a void, a nothing-ness. Any
direct contact, or degree of intimacy, both in relationship
terms, or in the â€˜felt sense,â€™ is thus experienced as being
quite invasive, or even terrifying. In a more defended
character structure, such contact is often experienced
as being unsatisfactory, or â€˜distanceâ€™ is projected onto
the other person so that the other person is felt to be
too far away, or â€˜abandoningâ€™.
In all of these cases, gentle consistent (and sometimes
very different and difficult) work is needed to assist the
client to come into their bodies more completely. This is
a process of embodiment. From that place of feeling and
accepting themselves more, they can then start to heal
some of their early childhood issues, injuries, defects and
traumas. This is a generic body-psychotherapy perspective.
I am also arguing that this can be done â€“ with or
without touch â€“ effectively by changing our (and their)
perspectives of themselves and thus their experiences
of being embodied.
Similar dynamics can be seen with other character
structures: there may be an over-groundedness or overboundedness
(Boadella, 1987); or there may be a rigidity
or lack of mobility where the person experiences flexibility
as threatening. Or there may be an over-emphasis on
the personâ€™s needs beinggratified (oral); or the â€˜hystericâ€™
character may experience an inability â€“ and fear â€“ to be
grounded (solid, stable) and sees their security in their
ability to rage or flee. These are all different character
structures caused by different, and often disturbed patterns
of upbringing, and they all affect our capacity of,
and pleasure in our â€˜embodimentâ€™. Stanley Keleman
argues in his book â€˜Emotional Anatomyâ€™ (1985) that
tensions and distortions in the various tubes that constitute
the body are â€œinsults to formâ€. To overcome these
â€˜insultsâ€™, as clients, we will have to find a way to come
to terms with our body as it is and then re-embody it in
a less distorted way, and this may be a continual process
as we work in different ways with different aspects of our
bodies, or â€“ in the Reichian concept â€“ the different â€˜segmentsâ€™
of our body: eyes, jaw, throat, chest, belly, etc.
These are not just character structures, they are all
different experiences of chronic embodiment. These are
not disembodied people: ghosts. These are people and
they have bodies: but their process of embodiment (to
date) has been disrupted or distorted, and their resulting
embodiment is becoming increasingly dysfunctional.
The personâ€™s particular and different experiences have
disturbed their relationship with their body â€“ from what
it could have been â€“ from the natural, healthy form that
is our human potential.
As body psychotherapists, I believe that our task is
to assist the person (client) to create a better (and less
dysfunctional) relationship with their body, and with their
self, and thus hopefully eventually with other people as
well. I hope that we can help them to overcome most of
the difficulties in their current embodiment and create a
new embodiment: a re-embodiment. It is difficult â€“ from
this perspective â€“ to understand how this healing journey
can be done without looking at the concept of embodiment.
But it is also a concept that does not have to include
touch per se. We do not have to touch someone
to help them feel themselves: sometimes touch could
even take this feeling (of embodiment) away from them.
Embodiment is becoming an increasingly accepted
concept in traditional psychological and psychotherapeutic
circles. Traditional psychology is now questioning
the Mind-Body split, reinforced by millennia of patriarchy
and now by an increasingly industrialised society; originally
verbalised by Plato and Descartes and one that has
dominated scientific thinking for so long. It is now slowly
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 37
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Yg_TYwEaiw7_0TlbP7lrUdDGHA-XFmeXhP933GrDzRIÍ“Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš;ä°VScÞ”¢×Xš;ä°VScÞ”¡ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ka2xJ3DWw1NZ3ykFI9RXoh12j8H6D-DJ3rDjN9KIBkwÎ ÷ÏÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://pIsaz5VDRO-rANXT89q-0tgyzZD89pNuTQmMXtWvPdgÍLÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://y4BwI03B2ji1jTMCaeEIHnMbfHTsnCpSOAQhaQlnRz4Í\Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://yX0-JSe0XtCrCcUKO8KMBSkBLr3y_1b7gVFcuejGckUÍHODÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš;ä°VScÞ”£×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://hP-tET66BWvHDo-d0N8M84DH_9UPlxqd5R8x4XDaAWAÎ ç„Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://3a_NmDk2EDgu5OMR8H9rgvcpsPMjK7VcJCvs0cLBpOAÍ€Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://1-79bZq3qVLslLdC6u6_P29rT_irgXqfAjjVP3qI-DIÍÌÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://q2n6YtqdE57Mbu9YRtV2SnZvrFkseE4HCrRxocomfEAÍL8DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš;ä°VScÞ”¤×‰EÚ—but steadily changing.
There is a greater sense of inclusion: both-and rather
than either-or. Oneâ€™s experience of life and events is
being seen as both â€˜detachedâ€™ (scientific/objective) and
â€˜embodiedâ€™ (being-in-the-world) â€“ as experienced by the
perceiver. Embodiment is being seen as the experience
of being in the â€˜hereâ€™ and the â€˜nowâ€™. There are fundamental
changes in oneâ€™s perception of reality: you can be
a particle (static form), or a wave (dynamic movement),
or the potential that both are true.
As body psychotherapists, we are obviously professionally
very interested in embodiment, and quite a
lot has been written about it, clinically, within BodyPsychotherapy
literature (ref: EABP Bibliography, 2006).
However the ramifications of this change of perspective
are affected by and affect a huge number of other areas,
perhaps more than we are conventionally aware of. So I
would like to explore this concept a little further. We can
look at embodiment in a number of different ways. The
basic concept of â€˜embodimentâ€™ â€“ â€œI am that which is my
bodyâ€ â€“ is both influenced by, and affects, a vast range of
perspectives or different arenas. These perceptions and
these affects vary widely; far beyond the scope of traditional
Body-Psychotherapy. By bringing these concepts
more within the scope of Body-Psychotherapy, I argue
that we are increasing our range, depth and efficacy as
body psychotherapists.
A body-psychotherapy colleague of mine, Michel
Heller, commented at a recent Body-Psychotherapy congress
in Paris (2008), that whilst we were both very well
trained in touch, both he and I now hardly ever touch
our clients. Instead, we see more; we perceive more; we
often understand them through thought and resonance,
and guide them through explanation and suggestion.
We definitely â€˜doâ€™ less and that has (perversely) often a
greater long-term effect: in the words of Gerda Boyesen
(and others) â€œLess is more.â€ We donâ€™t touch because we
have learnt about touch and the effects of touch and
because we can now achieve almost exactly the same effects
in different ways, if needed, without touch. We can
only now work without touch because we have worked
extensively with touch; maybe we have â€˜embodiedâ€™ touch
sufficiently so that we can â€˜touchâ€™ our clients differently,
without touching them physically. They can then use this
â€˜contact in their process of re-embodiment.
In a book that came out of a previous EABP Congress,
The Flesh of the Soul, (Heller, 2001), there are a couple
of chapters relevant to this theme, especially In Search of
the Embodied Self (Marlock & Weiss, 2001). These two
very experienced practitioners, from different disciplines,
share some of the theoretical background and aetiology
of the concept of the â€˜selfâ€™ in psychotherapy (from Kohut,
through Winnicott, Kernberg and Maslow, to Schwarz
and Wilbur), and then introduce the concept that there
is really no â€˜selfâ€™ without a body and no â€˜bodyâ€™ (nobody?)
without a â€˜Selfâ€™ â€“ or without various â€˜Self-statesâ€™ that
can be integrated into a whole. This is the process of
re-embodiment.
Neuroscience:
From the recent development of neuroscience, we
get a number of fascinating insights as to what is going
on in our body â€˜properâ€™ and our brains (also part of our
bodies), in our neurons, on a cellular level, chemically
and micro-biologically within our bodies. However there
are both good points and bad points about these perspectives.
Wonderful as it is, neuroscience is telling us
so much more about how the body and the mind work,
but, in doing this, it can also manage to perpetuate the
mind-body dualism. This is counter-productive to our
goal. In a quote from a recent book on Embodiment:
â€œDamasio states â€˜neuroscience has focused on functions
[particularly motor functions] as if it had nothing to
do with the personâ€™. This estrangement of â€˜the personâ€™
from â€˜theirâ€™ functions is one type of dualism. Another
type is where neuroscience promotes a view of mental
processes as residing only in the brain â€” thinking is
neurology â€“ and being distinct from bodily processes.â€
(MacLachlan, 2004)
Much of neuroscience focuses on the localisation of
functions: where things are and what happens when
that particular area or part of the body is triggered: this
is a â€˜staticâ€™ view. However, as is also very clearly demonstrated
by the same neuro-scientific processes, that
every human is slightly different - unique; every brain is
plastic: it is not pre-programmed. And the human brain
also grows dynamically, adapts and changes in a process
called â€˜epigenesisâ€™, uniquely to each individual. Even in
identical monozygotic twins, neurones in the same area
(performing the same function) have different dendritic
structures (Edelman, 2002). Our brain therefore grows
and changes; it retains a degree of plasticity that only
diminishes slowly throughout our life.
Neuroscience largely ignores this aspect, except
perhaps in the repair of brain damage after injury or
trauma. Neuroscience, whist it may give us incredible
insights into what is happening in our bodies, might
38 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://y4BwI03B2ji1jTMCaeEIHnMbfHTsnCpSOAQhaQlnRz4Í\Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš;ä°VScÞ”¥×‰EÚ–thus also have its own particular blindness. But there
is a slow and increasing understanding that the brain
and body â€˜properâ€™ are a functioning whole. In another
article (Young, 2006), based on a talk at several conferences
about Body-Psychotherapy, I use the illustration
of the cockpit of an aeroplane. The cockpit does not fly
the plane: it is the power of the engines and the shape
of the wings that do this. But the plane could not fly
without a functioning set of controls (and a pilot) in
the cockpit. It is however the passengers in the body of
the plane that experience the flight and give it a raison
dâ€™Ãªtre for its existence.
Anthropology:
From an anthropological perspective, about 5 million
years ago, we separated from the other primates, leaving
them â€“ for the large part â€“ in the receding forests
as the Pliocene drought tightened its 2 million-year grip
on the planet. As a species, we went somewhere where
we were safe from predators; where we lost most of our
body hair; where we developed subcutaneous fat; where
we had an excess of salt that needed to be got rid of
through perspiration and tears; where there was a sufficient
supply of special proteins and fats to develop our
brain size by a phenomenal three-fold factor; and where
there was a need to develop specialised forms of verbal
communication. We almost certainly did all of these
things up to our necks in warm shallow seas, probably in
part of what is now Ethiopia: we became aquatic apes.
(Morgan, 1990) From this gene pool, various generations
of hominids emerged over the subsequent aeons into
the African arena via the Great Rift Valley. These were:
various forms of Australopithecus, then Homo habilis,
Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo heidelbergensis,
Homo neanderthalensis, and so forth until eventually
Homo sapiens emerged. (Young, 2005b)
This evolutionary process had a huge impact on our
embodiment. It is not just the different psychological
developments like the fact that the larger brain requires
a much longer, and thus a much more significant, parental
relationship: there were various, very significant,
sociological developments. Our relative physical vulnerability,
and lack of physical armour or intrinsic forms of
defence or attack (horns, hooves, claws, spines or stings)
requires an increased reliance on our immediate social
group. Our capacity for language and abstract thought
enabled our society to develop a complexity unique
amongst animal species. Our manual dexterity allows
us to develop necessary tools and weapons, shelters,
clothes, and means of food storage so that we become
less dependent on, and also more separated from, our
environment. Our enlarged cortical brains allow us to
overcome or suffer temporary imbalances of our Autonomic
Nervous Systems and so we can abuse this basic
mammalian emergency response mechanism in ways
that we now call â€˜workâ€™; and when we are â€˜forcedâ€™ to
sustain this abuse, we call it stress. Our ability to adapt
ourselves to various different and extreme situations
has allowed us to colonise the whole planet in an everincreasing
swarm: some might see this as a plague.
As we moved out of Africa and spread out across
the planet, we separated and differentiated further. We
developed different cultures and sub-species (races). In
time, these later cultural differences were also â€˜embodiedâ€™.
In groups, I sometimes do a guided meditation that
includes this evolutionary development and as a way of
re-connecting with much earlier forms of development:
basic forms that we carry in our embryological and genetic
development.
Cultural Images:
From a cultural perspective, we view our bodies and
other peopleâ€™s bodies from the perspective of what we
see as a â€˜goodâ€™ shape; what is â€˜attractiveâ€™; what markings
or adornments are used; what skills are important; what
clothes are worn; how the person holds and presents
themselves; and what messages these send us about that
personâ€™s body. We also get a whole series of cultural messages
from the way we use our bodies to communicate
(body language), and the ways we make contact, which
also differs from culture to culture.
A Samoan lady is admired (as was the pre-historic
concept of the female deity) for her size, for her female
power, and for her fecundity. The Pre-Raphaelites
changed the image of the desired female form from the
previous Victorian rigid porcelain pantheon (a reaction
to the earlier buxom Rubenesque nudes) to an elegant,
effete femininity. Part of the influence of modern feminism
gives our girl children the possibility to be active
and powerful, like Pocahontas or Laura Croft. The
â€˜Gothâ€™ look (viz: The Rocky Horror Show) became a cult
icon for teenagers a few years ago and the traditional
Hollywood female icon changes over the years from
the days of back-and-white silent movies, through the
voluptuousness of the 40s, contrasted with the prim
1950s social acceptability of Doris Day and Lucille Ball,
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 39
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as Virginia Roberts and Madonna.
This is also very apparent when two cultures clash.
When the â€˜white menâ€™ (actually disconnected Europeans)
met the North American native population: to take
on the â€˜white manâ€™s ways meant to lose touch with
everything that was meaningful (MacLuhan, 1971).
We saw similar disasters, betrayals and genocide when
â€˜disconnectedâ€™ British (uprooted convicts) encountered
the Australian Aboriginal culture: a continuum that had
been largely unchanged for 40,000 years.
What are the cultural images have been influential
on our clients: what images do they relate to, aspire to,
and deny? What impact have these images had on their
process of embodiment? I will come back to this point
again when I talk about self-esteem.
If you are a female psychodynamic psychotherapist,
working in Farsi with a male refugee from Iran who has
been tortured, work with any suggestion of touch is
obviously inappropriate. The immediate work is around
acceptance, dealing with grief and loss, reclaiming a
sense of self, of safety and of health, transference and
the expression of anger. The client reported the pleasure
of coming back into his body (Azari, 2006).
(Reversed) Transitional Objects:
However, when we do lose touch with our bodies,
then we can even start to see our body, the body, as
a â€˜transitional objectâ€™ (Winnicott, 1971). Normally this
type of transitional object is created to protect oneself
against anxiety derived from the loss of the real object,
so that a childâ€™s teddy bear or doll represents the (emotionally
absent) parental loved-one. Maclachlan (2004)
theorises that we â€˜sculptâ€™ our bodies (in adolescence
and adulthood) into reverse transitional objects, so that
our bodies are shaped to become like a film starâ€™s (i.e.
widely admired) or a â€˜Gothâ€™, â€˜Flapperâ€™ or â€˜Punkâ€™ (peergroup
accepted) and it is this that comforts us. Our body
is also a transitional object: but the real reversal is when
we donâ€™t try to change it, when we can accept the body
that we have, and then begin to adapt it towards a more
comfortable or functional â€˜shapeâ€™, which is the process
of re-embodiment.
Narrative Therapy:
Coincidently, also in The Flesh of the Soul (Heller,
2001), Maarten Aalberse speaks well about how Narrative
Therapy can develop into what he calls Choreographic
Therapy â€œsince once again working with felt
gestures is added to the verbal work.â€ (Aalberse, 2001,
p. 118) He also combines this with some â€˜focusingâ€™ work,
or effectively a â€˜mindfulnessâ€™ practice, that â€œrelies less on
linguistic sophistication and invites more of an embodied
process.â€ And, with a client case example:
The way (the) intervention is phrased enables the client
to disidentify himself from (his) loneliness: there is
a â€œyouâ€ that senses and knows there is a lonely place
inside the larger whole of you; the problem is seen as
â€œa part of youâ€ that feels unloveable. The problem both
becomes grounded in bodily experience and is seen as
a facet of a larger self, a self that can sense and contain
this loneliness and much more than that. Both the fact
that this loneliness is perceived as a part of oneâ€™s selfexperience
(even though it may feel as a big part, there is
still an acknowledgement that â€œyou are more than thatâ€)
and the fact that this loneliness is acknowledged as it
is, may lead to significant felt shifts, that enable a more
trusting and complete exploration of the issue at hand.
A deeper and richer meaning can evolve, as more and
more facets emerge from this bodily felt experiencing.
(p. 121-122) (my emphasis in bold)
There is a lot more in this article that shows how different
verbal or narrative psychotherapeutic techniques,
including Almaasâ€™ work, and what Dilts calls â€œsomatic
syntaxâ€, can be applied in a graceful bodily-oriented way
that does not really involve touch but assists the clientâ€™s
re-embodiment.
Body Images:
I mentioned this as a technique in the first article. But it
also affects our process of embodiment. Stanley Keleman
uses â€œSomatoformsâ€ (Keleman, 1987) where the client
draws an illustration of the dynamic forces within their
own body. This is more an image of their proprioceptive
self. It is influenced by many factors, but is the current
present-moment emotional experience that the client has
of their body. It is a representation of their current state
of embodiment and the forces that influence this. This
is the place and direction we are moving from. But what
are we moving towards? I hope that we shall find out.
Health:
Health â€“ as a definition â€“ is a current state of the moment,
and it is a continual process towards something,
and away from illness or ill health: experienced as a
40 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://EIyLVg-NVGaUT1lHC2Y6gWsi8oYhnhUcW3utRi_0CXUÍ§Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”©×‰EÚ&disturbance in our embodiment. What illnesses have we
had, and which ones did we manifest, and how might
we have used these in our life story? This is not a form
of diagnosis (like Louise Hay) but more looking at how
we see our bodies in terms of health or illness. Much
has been written about this theme from various health
perspectives: traditional medicine, social health, spiritual
path work, and complementary medicine.
The bio-psycho-social model is now considered as
the most appropriate one in traditional, conventional
medicinal treatments for illness and chronic pain: this
means that illness and pain are a combination of biological,
psychological and social influences.
But this model still sees us, the affected, as a fairly
passive component in illness: it is something that happens
to us. However, with the concept of embodiment,
we can perhaps consider the interaction of ourselves
with bodily illness in a much more active light. Has our
body â€˜failedâ€™ us by getting ill? Is our illness a result of our
dissociation with our body: what warning signs did we
ignore? Do we perhaps (consciously or unconsciously)
use illness as a hiatus, a respite, or an interruption to
our normal existence or our working life? In what
ways might this particular type of illness that we have
manifested actually work for us? Or â€“ a serious illness
having happened â€“ can we use this as a turning point
in our lives. (Sachs, 1984, 1985)
Self-Esteem:
From a self-esteem perspective â€“ how we see ourselves,
and often how we see ourselves in relation to
others â€“ how we dress, how we present ourselves, our
body stature, our aura â€“ there are very different messages
depending on how we are â€˜embodiedâ€™ and on
our mood. There are so many factors associated with
embodiment involved in self-esteem that it is almost difficult
to differentiate these. I write about some of these in
the previous article on doing effect body psychotherapy
without touch (Young, 2005a): body awareness, vitality,
affect, body language, self-image, expressive forms, etc.
One of my clients said to me recently, â€œI donâ€™t do
mirrors.â€ She was not grossly fat, but only somewhat
over-weight. But she could not look at herself, possibly
because the prevailing cultural images of anorexic pubescent
femininity were causing her to deny her own
self-image. Her embodiment was affected. The depression
that she was experiencing was, in part, related to a
deterioration in her relationship with her husband. She
said she had taken some steps to â€˜correctâ€™ his faults, but
she also became quite confused when I asked why she
might have â€œkept her lip buttonedâ€ for the previous 20
years. It became much clearer when we started to talk
about her self-esteem. She was brought up with some
classically feminine mores: women donâ€™t speak up or
challenge their husbands. We worked firstly on imaging
what the inner image was: what would she look like,
how would she be, if she could step out of this â€˜fat suitâ€™,
if she could reclaim her self-esteem? Could she identify
with â€“ and like â€“ that â€˜innerâ€™ person: in part the person
she once was, but also, in part, the latent potential â€“ the
person she knew somewhere she could be? Then, how
can that inner person, that more real part of her self,
nourish and support herself in more productive ways,
in ways that did not involve comfort eating, or keeping
quiet, or not doing the things she wanted to do, when
and how?
Day-to-Day:
From the individualâ€™s daily perspective of what do we
daily do to our body, what do we eat, how much do we
exercise, how well we sleep, or how we dress, are all
indications of what sort of day-to-day relationship we
have with our bodies. What is the continuum of our
embodiment? This may be a culmination of genetic
components, physiological development, childhood stories,
family habits, self-esteem, traumas, and characterological
formation (Keleman, 1985: Macnaughton,
1997). Embodiment is a continual changing process
throughout our lives. Were we allowed to enjoy the use
of our bodies in climbing trees and playing in the woods
and fields, or were we prevented from doing this by
concrete pavements, notices saying â€œNo Ball Gamesâ€,
or our parental inhibitions to torn and dirty clothes. In
Body-Psychotherapy workshops, I often use a â€˜scriptâ€™ that
takes people through these influences as an introduction
to â€œThe Body that Brought Me Hereâ€.
Continuum:
Where and when and how we can (learn to) dissociate
from our bodies is not so relevant. We will almost
inevitably do so at one point in our lives: maybe from
the experiences of loss of contact with the mother
(Bowlby, 1997; Leidloff, 1975; et al.); maybe during
an illness; maybe as a result of abuse; maybe when
we had to wear shoes and go to school; maybe when
we were traumatized (van der Kolk, 1996; Rothschild,
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 41
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://JGG1BwZ3VN1v9ABgmbfyC-sWGw-J0s_ha3shBuykAisÍ*Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”ª×Xš<ä°VScÞ”©ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://8TYbA0upAY2bhCbIjiQCQ2wu28gc8Y-3JOhJGh37bNIÎ ØyÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://JyjEaqZdjcqgyIAS0eJmgKsmFtWJr4dPoNGb2mYK1g8Í~/Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://a_ilnZPZS38Kb3BkXqp9dFK2KKf7kJeFZCw2tPRUu4EÍ?Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://J2x2ujayNDUInvewHyTz-2R0dSNlOejYpmP2BrBoCtAÍJMDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”«×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://UoncvlXo1UieS_wa1-7hQTbv240jNN2D3d-tXFlBO_kÎ —ÊÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XksRS6cmOnMyN3VcPVKWavpNUmuFBU99XrgMn2xl_GEÍ|oÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://hC6WwJ5cgit4Ugbg0Zh8RzqBCAX9BC2CEMbJk94bBf8ÍñÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://TQRH4JXPzPM2lYw-Q7ndb_w4hP-tKfV_hgz2gr82B0oÍFPDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”¬×‰EÚÒ2000; Ogden, 2006); or in love; or through work (in a
mine, factory or at a desk in front of a computer screen,
when we donâ€™t use our body); or as a way to cope with
stress; or in a spiritual crisis when we (mistakenly) try to
surmount the earthly and material forces of the body; or
when a loved one died and we could not bear the pain
and grief. There are a multitude of ways and means to
become disembodied.
From a karmic perspective, maybe it is our fate â€“ or
choice â€“ for our essential spirit or soul to become embodied
or incarnated (â€˜in the fleshâ€™). We choose an exact
time and place and family in which to be born. This is
so we can learn a particular set of lessons or repent for
a particular mistake in a pervious life. Part of the conditions
or requirements of this school classroom (this
corporal life) is to forget the continuum and to become
disconnected with that part of our Self. This also means
loosing touch with our body. The lesson is then to find
oneâ€™s embodiment back.
I would maintain that, parallel to this process of refinding
oneâ€™s embodiment, is the mature quest for a
greater connection to spirit. With my wife, I do a workshop
entitled â€œThe Spirit of the Bodyâ€. There is not a lot
of touch involved â€“ indeed, the more transpersonal the
work, the less one is inclined to touch.
Right-Brain / Left-Brain
This separation often happens naturally with the
development of the left brain functioning in the 3rd
and 4th year of life. Up to then the child operates
with essentially a right-brain predominance. The social
environment, including eye contact with the mothers
face, the mother-infant attachment, facial expressions,
communication, posture, tone of voice, tempo of movement,
actions and responses (Bowlby, 1969), is essential
for establishing this basis of communication. â€œThe main
thing is a communication between the baby and the
mother in terms of the anatomy and physiology of live
bodies.â€ (Winnicott, 1986)
These are all affect features and are centred in rightbrain
functioning. When the child becomes more capable
of a return communication is when the left hemisphere
starts to come into its own. The child begins to define
itself as separate from its mother and thus as separate
from the basic right-brain functioning. Hopefully this is
on a solid and healthy functioning right-brain basis, but
where there are deficits in this basic functioning, the
individual will have dysfunctional components.
As Allan Schore was telling us so clearly and emphatically
yesterday, the right-brain is not just essentially the
source of non-verbal, inter-subjective, unconscious,
affect-oriented, bodily-based, existential processes. The
right hemisphere represents the unconscious psychic
system described by Freud and this drives all human
emotion, cognition and behaviour. Embodiment is thus
quintessentially a right-brain process. In order to feel our
humanness, which has a social and evolutionary value,
we are performing essentially a right-brain function.
All information from the limbic system must go
through the right-brain imaging empathic experience
before it crosses over to the left brain consciousness.
The symptomatology of neurosis is found in deficits of
right hemisphere functions in â€œmaintaining a coherent,
continuous and unified sense of selfâ€ (Devinsky). Nonconscious
regulatory functions of corporeal-emotional
implicit self are at the core of various developmental
psycho-pathologies, and therefore become forces for
treatment. We now use this perspective in psychotherapy
nowadays with the concept of somatic resonance.
(Shaw, Psychotherapy Research, 2004) â€œSelf-awareness,
empathy, identification with others and more generally
intersubjective processes are largely dependent upon â€¦
right hemisphere resources.â€ (Decety and Chaminade,
Consciousness and Cognition, 2003)
The right-brain hemisphere is also dominant in perceiving
threat and dealing with stress. This is basic ANS
dys-functioning. It is therefore essential to help the
person rebalance their ANS. Whilst this can be done
by techniques involving touch such as Gerda Boyesenâ€™s
Biodynamic Massage: this is not self-regulation. The high
centres of the right-brain need to come back into their
own autonomous balanced and unique functioning.
Since these are more associated with images than words,
art therapy might be more appropriate than cognitive
behavioural work. But there are also benefits to movement
therapy, dance therapy, voice work: all therapies.
Gut Feelings:
As we get more in touch with our bodies, and as we
get more in touch with our feelings, we start to appreciate
what Gerda Boyesen called the â€œEmotional Digestionâ€
and something what Will Davis calls â€˜endo-psychicâ€™
processes that lead towards an Endo-Psychic Self. An
essential part of better embodiment is the switch from
more sympathetic, adrenaline based, stress-motivated,
activity towards more gentle, soft, emotionally-oriented ,
42 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://a_ilnZPZS38Kb3BkXqp9dFK2KKf7kJeFZCw2tPRUu4EÍ?Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”­×‰EÚÏparasympathetic activity. This is an essential re-balancing
of the clientâ€™s ANS. It does not really matter exactly how
we help the client to rebalance their ANS. Gerda claims
that psycho-peristalsis (the digestion of emotions) is the
day-to-day regulator of the personâ€™s body energy.
We will not feel the subtly of â€˜softâ€™ feelings or the
depth of our gut feelings without a better parasympathetic
component. With sympathetic activity, the gut
closes down: we do not digest our lunch when we are
trying to avoid being someone elseâ€™s lunch. Only with
a reasonable switch towards the parasympathetic can
we start to feel more balanced. We may need (ironically)
to do some aerobic exercise first, so that the stress hormones
in our bodies are burnt off, before we can relax
and gently potter around and not be overwhelmed or
jittery, being full of cortico-steroids.
The techniques of how we do this are unimportant.
It is the direction of the process that is important. We
may need to contact our selves better, before we can
make better contact with others. We may need â€˜healthyâ€™
contact with others in order to get a better contact with
ourselves; but this is an aid. The contact with the self
is primary.
Pulsation:
Reich believed that the basic life energy flowed and
pulsated. He talked about â€˜expansionâ€™ and â€˜contractionâ€™
and seemed to prioritise the former over the
latter. Outward movements (out-stokesâ€™) are expressive,
expansive, action-oriented: inward movements
(â€˜in-strokesâ€™) are more introjective, more contemplative,
where more identification happens, and they tend to be
more feeling-based. But out-strokes can be gentle and
in-strokes can be violent or aggressive. We need to find
a healthy balance between rest and activity; movement
and calm; power and empathy; inward flows and outward
flows. This assists the clientâ€™s embodiment. Again,
the techniques can vary: they can be touch-related (like
psycho-peristaltic massage) or they can be not connected
to touch, like Tai Chi.
This embodiment depends on a cyclical process, that
Reich describes, of in-stroke, integration and incorporation,
and then comes an out-stroke. Then the perception
of the reaction of others and feed-back from outside will
start the in-stroke process again: and so forth. We go
back inside so that we can the move out again. The basic
pulsation never goes away: it cannot. It can restricted
and distorted, it can vary, and be facilitated. But the
pulsation only stops with death.
Relationship with Self:
All of these perspectives and processes help the client
form a much better relationship with themselves. They
begin to see themselves as an autonomous being, and
independent person, a grounded and embodied entity.
The relationship with self becomes primary, so that you
can have better relationships with other. We need quiet
times in order to be with our self. We need to relax and
just â€˜beâ€™. We may need times alone, even doing things
alone, just to experience our self. It is self-experience
that brings us back home to ourselves.
The classic split between psyche and soma is a split of
an original primary undifferentiated self. This is, in part,
not just the psyche (mind) relating to the soma (body),
but also the psyche relating with the primary self and
the soma relating with the primary self. This primary self
is what first comes in to existence; what first develops.
Eric Jantsch wrote a physics text about a â€œselforganising
universe.â€ Carl Rogers also talks about selforganising.
We have to have a self to relate to our Self
in better ways. The primary self is primarily concerned
about maintaining its existence. If that is not being currently
threatened, then it will relate to itself. And it is the
relationship with the self, the basic in-stroke that then
helps us to relate better with the outside. The dance of
relationship starts.
However the primary relationship is with the Self, or
the genetic DNA-based blueprint of the self. Thomas
Moore talks about the â€œacornâ€ of the soul. External
experiences either hinder or facilitate the development
of this potential. We become thwarted or facilitated. We
like or dislike our relationship with our Self: how much
we are close or far from this blueprint of the Self. Then
we ether grow as a distortion or we can grow towards
this potential. We cannot relate primarily to anything
other than this internal blueprint: that is the Self that
relates to others.
RE-EMBODIMENT
The Therapeutic Alliance:
In body psychotherapy, we are relatively familiar with
the concept of somatic transference. Several different
perspectives in psychotherapy are now beginning to
accept this on a much wider level and as a significant
factor in the therapeutic relationship. A recent book, â€˜The
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 43
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â€œIn order to capture the essence of the experience of
the therapistâ€™s body in the therapeutic encounter I have
coined the term psychotherapist embodimentâ€™. This is
a complex subject and I have tried to tackle the issue
of mind-body dualism which is inherent in our western
society. In a sense embodiment is an attempt to address
this mind-body dualism and introduce a holistic method
for viewing the therapeutic relationship â€“ or put another
way, my research has from a clinical theoretical point of
view tried to collapse the mind-body dualism present
within psychotherapy culture. I am aware, too, that an
inextricable aspect of this work has been the necessity to
look at language and the types of interpretation we as
therapists use to describe the variety of physical reactions
we feel while working within the therapeutic relationship.
This has been challenging for me and I suspect for
the reader. My solution to this particular language problem
has been to advocate the incorporation of narrative
methods into the therapeutic relationship. This at least
allows for psychotherapist embodiment to become an
overt part of the relationship, and not become hidden in
the murky waters of countertransference, a term which I
do not think captures the essence of psychotherapeutic
embodiment. (Shaw, 2003, 156)
Allan Schore spoke well about the affect involved in,
and the effectiveness of, the therapeutic alliance: â€œIt
does not in and of itself represent an intervention or
technique; rather it is the vehicle within which therapeutic
progression is facilitated â€“ a growth-facilitating
environment.â€ (Lisbon, Biosynthesis Congress, 2006)
Over half of the beneficial effects of psychotherapy
are linked to the quality of the therapeutic alliance. It
accounts for more of the variance between the treatments
than any other factor. The primary component of
the alliance is the emotional bond between the patient
and the therapist. This is a psycho-biological bond: it is
an empathy. It has nothing to do with touch: it has everything
to do with presence. Touch, or the wrong sort of
touch, may very well disturb this, rather than enhancing
it. Can you take this risk? Are you sure? How about
establishing an alliance first â€“ and then seeing if touch
is appropriate?
The therapistâ€™s tone and volume of voice, their patterns
and speed of verbal communication, and eye contact
also contain a multitude of elements of subliminal
communication. The client reads these â€“ all the time.
These are subliminal, moment-to-moment, background,
subconscious, intuitive, empathic, implicit, listening and
receptive. We can help the client (or patient) to re-pattern
their right-brain hemisphere using the therapeutic contact.
This is also the process of embodiment, or perhaps
(more accurately) re-embodiment. The clientâ€™s right-brain
listens to the therapistâ€™s right-brain â€“ and heals. The
relational unconscious is where one unconscious mind
communicates with another unconscious mind. (Schore,
2006) The quality of the interaction is what is quintessentially
important.
This is not a process whether the skills or techniques of
the (body) therapist change the clientâ€™s awareness, their
emotions, and thus their relationship with themselves.
This is an interventionist perspective. I am not saying that
sometimes interventions are not justified: they are â€“ but
they should be the exception rather than the rule. The
relationship is more effective and it allows the client to
develop their own path or heal their own aspects.
Furthermore, instead of having a particular model of
wholeness: a check-list with which we can assess our
clientâ€™s progress towards healing â€“ or embodiment, or
a muscle-tone type of diagnostic so that we can assess
how well the body scores, I want to suggest to the client
a new relationship with their body: perhaps a less
conscious one.
It is not pre-conscious; it is more subconscious. Thomas
Moore speaks about the â€œacorn of the soulâ€: the
sense the acorn has of its potential to grow into an oak
tree. Somewhere deep within us there is that â€˜knowledgeâ€™
of our potential. We can only find that potential
through a process of embodiment â€“ and more than
embodiment. But that potential was denied us, often
through forces of circumstance, often both as clients
and therapists, and it is a long, hard journey to re-find
it. Scott Peck (1986) calls this â€œThe Road Less Travelledâ€.
We are still trying to find it again â€“ and so are our clients.
We need to feel this in ourselves, in our bodies,
so that they can resonate with this, and we need â€“ as
therapists â€“ to have this sort of consciousness in order
for the client to have this consciousness. If we deny this
unknown potential in them, as well as in ourselves, then
we are repeating the process of, or the experience of,
becoming dis-embodied.
Other Influences:
From the perspective of health studies and health
economics, we are concerned as to what illnesses are
prevalent in which sections of society and what are
44 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://pijk1mRaPk7OO611dj8q6P5759mmXpLp4itEFLWs7D0ÍûÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”±×‰EÚlegitimate ways to treat these. This is a form of medicosocial
dis-embodiment. The amounts spent each week
on armaments, would provide clean water, feed, house
and educate the millions of people without these basic
necessities: this is a form of socio-economic disembodiment,
and often disenfranchisement as well.
From a psychosocial perspective (as has been mentioned)
we are concerned with how we, as a society, see
our bodies and what do we do to them. Do we support
our children to have their lips or belly buttons pierced
or their bodies tattooed? Do we support our daughters
to have Victorian-style wasp-waists held in with stays,
or our sons to have an upright military iron-man type of
body-stature, or to slouch on street corners in â€˜hoodiesâ€™
and baggy trousers with untied over-sized shoes? Do
we feed our children a diet that makes them obese?
Do we give them processed foods when we know that
these contain excess sugar, salt and food-colourings?
From illusions and images (perpetuated by â€˜disembodiedâ€™
deities or film stars), are we concerned that
magazines spew forth epithets and judgements about
whether they are pregnant, spotty, over-weight or slimming?
And do we buy or read such stuff?
From the perspective of new medical treatments like
contact lenses, liposuction, prosthetics, implants, and
stem cell research, are we concerned that the â€˜purityâ€™ of
our original body is compromised, or delighted because
our body deficiencies can now be enhanced.
What do we communicate â€“ verbally or non-verbally
to our clients? How do we help them with their process
of embodiment if we are encouraging them to exercise
their way out of depression, and we weigh 100 kilos
(220 lbs)? â€“ as I do!
From consumer economics and the sale of body
products, do you buy Lâ€™Oreal products because â€œYouâ€™re
worth itâ€ but only if you buy those products, or do
you feel that â€œYou are worth itâ€ without the product.
Enhanced self-esteem is an essential component to the
clientâ€™s process of re-embodiment.
From the debate now between medical ethics and
health care economics, where the complexities of saving
life and giving intensive care to a 65-year old, obese, diabetic
smoker are compared with the same facilities being
given to a healthy 24-year old, non-smoker; post-code
availability of treatments; or whether we are compromising
the Hippocratic Oath by assisting someone in a
chronic terminal illness towards a more pain-free death,
we need to be clear about what we mean by various
aspects of any form of embodiment.
From an environmental perspective, with increasing
occupational health & safety legislation; acceptable limits
of chemicals; genetically modified crops; environmental
pollution; global warming; or a pandemic arising from
bird flu arising from intense farming practices to fulfil
peopleâ€™s desire for cheap, unhealthy food, we need to
take a personal and possibly even professional stance â€“
or we may risk losing our life or lives of our loved one,
or our clients.
As a part of their process of â€˜embodimentâ€™ do we
support, or advise, our clients to eat only organic food,
not to fly on a aeroplane, or join GreenPeace. Do we
encourage them to consult a trade union that supports
legal or political action against their employers who
are forcing them to work in buildings that are â€˜sickâ€™, in
restrictive uniforms, in noisy and dirty factories, or in
ways that give them stress â€“ all in the name of profit.
How do our perspectives on our clientâ€™s struggle to embodiment
affect our advice and interventions and our
professional ethics?
From legal perspectives of â€˜habeus corpusâ€™, incarceration,
torture, enforced sterilisation, and whether we support
the death penalty, we can get an intellectual sense
of what it is to have an autonomous and free body, and
support for our right to have one. How do we encourage
this perspective in our clients, especially if we and
they are in a culture that seems to say one thing and do
another (viz: Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib).
From the field of politics, where decisions on health
care, international aid, retirement age, pension funds,
and so forth affect all pf our lives â€“ and our bodies â€“
considerably, we need to take a position and perhaps
even vote â€“ with our voices, our bodies (in which party
we support), or our feet?
And from studies of collective behaviour (population
statistics) where the â€˜individualâ€™ differences form a
coherent and understandable â€˜bodyâ€™, do we gasp with
astonishment if someone can predict whether we will
do this or that; buy this or that; move here or there; and
predict when we might die â€“ the list of influences on our
process of embodiment is almost endless.
Regression or Progression:
So where does this all take us? As we assist our clients
towards greater embodiment â€“ with or without the use
of touch â€“ let us be aware of which direction we are helping
them in. Do we help them to revert to a wonderful,
pre-natal or pre-conscious state of embodiment, when
we â€“ as a child â€“ experienced that ineffable lightness of
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 45
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://yISryTI-OLvYDF_z8W9YqS_BdXTj7v-xgcAQO6vOONgÍ‰Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”²×Xš<ä°VScÞ”±ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://d6JuTZZfSJ-0f96srHuR7Rc2JU0hptwo1OXuL7StmtsÎ €ÙÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://dbaLc2pMmDIYwTgnHJZzjpAtiiBACeMwNoXZ90XL8Q0Íi(Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YYRNV4DHFL2zCavY16nZqnvbSRpWyokHxUaYNw3GdbcÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://0OSo7dLJLWUwPcQUKjBYnlINS3BsudmOEAhukKy10qYÍ˜‘PÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”³×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://d4oqVmtssA6QNlQW89gHCSPR9kf1JJ5J8cpQb9DthL8Î âáÍ`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://LHhV8v5Yboa_-Sf3fhEIZDaBF68gVmd61FbgOuUvozoÍ^?Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://EpzojPyIEnZh5o1H_QPA6UYtsHH-eobW8He27bAxdFQÍ Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://DBUYsEONMsuF_DUcU4rRwBb-COTNVQ_gIvPBpLV_UIIÎ %&DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”´’× ×XšBä°VScÞ• ÍtÍ8Ì¢9×H¾http://www.courtenay-young.com××Ðˆ× ×XšBä°VScÞ• Í8Í—ÌÁ9×H¾http://www.courtenay-young.com××Ðˆ×‰EÚnbeing? This is relatively easy: it is helping them towards
(often) a known, remembered, experienced or glimpsed
place. Even if they did not experience it as a child, it is
â€˜knownâ€™ in the sense of this is what should have happened:
we have the seed, acorn or kernel of existential
experience in our soul; we have a sense of what life
should have been. Yet, one can argue â€“ and I do â€“ that
this is essentially a regressive experience.
What I would like to do is to help my clients towards
is a progressive experience â€“ but it is, as yet, an unexperienced
and unknown place. It is the position that
accepts that the Cartesian split has happened, that the
client has lost contact â€“ a bit or a lot â€“ with their sense of
self, their body â€“ and that the client is now trying to move
forward to a new balance, a new embodiment. They are
not re-finding embodiment again; but re-embodying
themselves into a new balance or reorganisation that will
take them forward. I would therefore like to think that
this is a progressive development that hopefully extends
long after they stop having therapy and forms the basis
for the rest of their life. So I hope that they can continue
to enjoy their journey of re-embodiment.
This is your body,
your greatest gift,
pregnant with wisdom you do not hear,
grief you thought was forgotten,
and joy you have never known.
Body work is soul work.
Imagination is the bridge
between body and soul.
Marion Woodman
REFERENCES
Aalberse, M. (2001) Graceful Means: Felt Gestures and Choreographic
Therapy. In Heller, M. (ed) The Flesh of the Soul: The body we work
with, pp 101-132.
Azari, S.A. (2006) Working with Refugees: a personal experience.
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp 54-61.
Bowlby, J. (1997) Attachment & Loss. London: Pimlico.
EABP Bibliography (2006) The EABP Bibliography of Body-Psychotherapy,
v.2.1 on CD-ROM. Amsterdam: EABP.
Edelman, G.M. (2002) From brain dynamics to consciousness: how
matter becomes imagination. Paper presented at 23rd Jean Piaget
Society Conference: The Embodied Mind and Consciousness: Developmental
perspectives, Philadelphia, 6-8 June.
Heller, M. (ed) (2001) The Flesh of the Soul: The body we work with.
Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.
Keleman, S. (1985) Emotional anatomy. Berkeley: Center Press.
Liedloff, J. (1975) The continuum concept. London: Duckworth.
MacLachlan, M. (2004) Embodiment: Clinical, critical and cultural
perspectives on health & illness. Maidenhead, Open University
Press (McGraw-Hill Education).
Courtenay Young has been Vice-President, (2001-2002)
and President of EABP (2002-2006). He is a fully accredited
and registered Psychotherapist with around 25 years
of professional experience. He works in several different
modalities, has experience in a number of different clinical
settings, and with a wide range of different client groups.
He is actively involved in several professional associations
in psychotherapy, leads workshops internationally, and has
written several articles, chapters and books on psychotherapy,
as well as writing poetry. His various other articles
about Body Psychotherapy can be accessed through his
website: www.courtenay-young.com.
Macnaughton, I. (ed.) (1997) Embodying the mind & minding the
body. Vancouver, Integral.
Marlock, G. & Weiss, H. (2001) In search of the embodied self. In Heller,
M. (ed) The Flesh of the Soul: The body we work with, pp 133-152
McLuhan, T.C. (ed.) (1971) Touch the earth: A self-portrait of Indian
existence. New York: Promontory.
Morgan, E. (1990) The scars of evolution. London: Souvenir.
Ogden, P., Minton, K. & Pain, C. (2006) Trauma and the Body: A sensorimotor
approach to psychotherapy. New York: Norton.
Rothschild B. (2000) The body remembers: The psychophysiology of
trauma and trauma treatment. New York: Norton.
Sachs, O. (1984) A leg to stand on. London: Picador.
Sachs, O. (1985) The man who mistook his wife for a hat. London:
Picador.
Shaw, R. (2003) The embodied psychotherapist: The therapistâ€™s body
story. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.
Van der Kolk , B.A., MacFarlane, A.C. & WEisaeth, L. (eds) (1996)
Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind,
body, and society. New York: Guilford Press.
Winnicott, D.W. (1971) Transitional objects and transitional phenomena,
in D.W. Winnicott (ed.) Playing and Reality. London: Tavistock.
Young, C. (2005a) Doing effective body psychotherapy without touch.
Energy & Character: The international journal of Biosynthesis,
Vol 34, Sept.
Young, C. (2005b) A physiological theory of evolution. Unpublished;
draft available on www.courtenay-young.com.
Young, C. (2006) One hundred and fifty years on: The history, significance
and scope of body psychotherapy today. Body, Movement
and Dance in Psychotherapy: AN international journal for theory,
research and practice. Vol 1. No 1.
Profile of the author
46 Courtenay Young Doing Effective Body Psychotherapy without Touch: Part II: The Process of Re-embodiment
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YYRNV4DHFL2zCavY16nZqnvbSRpWyokHxUaYNw3GdbcÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”µ×‰EÚ¥Feminity, Gender and Essence
in Body-Psychotherapy
Part I: Reflections on theory, clinical and
teaching experience
by Liliana Acero
Summary
T
he present article (Part I and II)
mainly argues that, the absence of
a clear use of Gender Theory within
psychology has biased theoretical
formulations , research results and practice, even
within neoreichian psychotherapy approaches. It
also argues that, given the type of gender alienation
found in contemporary Occidental societies,
as trainers, students and graduates, it is crucial
to focus on working with essence when dealing
with sexuality and sexual identity, both in our
personal work, as well as, with the people that
seek our help and knowledge. Part I, will first
present a very brief critical review of how women
and female sexuality have been dealt within and
outside neoreichian psychotherapy. Then, some
aspects of contemporary psycho logy views on
these topics will be outlined, to conclude with
a reference to and examples on Latin American
cultural and social research on womenÂ´ s social
behaviour.
Part II will explore the contributions made by
The Bride of Wind, Oskar Kokoschka, 1914
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 47
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://EpzojPyIEnZh5o1H_QPA6UYtsHH-eobW8He27bAxdFQÍ Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš<ä°VScÞ”¶×Xš<ä°VScÞ”µÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://nsAMmiKolYXVMU2sZ2f_6xEAHuqI-BaauvItCkgGgMMÎ “Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://k_p6n3OzEt26qhBN6UZPaMStE1Yxlidym1GPy5l92W4Í€¡Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://WSXbD2uKRib6MQDKxiR0qRKX15UcGLq0LTFSCBBtjO0ÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://JLq2inm4yanp8b3PjMakHbnhQ_8QYvujIhfNsGeaQIIÍIÏDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”·×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://qXLE9DyTFEOtHJfOD16gADnV9HL81BHb-8MUGtZgvG4Î “ Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://wQOj8P1PTpg3lzE80WwWw65BIJ0GWKbDA36-adJeCi8Í…ãÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CwuqXt4nVqafWmMU1TUa4Se0aedFqMJaX9jokmTZWbEÍxÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://s6w8TIzb7pMUDvy04ensQApdWlCJ-BKWgv0SRB_Bz6sÍD¿DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¸×‰EÚÅBiosynthesis to the theme, as well as, to the definition of
essence. The role played by the feminine principle within
the healing arts, in reconnecting us to essence, will then
be discussed and illustrated through examples from Latin
American popular healing practices. The article concludes
with a note on healthy adult relationship, as a privileged
realm for the development of essence in our lives. It also
includes a poem I wrote to my father as a farewell in
his recent transition, to honour the important part he
played in the definition of my identity, subjectivity and
professional choices.
PART I
Introduction
My motivation to explore the relationship between
femininity and essence was awoken, as is frequently
the case, by a number of professional and personal
insights. First of all, by an array of sociological observations,
mainly: the global social devastation caused by
neoliberal economic policies and their recent negative
effects upon the lives of Latin American working parents
and consequently, on the education of their children. As
direct or indirect results of these policies: longer working
hours, lower wages and income, a rise in unemployment
levels, the growth of one-headed households and adolescent
pregnancies, the still insufficient, expensive and
erratic diffusion of contraceptive methods, the revival of
traditional sexual stereotypes among influential social
groups and the decrease in the number of extended
families. This type of families, through offering emotional
and economic support, used to partially compensate
for increasing poverty levels. Individualism and poverty
have substantively hindered the health and well-being of
these populations and often reinforced gender patterns.
Second, it is true that traditional gender roles have
become more flexible in the last four to five decades.
Women have conquered greater economic independence
and developed more psychological assertiveness,
mass media discourses on body and self-determination
are widespread, legislation increasingly reflects free
choice in marriage, divorce and care-giving and, though
racial, ethnic and sexual minorities are still persecuted or
discriminated, there is better social â€˜toleranceâ€™ for different
sexual choices and living arrangements. However,
we are still far from implementing ReichÂ´s notions of
social equality (2), that could promote healthy personal
relationships and contribute towards orgasmic potency,
or towards a fuller expression of our essential qualities
in our daily existence.
Third, in my clinical practice and in the experience
gained as Trainer in various neoreichian approaches (3)
during the last 30 years, I have observed a significant
increase in the number of clients and students with
secondary narcissistic traits, in the acuteness of their
problems and their resistance to treatment and/or to
substantial change. Other contemporary psychological
modalities report similar experiences. These partly reflect
the effects of ongoing social and gender trends upon
the lives of both sexes.
A short, though relevant, history
Gender inequality is inscribed in our minds and bodies
even when we believe in the need for change. Gendershaping
is multiply determined: sexual difference is originally
biological but gender categories, to explain these
differences, are socially and culturally built to assure and
enforce the dominance of the male over the female sex.
A very brief history will show how selected psychological
theories attempted to explain identity shaping and, in
so doing, contradictorily reproduced gender patterns.
Freud Â´s (1905; 1931; 1933) theory on sexual identity
considers all children as born bisexual, physically androgenous
and, with a complex mental combination of
masculine or active characteristics and female or receptive
ones. Towards the Oedipal genital phase, the child
becomes gradually more conscious of her/his genital
feelings and associated fantasies.
At present, it is widely accepted that Freud mainly
wrote about the male childÂ´ s experience. He considered
the father Â´s castration threats, as the main reason for the
childÂ´ s willingness to postpone the sexual possession of
women till adulthood. Thus, boys sublimate their own
incestuous desires through identification with paternal
power and male cultural privilege. When the Oedipal
complex is not â€˜resolvedâ€™, misogyny becomes the main
expression of masculine castration anxiety.
Freud was indecisive and contradictory in his approach
to female sexuality. Girls were seen as having to
make three renunciations to be able to become heterosexual
women: a) to their first love- object: their mothers;
b) to their active sexual drives towards their father.
(Their aggression becomes internalized; passivity towards
their father develops, and they loose part of their sexual
desire) ; c) at puberty, to their interest in their clitoris,
replaced by that in their vagina. Women- contrary to
men- were considered as incapable of identification with
male authority. Penis envy would develop during this
process, unless they married and were able to have â€˜a
penis-babyâ€™, to whom their love would be then mainly
transferred.
When opposed by his female colleagues, Freud recognized
the intensity of early mother/ daughter bonding.
He also began to argue that the roots of penis-envy were
found in the â€˜inevitable narcissistic woundsâ€™ brought
about by early feeding, that would draw daughters
48 Liliana Acero Feminity, Gender and Essence in Body-Psychotherapy Part I: Reflections on theory, clinical and teaching experience
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://WSXbD2uKRib6MQDKxiR0qRKX15UcGLq0LTFSCBBtjO0ÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¹×‰EÚ(closer to their fathers. Girls were seen as developing
a physical sense of inferiority, due to their initial representation
of the male penis, as acquired through peer
games or otherwise. For Freud, girls were attracted to
their fathers in search for a penis, that would make them
similar to them. And only when they realized that they
were not going to be males, they would â€˜accept the
second best optionâ€™, that of femininity . Girls would then
feel heterosexual desire and hope to be â€˜their fathersÂ´
little girlsâ€™. However, towards the end of his life, Freud
recognized that female sexuality remained as much a
mystery to him as to any other man. And he encouraged
female analysts to develop his ideas further.
During the suffrage movement of the 1920s, a first
debate on female sexuality took place within the psychoanalytic
movement. One of the most important
opponents of Freud was Karen Horney (1924). She
accused him of being biased towards men and of creating
a theory that devalued women. One of her main
assumptions was that each sex had something unique
that provoked envy in the opposite sex. Womb envy was
seen as more significant and pervasive than penis envy.
Men attempted to come to terms with their secondary
role in procreation and, unconsciously compensated
for it, developing womb envy. Horney also argued that
women were born with an innate tendency towards
heterosexuality. She disagreed with two aspects of
Freudian theory: a) that girls had no knowledge of their
vagina, and; b) that they necessarily had to go through a
phallic masculine developmental phase. She considered
that girls did not feel castrated. Horney regarded penis
envy as a transitory process, of limited importance, to
which girls would only regress if they did not recognize
their own sexual desire. Her theories were supported by
other influential psychoanalysts like, Ernest Jones (1927;
1935), Melanie Klein (1928;1957) and Wilhelm Reich
(1942; 1949) himself.
PenisÂ´ castration, according to Klein, was not the main
root of girlsÂ´ deeper anxieties. These were caused by their
fantasies and/or experiences of potential damage to the
insides of their bodies, to their female organs. Mothers
could eventually inflict such wounds, in revenge for their
daughtersÂ´ envy of the maternal body, principally of the
breasts. They could thus be capable of destroying their
daughtersÂ´ capacity to bear children in the future. As
a pioneer of Object Relations Theory, she substantively
influenced the development of a â€˜Mother-Centred Psychoanalysisâ€™.
British
Object Relations authors and American Ego
Psychologists have pursued further these early theoretical
developments. Women have been portrayed as having
enormous emotional power, based on: the reproduction
of the human species and childrenÂ´ s encompassing
maternal dependency during early life. Women are seen
as having greater impact on childrenÂ´ s psychic life than
men, in spite of the prevalent stronger male economic
and political power.
However, womenÂ´ s dominant emotional role during
childhood should also be attributed to an engendered
social division of labour, i.e. as it originates from the way
gender is socially structured. Cultural patriarchy largely
accounts for the role assigned to females as â€˜main gatekeepersâ€™
of children Â´s upbringing. This includes: a) an
overall secondary social role for women in â€˜rational and
efficientâ€™ societies; b) social and cultural gender constructs
that denigrate the â€˜feminineâ€™ (feeling, emotions,
internal life) and, in so doing, hinder the development
of healthy female and masculine attributes for both
genders.
Reich, in a number of ways, supported Karen HorneyÂ´
s theoretical reframing. But his theory also represented
a leap forward. He showed that society repressed not
only genital (4), but also pre-genital sexuality, leaving
adults vulnerable to genital sexual insatisfaction and
/or to regression to forms of pre-genital sexuality. In
the â€œFunction of Orgasmâ€(1942 ), he showed that no
orgasm could be considered complete, unless all the
body participated through voluntary and involuntary
movements.
Reich defined healthy female roles in revolutionary
terms for his time. And these permeated his social work
and psychological thinking, though he did not particularly
discuss female sexuality in itself. In his Sex-Pol writings
(1935) and his social hygiene clinics, he defended equality
between the sexes and the economic independence
of women, their right to sexual satisfaction, enduring
love relationships and natural versus compulsory families.
He strongly believed that women had to develop their
own careers, in order to sever the link between love and
economic necessity. Already at the end of the 1920â€™s, he
discussed a variety of patriarchal attitudes that women
had to endure: double sexual standards, the notion that
women were naturally sexually passive, tolerance of
male infidelity and education towards male supremacy
with female connivance. His position on divorced parentsâ€™
childrearing practices was, however, somewhat
contradictory: at times, supporting State participation in
childrearing; at other, that of community organizations.
From ReichÂ´ s therapeutic work, there are a number
of lessons to draw for gender change: a) receptive traits
were given equal value to active ones, in the development
of orgasmic potency; b) harmony between both
these sides in an individual, was considered a precondition
for the sexual satisfaction of both women and men;
c) cultural gender inequalities had to be radically transformed
for individuals to obtain and maintain pleasure
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 49
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CwuqXt4nVqafWmMU1TUa4Se0aedFqMJaX9jokmTZWbEÍxÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”º×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¹ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_hnQzweMafEW2zHxZjWQehm_QBT8tP2s4fqDg2j-paoÎ u·Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://h2wiSiXXi45U7a68BMdELWj-GJmdnOmGADLpzPyk-CAÍ€ÙÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://5i0hnazjo-qNaAQtciMJ47kqaxiLtkix3mTR1TM062oÍ}Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ad963Va8LkwF5jOJnjEi3xnl5x2s4Tkp5qh_R2Hv7i4ÍS.DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”»×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://nmxe4JQ3iUfcTvH4dIgpbbZ-uRYl-MEtsq5dXIveJOsÎ ÜÆÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://iW1C8EyosbxpVTjlks5TZWkcU9OLWnd6K9ADVu7SSl8Í‡'Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://tA27pf5dvntc28dHRsltHPCTWB0RRvhaKoocUGNlDOcÍ‘Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ja3mKzKbYvk7VHIgJ4ocCJeHUO9IJyKTpT9qpLbJu7UÍJÐDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¼×‰EÚfand health.
In his early writings, Reich Â´s proposed way to reach
these goals was educational in practice and revolutionary
in theory. In his later writings, he placed a greater emphasis
upon human fear of freedom and responsibility:
as a privileged source of neurotic destruction of the life
force, including sexuality. He also designed and actively
carried out programmes to support healthy living among
teachers, nurses and mothers, who sustain, raise and
educate future generations. However, ReichÂ´ s approach
put too many demands upon women, while at the same
time, failed to articulate a consistent critique of gender
relations that would support his many endeavours to
support females.
Jung (1921; 1933; 1934-1954) enriched the debate,
when he developed the concept of animus ( in females)
and anima ( in males). These were considered sexual
components within mind and body, unconsciously acting
in most people. Women would psychosomatically carry
within them a small, rigid and primitive man; and men,
an ambivalent, sensual and inferior woman. If these
components were not consciously worked through,
both sexes would display a primitive inferiority quality.
He thought that a strong attraction between the sexes
was only possible, if there was also an antagonistic force
of a similar strength: a primitive sense of guilt, a â€˜state
of destructive antagonismâ€™, similar to the one found between
Adam and Eve. Men could not tolerate a second
class masculinity in women, and similarly, women could
not tolerate a dubious femininity in men.
Jung explained these trends, as if they pertained
to absolute or general humanity, â€˜flowingâ€™ within the
â€˜collective unconsciousâ€™. He presented them as unconditioned
by gender. He showed this type of duality was
reflected within myths, fairy tales and archetypes, where
masculine and feminine natures are dealt with separately,
â€˜in a state of non-relationshipâ€™. More precisely, they
intend to be harmonically reunited within these genres.
Questions to be asked to Jungian theory, include: Which
is the original cause of this separation or duality and, of
the â€˜bi-polarity of the chaoticâ€™, that is ultimately united?
Is this an immanent quality of Nature? How and through
which processes does separation into two antagonistic
principles take place? How does duality and polarity
interrelate with gender? (5)
For Jung, individuation and self-realization impulses
are initially an unconscious drive within us, a form of human
authenticity or sincerity. Imposed to us by Nature or
Destiny, people are to consciously understand the meaning
of this â€˜ obscure driveâ€™. Instinct, in its animal form,
demands its own sacrifice to be able to express itself
through human acts and language. This process gradually
transforms â€˜antagonism into polarityâ€™: a higher state
that allows for real relationship, one that does not abuse
any of the sexes. For Jung, behind anima and animus,
there is a personality realm and an image of the Divine.
The interplay between both, leads the development of
consciousness itself- propelled by Nature- towards the
realization of oneÂ´ s personality. However, he does not
discuss the social constructs that shape the manifestation
of anima and animus in everyday life.
Contemporary female Jungian analyst Marie-Louise
Von Franz (1990,p. 172), develops these concepts further,
somewhat relating them to gender difference. She
states women tend to originally exteriorize the development
of their masculine side in arrogant, inadequate
and powerful ways, compensating for their distorted
feminine side. Were men drawn to antagonism by
this behaviour, they will reinforce their own distorted
side or â€˜perverse animaâ€™. Thus, genuine love between
them would become impossible. She describes what
she regards as a central problem of today Â´s youth, the
â€˜grey zone between oppositesâ€™: whereby men reinforce
women Â´s masculinity through possession of their animus,
and women feminize men through possession of
their anima. Social symptoms of drug-abuse and open
displays of chaotic emotions, reflect current trends in â€˜
the surfacing of the Unconsciousâ€™. Traditional forms of
consciousness need to fade out, to allow the development
of a new order.
Differentiation trends are presented as immanent to
human nature within most Jungian theories. The psyche
is seen as manifesting and being transformed by forces
that transcend the social, and penetrate â€˜ all timesâ€™ in an
undifferentiated manner. Once again, no explanation is
offered about historical conditioning in the behavioural
choices made by each gender, or about the gradual social
processes that shape identity and subjectivity.
Contemporary Views on Female
Sexuality
Mother and Father Centred Psychology
and Gender
Current psychological thinking is still influenced by
these diverse, though unresolved, ways of dealing
with the feminine and the masculine. However, a long
road was traveled, during the last century, to lay the
foundations for a more comprehensive contemporary
understanding. The 1920sâ€™ and 1930sâ€™ debates were
renewed in the 1960sâ€™, when feminism generated a new
wave of interest in female psychology.
On the one hand, early feminists were divided in
their views on sexual identity, with Horney being usually
considered more radical than Freud. They disagreed on
50 Liliana Acero Feminity, Gender and Essence in Body-Psychotherapy Part I: Reflections on theory, clinical and teaching experience
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://5i0hnazjo-qNaAQtciMJ47kqaxiLtkix3mTR1TM062oÍ}Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”½×‰EÚ®various points: 1) whether women and men are born
heterosexual or are, thus shaped, by culture; 2) in the
potential of psychoanalysis to facilitate change, specially
among women, and; 3) on the influence of the sex of
the psychotherapist upon transference processes. The
writings of pioneering feminists like Juliet Mitchell (1974)
and radical ones, such as Kate Millet (1975) , also positioned
the debate on female sexuality within critical
Gender Theory, and went beyond the sole description
of behavioural dichotomies between the sexes.
On the other hand, in the 1970Â´s, new theoretical developments
on the role of envy and motherhood permeated
British Psychoanalysis and American Ego Psychology,
following the work of Winnicott (1957; 1964; 1971)
and Bowlby (1969; 1973; 1980), among others. Winnicott,
contrary to Klein, showed that envy is not innate.
He regarded it as one of many of the potential childrenÂ´
s reactions to the environment, given repetitive experiences
of pain, loss and lack. The envious child could be
showing a behaviour similar to that of her/his parents.
(Various other congenital traits- physical/ psychological,
masculine/feminine, maternal/paternal- were considered
also central to the childÂ´ s development of her/his sexual
identity). If human beings confronted and accepted
early dependency feelings, they would have less of a
need to â€˜avenge themâ€™, through developing negative
cultural habits and political exclusion.
A whole new approach to psychology developed
around Winnicottâ€™ s writings. It focused upon female
power over psychic life and, largely ignored male social
and financial power. Stoller (1975), for example,
arguing against this trend, stated that, as most men do
not sufficiently identify with their mothers during differentiation,
they tend to have a more rigid and fragile
sexual identity than women. Their identity can only be
â€˜apparently strengthenedâ€™ by the social reproduction of
traditional male value supremacy.
Early mother/child bonding theories have been more
recently expanded, empirically tested and reformulated,
through the latest and very valuable research on attachment,
attunement and the interpersonal by authors such
as, Stern (1990; 2000; 2004), Trevarthen (2001a; 2001b
), Downing (2000) and Schore (2000; 2001; 2003) . Their
approach has proved extremely useful to refocus on the
substantial impacts of early developmental processes
and intersubjectivity on children and adult mental health
and provide empirical data. But it does not explicitly or
predominantly address difference in behaviour per sex,
and, less so, as shaped by social and gender conditioning.
Unfortunately, gender constructs or â€˜gender blindnessâ€™
tends to permeate research designs, methodologies and
data interpretation, a situation that can distort or bias
research results and conclusions.
Since the 1980s , there has also been a renewal of
debates on the Father Figure, mainly following the work
of Lacan Â´s female students and critics. Lacan (1977;
1985) was critical of contemporary theoretical trends
that emphasized the mother-child relationship. First, he
considered that the Oedipal stage was the central moment
of psychic structuring. Second, he thought that
boys were idealized by mothers, contrary to girls, due to
the latterÂ´ s lack of penises. Also, mothers idealized their
boyÂ´ s desire to become their unique and most desired
object: their phallus. He showed how patriarchal laws
are reproduced in the Unconscious, through identification
with a symbolic order, rather than with the father
figure. His focus in psychotherapy was the patientÂ´ s
need to confront and accept â€˜unavoidable castration
and lackâ€™, in order to overcome the narcissistic position
of early mother-child bonding. Adult sexual and love life
were considered necessarily unsatisfactory, as loved ones
are regarded as mere substitutes of the lost â€˜first loveâ€™.
Lacan differentiated biology from psychoanalysis, the
penis from the phallus, more than Freud had done, showing
how the unconscious is shaped through the language
of the Other. Neither sex possesses the desired phallus:
the desire to posses it (as in the boy); the desire to be it
( as in the girl). Lacan â€˜s writings reflect father idealization
and mother devaluation, as they predominate in
contemporary society. However, he proposes psychic
liberation through â€˜an impersonal paternal lawâ€™. But
this Law itself actual stems from specific gender positions
within a culture dominated by men and male principles.
Irigiray, (1977) discusses Lacan from a feminist psychoanalytic
perspective. She shows how the author only
recognized male desire and saw all desire as masculine.
Contrary to some other feminist authors, she emphasizes
not equality and equity but sexual difference, and
argues for the creation of a female symbolic order to
counteract the omnipresence of male social images.
Symbolic language should be recreated between mother
and daughter, as she considers that, currently, girls do
not have enough healthy women and female images to
identify with- a statement open to questioning. However,
she adequately reclaims the experience of the female
body and of specifically feminine forms, as sources of
multiple and diverse pleasures.
Jessica Benjamin (1988), another feminist critic of
Lacan, substantively contributes to this reclaiming of the
specificity of female bodies. She focuses on womenÂ´ s
difficulty to recognize desire as truly internal, reflected
in and through spatial images (6). Metaphors on holding
and exploration could account for the active aspects
of receptivity. The author also proposes a new reading
of the Oedipal complex: OedipusÂ´ intent to evade the
prophecy considered as proof that he could not contain
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 51
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://tA27pf5dvntc28dHRsltHPCTWB0RRvhaKoocUGNlDOcÍ‘Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¾×Xš=ä°VScÞ”½ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ua1f4c8EMYa4DVXaIjksmAZAB9OGHO_QVU59ZhZc5SQÎ ®²Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Cq7LkHo93GcBqLBqX2yvXNacSi_OGGNj2G9nzJHcVYoÍƒ¢Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://3NElRHe0JBPeVhIG-BtaiT466ff0fU6meiUhFsKzZE8ÍœÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://9VlHCh7gIqT-TjzpckhEIQEa1WsSLyFHckzMgZe8h0YÍL«DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš=ä°VScÞ”¿×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_Lkmn58Td7u-wgHJw5kUW-dzRC2z8NuCv769e8e3ZQwÎ ¹.Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://5N30FOITUppb-YFbCtVy8m-9y5_pjB0mhINzdDAkI7YÍ„ƒÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://HezHpFdU8NN5MYlxT-YQbfCLR8LnstAHCZBzGY5vnA0Í¨Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://lzHSrB2BF4WvQ0QmxO6p6QBjjuGEXh6t6ChdXsSb3DAÍRDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”À‘× ×XšBä°VScÞ•  Í	ÌË(9×H¬http://et.al××Ðˆ×‰EÚ	his desire to substitute for the father. She argues for a
new PostOedipal stage of separation, where the metaphorical
death of the parents would result in ambivalence
between the joy of survival and the sadness of loss. This
conscious ambivalence would guide women and menthough
mainly the first- to become responsible for their
own desire and own it, instead of abandoning it.
Both feministsÂ´ rich thinking pose a number of questions,
relevant to body-psychotherapy: How could somatic
sensations-that are psychically-inscribed through a
variety of cultural processes- be described through new
forms of language and imagery? How could they be symbolized
from a feminine perspective and associated to
the Whole? And, how would one work through the pain
of separation and theoretically understand difference, if
one rejects incorrect assumptions on: paternal authority
and psychic liberation through paternal domination?
Assumptions within Neoreichian
Thought
There has not been a lot of specific theoreti cal
thin king on female sexuality within neoreichian bodypsychotherapy
culture (7). A common ground is that
sexual difference is rooted in feeling, and that women
and men experience their body differently. Biology was
placed at the heart of the matter by Reich, through the
concept of the bi-polar nature of life processes and his
â€˜ functional identity and antithesis principle between
psyche and somaâ€™.
His follower, Lowen (1995), showed that women
would only feel penis envy if they were out of contact
with the intensity of their vaginal sensations and their
reproductive potency. He also emphasized how active
and receptive movements during sexual intercourse,
are healthy qualities found in both sexual organs and
the pelvis itself. Women need aggressive movements
to actively hold the penis during pelvic thrust. Men are
receptive towards the flow of their own semen and
towards the involuntary movements characteristic of
orgasm. In this sense, he contributed to a redefinition
of femininity.
In many a way, Lowen (1980; 1988) advanced ReichÂ´
s thoughts, widely documenting differences in the
unfolding of the Oedipal complex within psychotherapeutic
practice, among numerous cases of contemporary
women and men. In his writings, he discussed the type
of non-genital sexual attraction girls feel towards the
opposite sex in the Oedipal phase. At that life stage,
when excitation is experienced all over the body and
tends to concentrate in the pelvic area, he showed girls
need to have physical, loving contact and closeness with
their fathers. Incorrect reading of the childÂ´ s innocent
actions, due to the parentÂ´ s own unresolved conflicts,
endangers the natural resolution of the complex and
traumatizes the child. This difference with the classical
Freudian reading, gives scope for therapeutically exploring
more seriously women Â´s memories and experiences
of sexual abuse and violence.
However, LowenÂ´ s observations have inbuilt a number
of gender stereotypes. On the one hand, he argues
against double standards that, â€œ denied women as persons
and ignored the body as a source of truthâ€ (1965, p.
161). On the other, he argues that differences between
male and female values have been blurred in Occidental
societies, as part of a current loss of identity. But these
values are defined as a set of social constructs presented
as â€˜objectiveâ€™, and used to establish healthy practices.
His writings also deal contradictorily with evidence and
interpretation, on when and how functional differences
between the sexes are biological or cultural. This influences
character definitions and descriptions, specially
relative to the sub-characters of the Oedipal phase (the
phallic-narcissistic and passive-feminine for men; the
hysterical and masculine-aggressive for women), where
gender becomes a key variable. The problem is not simply
one of â€˜names or wordsâ€™- as has sometimes been argued.
But it is one of scarce resort to Gender Theory. This lack
tends to permeate approaches to character dynamics
as a whole, including that of Stephen Johnson Â´s (1994;
1985) excellent reframing.
Pierrakos (1997), working from a similar framework,
describes the Oedipal sub-character type of the aggressive
women and men further than other neoreichian
authors. These women are portrayed as having the need
to dominate men, whom they simultaneously want to
possess and denigrate. He compares their feelings to
those of psychopathic men, who also have a substantive
contempt of women. Both type of distortions are considered
as a central contemporary problem and, partly,
a result of the erosion of traditional gender roles. In the
â€˜here and nowâ€™, he argues, there is potential room for
both sexes to overcome traditional roles. Pierrakos also
describes the types of therapy problems that arise within
this new dynamic between the sexes: most specially, the
need to change aggression into self-assertion and passivity
into receptivity, as both sexes are seen as distorting
their â€˜natural giftsâ€™. An alternative explanation, could
be that: neither traditional roles or patriarchal society
has significantly changed yet, in order to embrace the
true self-identity of women and men and, sufficiently
facilitate, relationships based on difference between
equals (8).
Biology, culture and the psyche collude to reproduce
the cultural subordination of female generations.
Women, to break this vicious cycle, need to identify
creatively ( or identify and simultaneously dis-identify),
52 Liliana Acero Feminity, Gender and Essence in Body-Psychotherapy Part I: Reflections on theory, clinical and teaching experience
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://3NElRHe0JBPeVhIG-BtaiT466ff0fU6meiUhFsKzZE8ÍœÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Á×‰EÚ~with their father and the masculine psyche in both sexes,
without devaluing their femininity. First, girls develop
an early identification with their mothers ; then they
need to identify with their fathers without idealizing
his sex and creatively transform early and late feminine
and masculine identifications, in societies largely shaped
by patriarchy. A difficult task. Also, identification is far
from a passive process. Children actively seek it. In many
subtle ways, they introject and project aspects of themselves
and the Other in this process, through memories,
non-verbal fantasies and energetic expressions of desire.
Until relatively recently, psychological debates mainly
portrayed each sex as the ultimate carrier of the feminine
and masculine principles. However, these principles are
part of each sex, and both sides are shaped in both sexes
by patriarchal domination and its continuous and creative
reformulations. In terms of feminist author, Gayle
Rubin (1989, page 113), â€œâ€¦ as sexuality is a nexus of
relationships between the genders, an important part
of women Â´s oppression is contained and mediated by
sexuality.â€ And new, increasingly growing, sexual orientations:
homosexuality, bisexuality and transexuality,
among others, reframe our concepts of the feminine and
masculine in ways beyond precedent, and merit new
theoretical focuses and developments from within the
neoreichian movement.
Cultural and Social Research on
Women
Cultural and Social Research has shown that, at a
structural level, the social situation of women and men
has substantively changed, since most of the psychological
theories discussed were formulated. First, men are
more-though not enough- involved in childrearing and
household work. Second, the increasing, though still
unequal, participation of females in employment at a
global level, the gradual though growing presence of
women in social and political realms, in the Sciences,
Arts and Culture, a sustained growth in the use of contraceptive
methods, and positive changes in the medical
attitudes towards pregnancy and parenting, have made
women more socially visible and led them to occupy a
larger amount of positions, enjoy better conditions and
take relevant decisions, within previously exclusively
male terrains (9).
Male vulnerability and fragility has been exposed,
with less projection onto women. Men have become
more aware of their emotional lives and problems, partly
due to the gradual erosion of traditional roles. Organized
women in a or several movements have tended to
publicly own self-reflections on, how they sometimes
simultaneously oppose and embrace gender stereotypes.
Both sexes- though most frequently women- have begun
to acknowledge that false â€˜masksâ€™ of independence are
sometimes used to hide or compensate for confused
and chaotic internal landscapes, arising from gender
patterns. ( See for example, Segal, L., 1990; Mandell,
N. et.al., 1995, Butler, J. 2004)
In Latin America, local trends on gender transformations
are similar to global ones. However, there are
â€˜objectivelyâ€™ less social and economic possibilities for
the majority of women to actively participate in the
public sphere. Many times, the threat of poverty curtails
independent initiatives and throws women back into
dependency, submission and stereotype. In the 1990s,
I undertook a series of studies on household, sexual and
reproductive patterns, involving more than one thousand
working families in Brazil and Argentina (Acero,
1991a; 1991b ;1995). It showed a number of interesting
intergenerational changes in gender patterns in the
way crucial life events- like marriage, first contraceptive
method used and first children-, were handled by women
and men, as well as, some substantive inter-country differences
(10). For example, younger generations, of up
to 25 years of age, mainly in Brazil, had perceptions on
and attitudes towards fertility, reproduction and union
quite distant from traditional ones.
However, domestic violence, performed mainly by
men, is still a very severe regional problem. It is also
positively correlated with gender stereotypes. Men
confronted with hardship and/or economic failure,
frequently resort to desperate and irrational responses,
like violence and abuse within the home. For example,
selected evidence for Chile, showed that, between
2002 and 2003, female complaints on intra-couplesâ€™
violence were in the order of 108.9 and 127.7 cases
(per 10.000 females of age 15 and over). In 2005, half
the households of SantiagoÂ´ s Metropolitan area had
experienced some form of violence. This was mainly
psychological in nature (43.2% of cases), but mild and
acute physical violence accounted for almost a quarter
of cases, and sexual violence represented 14.9% of
cases. ( PAHO, 2006). Other prevalent indirect forms
of violence on women are associated to maltreatment
and/or inefficiencies in Sexual and Reproductive Health
services. For example, 21 % of maternal deaths in Latin
America are related to pregnancy, childbirth and postchildbirth,
which are mainly caused by complications
from clandestine abortions, of the order of four million
a year (Alan Guttmacher, 1999) (11).
Many social conditions are to change still, to attain
social equality between the sexes. The majority of local
and international populations need also to have access
to adequate material means of subsistence and other
resources, such as education and health; precondienergy
& character vol.37 may 2009 53
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://HezHpFdU8NN5MYlxT-YQbfCLR8LnstAHCZBzGY5vnA0Í¨Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Â×Xš>ä°VScÞ”ÁÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Rj-IFlkOOKYs1eHNtJp7DvLtDuCq9cuTv3tRQbQS1uAÎ KbÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://4zbWlyPKVuECE0eNRcVREGU74hQiXVzZ_00Xch0Wk2MÍl÷Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://q5_ejHIC-J9XSj5XDDsmS0dW2iNhcW53o8EZLM82iKoÍ*Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SmfEJdfo553wDvySntqO9VGpwAEM3D_byI4G4z-BiJ4ÍX:DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Ã×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://537YhwC_Aw5EIaUPcZTu_yGEqUq4xEd9HrO3ZOvlnLsÎ  'Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://GNlXn3TC1EpCfmXFKpx2DyXmpLzk3fQOSZYsyGdxd54ÍdgÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://g0IgSI6WWVBBney_W6tEv1f50EWB0S0kCnJHk8wySVUÍ0Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://g1irgxFq4s4oJDOZZQ4wVFcfwBd4ehbSYQU-Kvu88boÎ <^PÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Ä‘× ×XšBä°VScÞ•. Í Í*9×H¬http://et.al××Ðˆ×‰EÚƒtions for a true respect for difference. Psychological
and neoreichian thought and practice need to review
their theories, to account simultaneously for changes
and reproduction of gender patterns, and include new
premises within prevention and clinical treatment. In Part
II of this article, to be published in the next number of
Energy & Character, we will further explore the relation
between feminine and masculine sides, this time, within
the psychotherapeutic environment, Biosynthesis and
the healing arts and, refer to selected examples from
Latin America.
Notes:
(1)Based on papers and Workshops presented at three International
Biosynthesis Congresses in: Mayorga, Spain, 2000; Salvador de
Bahia, Brazil, 2002 and Lisbon, Portugal, 2006.
(2)Defined by Reich (1942) as, a cooperatively organized group or society,
without hierarchical control, where each member contributes
with her/his abilities, based on natural authority, the authority of
what each one creates and develops. He contrasted this, with the
â€˜emotional plagueâ€™, a collective acting out within the social scene
of neurotic destructive feelings.
(3)I am also a Bioenergetic Analyst 1989 and local Trainer in Bioenergetic
Analysis 1992 from the International Institute for Bioenergetic
Analysis, New York and ex-Director of the Society for Bioenergetic
Analysis of Argentina (SABRA), 1990-2007. I have been a participant
in selected trainings and/or psychotherapy in Core Energetics,
Reichian and Posreichian methods, KellemanÂ´s Somatic approach,
Barbara Brennan Â´s and Rosalyn Bruyere Â´s Hands-on-Healing.
(4)Contrary to Freudians, here the central view is that excess energy
is not to be sublimated in favour of culture, but that it must be
explored and developed through the pleasure principle, for dominant
cultural forms to change.
(5) Boadella (2000, pages 7-16 ) has attempted a possible answer to
some of these type of questions, in relation to character, in an illuminating
article. He shows how bipolarity is a basic characteristic
of the Universe and how the concept was deployed by a number
of philosophers, psychologists and Schools of thought including
those of, Pythagoras, Janet, Jung and Reich.
(6)For example, many Native American groups, organize themselves
through circles and wheels where feminine symbols on fertility are
as important as, or even more so, than masculine ones, and there
is a simple division of shared labour with less hierarchical traits.
(See, for example, Bruyere, R.,1993).
(7)Among the exceptions are the writings of Boadella and the Biosynthesisâ€™
latest paradigm.
(8) Many more neoreichian authors could have been reviewed here,
but it is beyond our scope in this article. See , among others, Kelleman
(1987; 2003 ); Cornell (2006); Hilton (1999).
(9) For a discussion of Gender and Health in Latin America and internationally
, see Acero,L.( 2005; 2006).
(10) It found, among other, that: a) Most women used contraceptive
methods only after having had a first child. Also, almost half of
them used them regularly, but the types of methods chosen were
higher risk ones, like: the cap or high-hormone pills. b) Although
women kept a certain work continuity, their reproductive functions
interfered with their work-cycle more than among men; c)
Argentine women, compared to Brazilians, would decide important
life events like: marriage, birth control, pregnancy and childrearing,
more based on gender stereotypes. d) In both countries, men
scarcely contributed to domestic work, even in cases when both
sexes were employed full-time. Women extended their working
hours to perform domestic tasks, in an average 2 to 4 daily hours,
and also during Sundays, while men mainly rested.
(11) Abortions are illegal in most countries in the region- even in cases
of rape- and they are severely sanctioned by law, including with
imprisonment. But they are clandestinely performed in extremely
unsafe conditions ( See, for example, Acero, L. (2007); MairaVargas,
G., Nazarit,P, and Saez, S. (2008).
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energy & character vol.37 may 2009 55
Liliana Acero, P.h.D. University of Sussex, 1993 and
PosDoctoral Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor,
University of Massachussetts and Brown University
1992-1994; is currently President Honoris Causa of the
FundaciÃ³n Cuerpo y EnergÃ­a: TeorÃ­a y mÃ©todos neoreichianos,
CHILE, Senior Trainer in Biosynthesis since 1985,
Bioenergetic Analyst (1984) and Local Trainer (1990). She
is also an Associate Professor at the Latin American Faculty
of Social Sciences, FLACSO, Programme on Gender and
Public Policies since 2003 and Visiting Senior Researcher
at CENTRIM, University of Brighton, U.K. She has lived and
worked as practitioner, Trainer and University Professor
in different countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the U.K.,
Spain, the USA and Canada, and is author of books and
numerous articles in Psychology and the Social Sciences.
Profile of the author
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×‰	Ú 7cassandra://g0IgSI6WWVBBney_W6tEv1f50EWB0S0kCnJHk8wySVUÍ0Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Æ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”ÅÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://kl8EUkGsxXhgY_RHpiTPq6QJResCkS2wVlkhvpZJ_WkÎ HÔÍ`ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ekETSMFdHzsgsPGIRLRRMkOmjZssuEOGGiQ-YFcabBQÍbÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Z9P5eVy-jWrkW6STJy0QkIQshGP1vcHnMxMvUwqPbjwÍóÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://DL3fZmS2PkzPVvky67a64LvS9raMlqivDnk3yKTdgbsÎ Q¸HÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš>ä°VScÞ”Ç×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://zbEtbW0vomhXzJYtPIlXi-NhTNcQXwdp43cEG6Z5SRYÎ `†Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://GdKgRe5i9hoJYR4vZvDZ4oNiH_kzf4iHMQYP-bOA9SYÍ…‚Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Tlf6I5f-qv1r_mIRDNipScVSJyrGhnHR_1aEhdvCdvEÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://3621Avdte1KG2VdtOERiO9y-pz9ZshSyT1CuJx4kWisÍBüDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”È×‰EÚØSystemic Intervention in
Biosynthesis: how to work with
relational field with families
by Esther Frankel
T
he motivation to write this work is old and comes from a phrase that a colleague from my training
program in Biosynthesis in the eighties said to me: â€œEsther, the war is overâ€. For me and many people
who belong to the second generation of survivors of the Holocaust or other types of genocide this is
not like that. We must
many generations. We need to take care of the wounded souls of the children when the souls of their families
were broken, wounded, destroyed.
Some years ago I was working in Japan and I went
My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree), Frida Kahlo, 1936
very often to Germany, because I felt that it was there
that I had to search for the origins of my problems. In
Germany I found that my generation, second, or third
generation of the victims after the war, suffers as much
as the children of the aggressors. The Germans of my
age are affected as much as the Jews of my generation,
full of blame, illnes and problems. And on one of
these trips to Germany I did my first systemic session.
After years of Analytical and Reichian psychotherapy,
there was something I could not reach and this was my
relation with the dead that are so present in my life.
A systemic work is a family psychotherapy that says
that it is not the individual who is sick but the entire
system. This specific work was developed in Germany
by Bert Hellinger because of the consequences of the
second war. Germans kept in secret what happened
during the war and these families started to fall ill.
Illnes, tragedies, and serious accidents marked these
families painfully. The elaboration of these secrets
through the work with family constellations showed
a link between the destiny of the aggressors and their
56 Esther Frankel Systemic Intervention in Biosynthesis: how to work with relational field with families
treat this subject transgenerationally because these residues remain alive for
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Z9P5eVy-jWrkW6STJy0QkIQshGP1vcHnMxMvUwqPbjwÍóÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”É×‰EÚÉvictims. And for this reason this work interested me a lot.
A specific session was very important to me. The
therapist asked me about my first family. I said: â€œI, my
father, my mother and my sistersâ€ â€“ and he asked me
to place puppets to represent all of them. And then the
therapist helped me to see that my mother in this family
system was placed as if she was one of my sisters, and
then he asked me: â€œwhere is your mother lookingâ€ ?
And I concluded that my mother did not look at us in
the system I organized: â€œShe was looking at her dead
relativesâ€. And he asked me: â€œCan I bring the dead
relatives to this room?â€œ I said: â€œYou can.â€ And my dead
family had an identity for the first time.
I placed the dead of my mother, I placed the dead of
my father. It was strange for me, because the only person
whose grave I can visit of this generation is my grandfather,
the father of my father. who died of a heart desease
before I was born. But my grandmother, my uncles on
my motherâ€™s side were all killed in the gas chamber and
therefore nobody knows what really happened to them.
People who were lost in these circumstances, do not
have a name, do not have any identity. Even though
my father and my mother told me about these events,
I received the story in fragments, and this marked my
life. At this moment of the constellation I could organize,
remember my family, name each one of them. It was
a very touching healing ritual. My mother took me by
the hand and presented me to each one of her family.
I was very moved and cried a lot, and the therapist cried
together with me. Maybe because he was German and
felt guilt about all this tragedy, and he was doing this
in order to come to terms with the truth. It was an impressive
session. To my amazement when I phoned my
mother after the session, to ask her the names of the
people she lost, to know who the brothers and sisters
were, and then she said to me: â€œwhat a coincidence
at that same time somebody was interviewing me here
in my house for a documentary about the Holocaustâ€.
This research was done by the team of Steven Spielberg,
that was interviewing survivors of the second war all
over
the world. And my mother had been interviewed
by them on the same day I had my session.
After I did this session in Germany, I participated in
many meetings between Germans and Jews, between
victims and aggressors, American Jews, German Jews,
and we spent one week arguing about peace, internal
peace â€“ they were groups of dialogue, of conflict mediation.
And what was curious is that at the same time,
my mother and some Jews were invited by the mayor
of a small town in Germany â€“ where the survivors of
Auschwitz went in foot after they had been freed - for
one week of dialogues. It was an attempt to pay homage
to the victims, and my mother accepted. This was very
healing for her. My mother and the others survivors of
Auschwitz went on foot to this city. Many died on the
way. My mother survived because she got back her boots
size 33, that only fit her foot. So she could complete
the walk to this town, before going to Sweden with
the others. I think it was important for her, to have the
opportunity to revisit the same place, many years later,
during another moment in her life. I believe that from
all this dialogue that I was paticipanting in - and she
too â€“ that the contact between us was reestablished.
This experience made me understand better and go
deeper into my origins, as a daughter of a survivor of
Auschwitz, to see how much this still marks my life,
to touch deep and unconscious wounds and to give
a place in my soul for the dear members of my family
that I didnâ€™t have the fortune to know, reorganizing my
life, thus weaving teogether torn parts of my existence.
After this personal statement, I want to show how
professionnally I am integrating the family systemic approach
to my work in Biosynthesis.
As a somatic psychotherapist working in the clinical
area for more than 30 years, I am aware how important
it is to work with the relational field of my clients,
that is, to integrate their family histories with individual
psychotherapy. Biosynthesis as a multidimensional psychotherapy
makes this integration possible. The human
being is seen in his/her somatic, emotional, relational,
cognitive and spiritual dimensions.
These are fields of life and they can be present
through characterological traps, body blockages and
restricted spirituality; or through deep contact with the
heart, expressive emotional life and balanced energy. In
the first case we have the unfolding of a characterological
intentionality and in the second, the unfolding of
an essential intentionality. (Frankel, E. and CorrÃªa M.,
1999). The client who searches for psychotherapy in
general presents problems in more then one of these
fields. How can we access them? How can we help the
patient?
An unblockage of the throat that happens through
a sudden shout can liberate rotation movements in the
body (motor field of rotation) recovering the capacity to
play and to move spontaneously. In trauma situations,
the body unblockage should occur through the change
of the traumatic scene, giving the possibility to the client
to run (motor field of activation) and cry. (field of
communication and expression). One of our objectives
in Biosynthesis is to reintroduce the person to the amplitude
of his/her motor fields which is our vocabulary
as primates, our unconscious body (Boadella, 2002).
Through touch the psychotherapist can hear the mesenergy
& character vol.37 may 2009 57
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Tlf6I5f-qv1r_mIRDNipScVSJyrGhnHR_1aEhdvCdvEÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ê×Xš?ä°VScÞ”ÉÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://bZ3YTINCCgEawbpovVuYlhEiklExnqdxUKSb30UESh4Î æÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://OqmaryUsQF0kJ2gTeJC0CdegpnmXfPp_sB9qWhL2rCwÍj±Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SJvUUL7EHE8HNCUBpProxZ_xCAO0T22Qyn6tRZSrwMEÍ[Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://kxkcF3ZNwURPccytgCVFFwFSPUxKd5e_p1a6y2CjEz0Í_HÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ë×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SbEqhLr8Ky3Yl0XBggqPVZct3BWWJQdiu4stkTfxxiEÎ GjÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://fgLXTNfqcpgn8FreTg-i9JhrqhUJkRIGRuXvEB1AjTkÍY2Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SYHCPbYka5CDfXHXMEH3KiwNE7mq4fyRqHK93tvUiJAÍ…Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://tOrHrT6L_Lo9qDOsy5pKR7K1XU6Vs3nFFNaBEewYgroÍh5DÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ì’× ×XšBä°VScÞ• ^Í;O9×H«http://S.Bo××Ðˆ× ×XšBä°VScÞ• ÍÍ%R9×H«http://D.Bo××Ðˆ×‰EÚ`sages of the clientâ€™s muscles, what the muscles want to
do, what they are ready for, and the intentional movement
patterns underlying the neurotic organization of
the body. For us the character can be seen as a distortion
of motor fields patterns.
In Biosynthesis all the organism can be worked from a
part. The psychotherapist is trained to perceive the easiest
field to begin the work with each client and how to
help him/her to connect himself/herself with the other
fields. David Boadella calls this a holistic, biospiritual
and transomatic vision. This is the art to work with
multidimensional patterns of intentionality.
One of the questions that appear when we work in
Biosynthesis or another body psychotherapy is when
we verify that the individual psychosomatic approach is
not enough for a deeper understanding of the clientâ€™s
problems. We must also identify how his/her commitments,
obligations in the family relational field are
over several generations. Maybe the problem is linked
to transgenerational family issues. For this purpose I
adopted the method of family constellation linking
it to the Biosynthesis fourth Life Field (D.Boadella &
S.Boadella, 2000): the Relational Field, integrating it
with the others six fields. It is a rich experience that has
extended the spectrum of my psychotherapeutic work.
Clinical example
Sistemic work in a group
Subject: A client Ana1
body sensations. At the same time I, as the therapist
tried to understand what the place in this constellation
and body expression of the elements meant.
At this moment of the constellation Ana cannot see
her mother, and her mother cannot see her daughter,
because the heart is placed between them and in front
of the mother. The shame is on the side, almost next
to the heart and looking at the ground. Anaâ€™s mother
felt inhibited by the shame, and said that she cannot
see her daughter it was as if the daughter were hiding
from her. The heart was between Ana and her mother.
It was a heart that felt frozen inside and a lot of heat
outside and wanted to fall to the ground and hide.
The heart could not look Anaâ€™s mother in the eye. â€œI do
not want to see anythingâ€, says the heart.
This first form of the intentional field of the family
reveals a part that doesnâ€™t pulsate.
What happened to your mother? I asked Ana. My
mother was a war refugee. Her father wanted a boy.
Anaâ€™s mother was not registered because she was a
girl. She lived through the bombings of the war and
had the sensation of horror and fear for all her family
to die in the war. This subject is her shame. Her mother
idealized her father.
The shame says: I belong to her (she points to Anaâ€™s
presents problems with her
mother. Her mother was lucky to survive a bombing in
the Spanish Civil War. She was cold hearted towards
Ana, her daughter. Anaâ€™s father said to her: your mother
is a child. Youâ€™re my princess. Anaâ€™s mother was missing
the support of her own mother.
The client Ana, brings the situations: shame and war
that was a theme in her motherâ€™s life, the hatred she
had for her mother and a sensation of depression in her
heart. This feeling closed her heart.
The intentional elements I asked to be placed in the
constellation were: shame, heart, the mother of Ana,
and Ana. For each one of these elements Ana chose a
representative of the group and I asked her to place the
elements, in relation to each others.
Ana moves the figures to where she wants, by the
shoulders, very slowly.
When she finishes placing these elements (figure 1)
we have the first form of field of the family intentionality
. The next step is to ask what the meaning of this form
is. I asked the representatives of the elements to express
themselves, about their feelings, thoughts, desires and
1 This session was real and Ana is a fictitious name.
Figure 1
58 Esther Frankel Systemic Intervention in Biosynthesis: how to work with relational field with families
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SJvUUL7EHE8HNCUBpProxZ_xCAO0T22Qyn6tRZSrwMEÍ[Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Í×‰EÚemother).
This information reveals other intentionalities
of the field: the rejection of Anaâ€™s mother by her
father (the grandfather of Ana) and a whole context
of lack of holding during her birth and the
beginning of Anaâ€™s mother life.
I asked to all the representatives to move to a more
comfortable place.
The intention is to search for some part of the
field that still pulsates.
The shame and the mother join (the shame is connected
to Anaâ€™s mother) and the heart, that still felt
frozen goes to Anaâ€™s side (figure 2).
The field is transformed. The relations are truer:
the shame is next to Anaâ€™s mother and the heart
is next to Ana. The search for situations nearer to
the truth is to reconstruct confidence in the field
direction we continue, if they are in an anti pulsatile
direction we withdraw, and if nothing occurs we
Figure 3
take another direction. (figure 3).
Anaâ€™s mother can lean cosily against her mother,
feeling warmer. Ana, still on the side of the heart, is feeling
her body divided and emptiness is on one of it sides.
When Anaâ€™s mother receives the support from
her own mother, the field of the family intentionality
becomes more pulsatile. Ana continues divided
and empty, showing parts of the field counter pulsatiles.
I invite all the elements of the constellation
Figure 2
of this family.
For the history of the mother, I introduce a new
element in the field: a representative for the grandmother
of Ana: the mother of her mother. But now
this mother has a suportive quality, a mother who
welcomed her daughter. It is a work with polarities:
a mother (grandmother of Ana) that gives holding,
that is the opposite to the real mother, who didnâ€™t
give the holding to her daughter. The intentional
field is flexible and allows us to make experiences
and to observe its signals. If these are in a pulsatile
Figure 4
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 59
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The elements come closer to each other forming a
small group (figure 4). The grandmother and her daughter
hug each other involving the shame between them.
Ana says: â€œI feel like a girl. I am calmerâ€.
It is interesting how the field had this movement
of flexion searching for more possibilities of
contact. Spontaneously the field of intentionality
expresses, like a collective motor field of flexion, a
desire to go to a more secure place. In this work we
are always searching for the essential intentionality
field that is a part of the collective field that is
still pulsating.
ground. This was the natural movement of the field
when Ana entered.
This was the moment to construct a holding for
Ana and I asked her mother to give her support from
Figure 6
behind. The focus of the field was Ana, her mother and
the heart (figure 6).
I asked Ana to tell her mother what she always
wanted to say.
Ana says to her mother: â€œI want to be your princess.
I canâ€™t take anymore. Through my children I gained a
warm and beautiful heartâ€.
The mother answers: â€œdaughter your problem is not
Figure 5
At this moment I ask Ana to substitute her representative
(figure 5).
The therapeutic work happens in the interaction
of Ana with the transformations of the field of family
intentionality: its sensations, emotions, insights.
During the session I speak to her and I feel which is
the best moment for her to enter and to participate
in the formative process of the relational field of
her family. A good moment is when the field is
more pulsatile.
When Ana enters, there is a movement of search
for more contact in the field.
Ana feels her coldness towards her mother. Itâ€™s her
chance to reach out towards a loving mother.
I propose to her to use traction field with in breath on
the arm of the mother, touching her heart. Her breathing
changes with trembling of feeling in her body, and tears
of contact and relief. The group shows more feelings.
The traction motor field with breathing is a
resource of Biosynthesis to load, to bring grounding
and holding. It is a resource to nourish and to
60 Esther Frankel Systemic Intervention in Biosynthesis: how to work with relational field with families
with your heart, but with my heartâ€.
Ana: â€œNow weâ€™re speaking the same language in
the same toneâ€.
And then the mother says in a very loving way to Ana:
â€my daughter, my princessâ€.
The mother hugs her daughter and the heart together.
The therapeutic work at this moment was centred
on emotions, energy, physical contact and
breathing (third, second and first life field).
It was important to reframe the relation between
Ana and her mother (5th life field), since Ana was
saying that they were understanding each other.
Anaâ€™s belief system changed.
And now, like the father, the mother could say
that Ana was her princess. The mother saying
that the problem was with her heart and not that
of Anaâ€˜s, showed an attitude of discrimanation
between the systems parents and children.
Now, the heart do not join together, breaking a
relation of co-dependence.
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://yNPrUFdf1sXPL9TEWGE7dL0eh_MmAB79KkRuuIcp38AÍ¿Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ñ×‰EÚcConclusion
This paper is an application of a theorical and clinical
study about fields of intentionality and systemic that Milton
CorrÃªa and myself are developing since 1999 (some
of these publications are shown in the Bibliography).
In this presentation, a theory to family system work
is based on David Boadellaâ€™s Biosynthesis and on Bert
Hellingerâ€™s family constellation and shows that both
methodologies can be integrated and applied in the
psychotherapeutic clinic using a theory of intentionality
considered not only as an abstract concept but also as a
reality in itself acting like a field of intentionality.
This theory offers us a base from which we can understand
and work with family constellation using the fields
in Biosynthesis and otherhand we can also verify through
the motor fields what they can evoke in terms of family
relations by means of the set up of these constellations.
This constitutes the originality of this work to which
we invite Biosynthesis and other psychotherapists to
make their own experiences.
The client is multidimensional therefore we have
through this modality the possibility to have access to
him just as much through the motor fields as through
the field of relationship.
Iâ€™d like to honor the creators of these two methologies
bringing some of their own words:
â€œIn Biosynthesis constellations we work with the 4th
field in the context of system of seven life fields, and not
only with family system. We work with client centred
mode and not with leading therapist approach. As we
are trained in body language we use body signals to
develop our work. The client is participant even during
the time he is out observing his own constellation. New
sentences are evoked by the client out of insight and
context and not given by the therapist. Here we invite
the client to understand his own process and are careful
with dogmatic pronouncements. We understand that
forgiveness can ripens as part of emotional maturation
as this cannot be demanded by therapeutic ethos as in
some other forms of psychotherapy. We are open to both
positive and negative family influences and donâ€™t have
closed attitude of over respect for parents â€2
.
â€œWe participate in a soul rather than having a soul.
This helps us to understand what happens in a family,
e.g. that a family has a common conscience which to a
great extent, is unconscious yet can be observed by the
effects it has on all the family members. Furthermore
there are several layers of intentionality operating in a
2 David Boadella, personal communication with Milton CorrÃªa and Esther Frankel
commeting their new theorical and clinical approach, March 2004.
3 Bert Hellinger, personal communication with Esther Frankel, January 1999.
family. More on the surface operates an intention that
causes dysfunction and illness in a family, e.g. the urge to
pay for something good by something bad. On a deeper
level another soul seems to be operating. It shows up
when the therapist withdraws from his own intentions
and fears and proceeds only phenomenologically.
When, for instance, two people are set up to represent
the patient and death, the representants without the
intervention of the therapist are suddenly caught by an
irresistible movement that carries them to a solution they
cannot plan. This solution is experienced by the client
as deeply satisfying. The soul operating here I call â€œthe
greater soulâ€ for lack of a better name. So in therapy
the decisive step is to help the patient to move out of
the realm of the family soul and the family conscience
into the realm of the greater soul. This demands of the
therapist that he stays in contact with this soul and allows
himself to be guided by itâ€Â³.
Bibliography
Boadella, David, The Tree of Man and Fundamental Dimensions of
Biosynthesis, Energy&Character,Vol 29, nÂ° 1, June 1998a.
Boadella, David, Streaming, Rapport and Inner Touching- The Seven
Legacies of Mesmerism, Energy&Character, Vol 29, nÂ°2, December,
1998b.
Boadella, David, Shape Flow and Postures of the Soul. The Biosynthesis
Concept of Motoric Fields, Energy&Character, Vol 30, nÂ°2, April
2000.
Boadella, S. Silvia & Boadella David, Biosynthesis, in Pritz, Alfred (ed.),
Globalized Psychotherapy, Facultas UniversitÃ¤sverlag, Vienna, 2000.
CorrÃªa, Milton & Frankel, Esther, Embodied Intentionality,
Energy&Character, Vol 33, September, 2003.
CorrÃªa, Milton, Dream Work in Biosynthesis, Enegy&Character, Vol
36, December 2007.
Frankel, Esther & CorrÃªa, Milton, A Cognitive approach to Body
Psychotherapy, Energy&Character Vol 30, nÂ° 1, September, 1999.
Hellinger, Bert, Loveâ€™s Hidden Symmetry, Zeig, Tucker&Co, 1998.
Hellinger, Bert, Die Liebe des Geistes, Hellinger Publications, 2008.
Profile of the author
Esther Frankel (Born 1948) M.A., Psychotherapist, International
Trainer in Biosynthesis.
Producer and Managing Editor of Energy and Character
(see Editorial Information).
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 61
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://hW_CH8R2u_pnvu-GnlFtcwr4eY8gTE09FKfhXjrk-jcÍ/Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ò×Xš?ä°VScÞ”ÑÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_FUHaWxn9_knRWT2qUjKfrrpmws2n7yXH0tErzym3WcÎ ïyÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://f8TXdKdZxmW9CgvgcZjFJ0oQ8Z8vsr1xiuQikEEd3E0Íh|Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://hu1Ri-iB4xzaJ59RaRwnGCoBalA5MZRMS-TkdGtfSoAÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://BD5EuDxbIXzMinAe8LizMP8UKy0Wtc3l0VWJBfro-qMÍÁjDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš?ä°VScÞ”Ó×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://1Krsl7MUbUPJQ8ydo-zQEwWyMqSJjeh1nAp0cr9Jj0UÎ Z‹Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://7PkRgucN6wKf4J3qtdI3QXr1VxEldcsggxa0LT5H-M4Íe¦Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CJ1HMJxI521GiGMLJY--lVDsKvwGEYcpD-pz2_iCu30Í÷Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://e-Y6CdlkahDosNW6zKk0cUztfbkuixH0AY4SbwBN3lcÎ ÒDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”Ô×‰EÚçBook Review
PsychothÃ©rapie Corporelles, Fondements et Methodes
by Michel Heller
Brussels, Ed. De Boek, 2008
Reviewed by Jerome Liss
Michel Hellerâ€™s book offers us a pleasurable voyage
through the history of concepts pertaining to the awareness
of the body and body healing. Instead of beginning
with Wilhelm Reich or Fenichel, we begin with Plato,
Descartes and Spinoza. In addition, body therapy concepts
are drawn from other cultural traditions including
Taoism, Zen, Tantrism, Acupuncture and Tai Chi Chuan.
We feel that we are returning to ancient origins of body
awareness, and therefore the Western history of Freud,
Reich, Lowen and Boadella, is seen as coming from
deeper roots.
The bookâ€™s basic message is essential for body psychotherapists
to understand. We have both auto-regulation
Self dynamics and Dyadic regulation (or Self-Other
dynamics) regarding our psychocorporel processes. Especially
interesting is the presentation of Darwinian notions
regarding the evolution of the body and emotions and
Cannonâ€™s work regarding homeostasis. At the same time
the field of inquiry is vast, including Mesmer, Adler, Abraham,
with the original contributions of Wilhelm Reich
analyzed in depth. This part of Hellerâ€™s research develops
the concept of auto-regulation.
I will focus on Hellerâ€™s elaboration regarding Dyadic
regulation. The main developments in this field have
occurred over the last thirty years. Heller is in a special
position for clarifying the nature of interactive processes
that are necessary for personal development
and emotional healing. His own research regarding
video analysis gives him the awareness and language
necessary for transmitting the fundamental points that
have been revealed in recent years, since the studies
he deals with have all been done using video registration
of mother-child interaction. Therefore, we have
a superb summary of what the work of Daniel Stern,
Edward Tronick, George Downing and Beatrice Beebe
have brought to light.
62 Book Review
From Auto-Regulation to Self-Other
Dynamics
The movement from concepts of auto-regulation
to concepts of Self-Other dynamics requires a jump in
awareness. Auto-regulation can be understood in terms
of emotions, humour, actions, attitudes, perceptions,
motivations, and so on, that is, what happens in an
individual organism. But Self-Other regulation is based
on watching very subtle interactions between people,
especially between mother and child. Even small deviances
in body rhythm, eye focus, voice tone, and facial
expression can disrupt the â€œattunementâ€ between
mother and child. A slight turning of the shoulders or
a tension in a smile can be picked up by the other and
create dissonance in the Self-Other relationship. Edward
Tronickâ€™s research regarding the Still Face Paradigm
shows how the enfant is thrown into complete chaos
when the interaction with the mother is interrupted
for only 10 seconds. (The â€œstill faceâ€ means that the
mother creates, very briefly, an impassive expression
on her face). Beyond this Louis Cozolinoâ€™s recent book,
The Neuroscience of Human Relationshps, documents
the overwheling impact of how a disturbed relationship
between mother and child can create a disregulation
among deep brain circuits that put emotions â€œout of
control,â€ even years later in adult life.
Heller cites fascinating research examples that show
how minimal changes of facial expression â€“ a slight
frown, an almost imperceptble raising of the eyebrows,
a slight shift of eye gaze â€“ can occur between psychotherapist
and patient. Such non-verbal and almost
unconscious expressions can be correlated with the
outcome of psychotherapy in cases of depression and
suicidal behavior. Since the psychotherapist is not aware
of such subtle expressions, this can raise questions re×‰	Ú 7cassandra://hu1Ri-iB4xzaJ59RaRwnGCoBalA5MZRMS-TkdGtfSoAÍÍ`ÌÂÍ ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”Õ×‰EÚâgarding psychotherapeutic training: How can the therapist
develop this almost unconscious attunement to the
patient? Perhaps concepts like Boadellaâ€™s â€œresonanceâ€
allow us, as psychotherapists, to give inner space to our
own pyschophysical processes that can only be grasped
by intuition and that are quite different from experiences
that are explicit and that can be put into words. Therefore,
in this period when psychoanalysts and all â€œdepth
psychologyâ€ therapists are turning more and more to
the Self-Other interaction as a fundamental therapeutic
tool (previously called the Object relationship, a very
unhappy term coined by the British School of Objects
Relastionship), the awareness that Heller brings to the
most subtle nuances of non-verbal expression will help
us, as body therapists, to become intuitively â€œattunedâ€
to our patients.
But while the video researchers emphasize the developmental
impact of the Dyad relationship, Hellerâ€™s work
keeps repeating a fundamental point: There are both
self-regulation and Self-Other interactive processes
going on at the same time. Emotional, behavioral and
cognitive development, as well as their disregulation,
cannot be reduced to one or the other. The Self-Other
relationship must integrate the autonomous processes
of emotion, thought and action that take place in the
very same moment of Self-Other contact. At the same
time the dynamics of solitude are the result of what happened
during the Self-Other interplay with the primary
caretaker. Therefore, this is a book that is worthwhile
for all body psychotherapists to read.
The Hill Speaks
by Elsa Corbluth
Jurassic Press, ISBN 978-0-9558870-0-0
Reviewed by David Boadella
The Hill Speaks, is Elsa Corbluthâ€™s 5th poetry collection,
containing over sixty poems, in 123 pages. Elsa is
a well known English poet, has won many prizes, and
has broadcast on BBC. Her work was much admired by
Ted Hughes, the former Poet Laureate, who once wrote:
â€œYour poems give me a very keen pleasureâ€¦You do
many original things in a perfect way.â€Â¨
This new collection may sound local, but is quite
global in scope. For Elsa a landscape on earth is an
opening to a landscape of the heart. Whether it is a
flower, a tree, a rock, or a mountain, she presents this
from her artistic vision as a bridge between her vision of
the world of nature, where even hills have a voice and
can speak, and the inner passions of being human. The
book is full of breath-taking currents that lead us into
worlds of myth and legend, or back to solid earth with
a bump. One of the poems is called â€œto a wind from
all directions in a changing climateâ€. Her book moves
you with deep unexpected rhythms, which sweep along
like the tides of the sea. She embraces themes of life,
love and death always in unexpected, sometimes ironic,
ways that are meant to startle and invite you to look on
the world in new ways. She confronts the always new
faces of the seasons, and her landscapes range from the
Jurassic coast of south England, to the volcanic island
of Iceland, and the mountains of New Zealand. Elsa is
not only a world-traveller through continents, but also
evokes new aspects of famous artists: Ibsen, Brecht,
Bob Dylan, Edvard Munch,and the blind and deaf poet
Jack Clemo, to name a few. She can move between the
intensely personal themes of her own children, to intense
political themes such as Chernobyl and climatic pollution.
Elsa weaves her poetic tapestry out of matters
which are natural but also often tragically human,
and yet she manages to breathe between them the fres h
air of her sharp and startling humour, so that we are
moved alternately to deep tears and to deep laughter
by the way she guides us through the many unexpected
facets of her long life.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 63
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://CJ1HMJxI521GiGMLJY--lVDsKvwGEYcpD-pz2_iCu30Í÷Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”Ö×Xš@ä°VScÞ”ÕÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://qbEaplnlpD3xw1On-CVcAbsuRpqqsPpXCYDoYQvSyS0Î 'Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://NklW1P0ePdg7whprR8GnMtuNH7zwIf6L3p4HgtJbOiQÍq—Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XOKBdYAZ7g4ExjT5L-TVS09dgK1iHx4GdtshwiJ7wtYÍ(Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://LXGk1cQ0duq8kNjxuEQDMwOuP0QC06V1y74TDrtitHgÍØóHÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”××˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://2HnZuRzsWFL7Leykahocl6fpBOILy3Scv40tbdvDSXwÎ HüÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://W7Kv4pEK0RP8q5dk0INfocWjwmN6CwWmSyeS6DbVXiYÍ†ÏÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://cIjV8Mh6xtGW8CIPbMJTvEzyVev_ZAUQVdjbkpK6K80ÍÒÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XBy-Cb2qWtPojRcgtPABQL10OFdFo4tm_fd4FwO36_wÍFDDÍ ÍEÍñ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”Ø×‰EÚ$Consciousness without end
by Pim van Lommel
ISBN 978 90 259 5778 0
Reviewed by David Boadella
Pim van Lommel was for 26 years a cardiologist at a
hospital in Arnhem, Holland.
In 2001 he published a study in the renowned medical
journal, the Lancet, on a research study he made of 344
patients with heart failure, 62 of which reported neardeath
experiences.
His new book on â€œConsciousness without endâ€ seeks
to clarify whether such experiences are authentic, or are
some kind of fantasy. His conclusions are that consciousness
is not produced by the brain, but acts through the
brain, and is trans-somatic, in the sense that it is not locally
dependent on the life processes of the body.
The book has seventeen chapters. In the first chapter
he discusses different paradigms of science, and the sharp
conflicts which exist between reductionistic materialism,
and a more open-ended form of scientific enquiry. He
quotes an article in the journal Science, which lists 25
questions which science cannot yet answer. In the second
chapter he gives a detailed case-study of a typical neardeath
experience.
In chapter three he quotes research by Raymond
Moody on twelve general characteristics of near death
experiences, which are common to all, in spite of individual
or cultural differences. Research from the USA and
Germany estimates that some 25 million people world
wide have had such experiences. He quotes studies by
Kenneth Ring on five phases in the course of a near death
experience, He then refers to the work of Michael Sabom,
also a cardiologist, who was initially extremely sceptical
about the validity of consciousness beyond the body,
but was finally convinced by his own careful researches.
Sabom distinguished between transpersonal experiences,
which could not be verified independently, and â€œveridicalâ€
reports of events happening in the room during the near
death condition, which could be independently confirmed.
In the fourth chapter he quotes several studies on the
life changes induced by the near-death experience, many
of which lasted for years after the event. One of these was
the great reduction in what Lommel calls â€œfear-deathâ€ :
the normal deep human anxiety at the thought of dying,
is replaced by a sense of deep connection to a dimension
beyond the physical, which had been contacted during
the out-of-body experience.
In the fifth chapter Lommel reports on a study of
12 children with heart-failure and coma, who were re64
Book Review
vived. Eight of these children reported out of the body
experiences. Other studies looked at out of the body
experiences which were found in 22 percent of a group
of psychology students, none of whom had near-death
experiences. Other causes had led them to such special
states of consciousness.
The sixth chapter looks at fourteen different conditions
which can induce an out of body experience: in over half
of these the brain was temporarily out of action. Lommel
overviews the different neurological and psychological
theories that seek to explain the experiences, and points
out the difficulties many of them have in explaining the veridical
reports on events that definitiely took place, which
were later described accurately by near death patients who
were in states of coma or deep unconsciousness.
The seventh chapter reports in detail on Lommelâ€™s
own research on 344 patients with heart failure, which
was published in the Lancet. 62 of these reported near
death experiences when they returned to consciousness.
Lommel then goes on to quote other medical studies by
Bruce Greyson at a University Hospital in America (1595
patients) and by Dr. Peter Fenwick at a hospital in Southamapton
(243 patients). All these studies conclude that
the special states of consciousness took place precisely
during the time of the heart-failure and the absence of
brain function, and were not taking place before, or after
the emergency,
These detailed medical studies, all published in scientific
journals, lead Lommel in his eighth chapter to look
at what actually takes place in the brain, when the heart
stops. Here his medical knowledge goes into great detail
to show that experiences of states of consciousness that
are higher, wider, or deeper than normal are occurring
when the normal measurable brain functions associated
with any form of consciousness, are showing no signals
whatever of any activity. The brain is temporarily, but not
irreversibly, dead.
In the ninth chapter, Lommel goes deeper into the functioning
of the normal brain. He looks at the functioning of
the milliards of neurones, and the electromagnetic wave
characteristics of the brain. He shows how consciousness
research has failed to reduce the qualities of our experience
to the quantities of excitation in the brain. He suggests
that consciousness is not produced by the brain, and is
not reducible to it, but functions through the brain (in a
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XOKBdYAZ7g4ExjT5L-TVS09dgK1iHx4GdtshwiJ7wtYÍ(Í`ÌÂÍ ×Xš@ä°VScÞ”Ù×‰EÚÕsimilar way that information carried by electromagnetic
waves functions through the TV set, but is not produced
by it. He draws on famous neuro-scientists such as Charles
Sherrington, John Eccles, and Wilder Penfield, all of whom
had non reductive understanding of consciousness.
The well known comparison of the brain with a computer
raised the following question: if the brain is the
hardware, where does the software come from. In the
near death experience the hard-ware , the neurones, have
stopped all functioning. The non-material information
which corresponds to the soft-ware of consciousness
nevertheless continues to exist, and is not destroyed by
the â€œdeathâ€ of the hardware.
Chapter ten gives a detailed description of a near death
experience, and its deep effects on the person, written by
Monique Hennequin, who not only had a heart-failure at
the age of 37, but a near-collapse of many major organs,
including the kidneys and the liver. Her case seemed hopeless,
but she was re-animated, and survived to write up
her experiences during the intense somatic crisis.
In the eleventh chapter Lommel turns to quantum
physics, to look more deeply into the roots of matter,
and beyond. He shows how the particles of matter, at the
micro-level of sub atomic particles, are complementary to
non-physical information waves of â€œprobabilityâ€. They
are coupled to eachother. Local energetic events are accompanied
by waves of non-local information which are
outside of normal time and space. Here he draws on the
founders of quantum physics, such as Heisenberg, and
SchrÃ¶dinger, and later quantum scientists, such as David
Bohm, to show the similarities between non-local events
at the atomic level, and non local states of consciousness,
which are complementary to the local states of neuronal
energy in the brain, but not derived from them.
In the twelfth chapter Lommel looks at the description
by the philosopher David Chalmers of six theories
of consciousness. Three of these are reductionistic and
materialistic, and three of which lie beyond materialism.
He then goes more deeply into a model of how the brain
can function like a transformer between the non-physical
and the physical.
Lommel quotes the well known research of Jacob
Grinberg-Zyllerbaum who studied the interaction between
the brains of two people who were able to communicate
telepathically. The two subjects were widely separated
in space. The brain of one person was stimulated electomagnetically
by a flashing light, which created a specific
pattern of brain waves. The brain of the second person
was also measured at the same time, and showed an
identical pattern of response. The â€œevoked potentialâ€ in
the first person has produced a â€œtransferred potentialâ€ in
the second. However, both persons were situated within
Faraday cages, which block all transmission of electromagnetic
nature. No energy passed between the two
persons: a non local transfer of the local energy state in
one brain had passed to the local state in the second brain.
Lommel looks on this as a non-energetic resonance state.
Consciousness, unlike energy, is not trapped behind the
boundaries of locality.
In the twelfth chapter he looks into the work of FritzAlbert
Popp and his international team of collaborators,
and their thirty five years of research into bio-photons.
Lommelâ€™s focus here is more on the body as a whole,
rather than on the brain as a part of the body. He looks
at the role of real physical ultra-weak light, and also of
virtual light, as carriers of information linking all the cells
of the body with each other. He discusses this in relation
to the normal scientific understanding of DNA within
the body and suggests that DNA is also a transmitter of
underlying non-local information which is the basis of
bio-communication.
In the fourteenth chapter Lommel looks more widely
at other special states of consciousness,
including transpersonal states and telepathic states, and
builds a bridge between classical paranormal research, and
the empirical scientific work on â€œremote viewingâ€ by Hal
Putoff and Russel Targ, two quantum physicist working
at the Stanford Research Institute. He also includes the
important work of Jahn and Dunne at the Princeton Engineering
Anomalies Research Centre, in the USA, who could
demonstrate, in hundreds of experiments, the effects of
consciousness on otherwise random electronic devices.
The fifteenth chapter, which is called â€œNothing new
under the sunâ€ takes a rest from the scientific perspective,
and looks at the historical roots of the understanding
of consciousness
in philosophy, going back as far as Pythagoras and
Socrates, and in the world religions: christianity, Judaism,
Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Bon. He shows how these
cultural understandings are complementary to and supportive
of the natural-scientific understanding that the
rest of the book is devoted to.
The sixteen chapter discusses ethical aspects of whether
or not a doctor has the right to terminate the life of
a long-term coma patient. It also looks issues related to
organ-donation, such as heart transplants, and the feeling
that many receivers of such donations describe, that the
implanted organ brings with it states of feeling or states of
â€œmindâ€ which are quite new and foreign to the one who
receives them. Some aspects of the consciousness of the
donor of the transplanted organ seem to be transferred
to the receiver, for better or for worse.
The final chapter offers practical advice to those who
are accompanying a person in a dying process. Good care
in a hospital or hospice not only involves physical and
social care, but the empathic support for the person at a
psycho-spiritual level, in ways that can help to reduce the
fear of death, and prepare for the transition of what has
been called â€œLife beyond lifeâ€.
The book is supported by over 450 detailed footnotes,
and 360 major references to neurological, biological,
quantum-physical, psycho-energetic and philosophical
sources.
Lommelâ€™s detailed but panoramic survey of the field of
consciousness beyond the brain and the body, is a masterpiece
of clinical, scientific and cultural research. Until now it
has appeared only in Dutch, so I look forward to an English
or German edition which can be more widely available.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 65
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Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://rANl4DxjND9cx4gyKw4JXYM2qPOtTvVbvu2fs1JapAsÍ!¹Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://bDrwUt4tEUfas61oTdC-kRyflPEnBc-iQJLPM9E8XoYÎ ©ˆDÍ ÍEÍñ×XšAä°VScÞ•‘× ×XšCä°VScÞ•B Í¬Í¡F9×H«http://D.Sc××Ðˆ×‰EÚòBIOSYNTHESIS - CONFERENCE
Z Ãœ R I C H
2
0
1
0
T R A U M A
AND ENCOURAGEMENT
12.3.2010
Workshop
â€œBiosynthesis and Traumaâ€
David Boadella
Silvia Specht Boadella
13.3.2010
Lectures
David Boadella
Silvia Specht Boadella
Anna Ischu
Languages: German and English, each
with translation
Fee: CHF 250,Location:
Volkshaus ZÃ¼rich,
Switzerland
66 Training and Courses in Biosynthesis
Info and Registration:
Anna Ischu
Psychotherapeutin SPV/EAP
Niederdorfstrasse 20
CH-8001 ZÃ¼rich
anna.ischu@bluewin.ch
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Kb1FMVmhRvRx-vwynVpluiw2D7hE3qSJAzoMSX1tFGgÍïÍ` ÌÂÍ ×XšAä°VScÞ•×‰EÚTraining and Courses in Biosynthesis
At the International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
Leadership:
David Boadella D. Sc. hon. and
Silvia Specht Boadella Ph.D
The word â€œBiosynthesisâ€ means â€œintegration of
lifeâ€. Biosynthesis works on a basis of self-development
processes, which promote organic growth, personal
development, and spiritual integrity. The objective of
our work is bringing together the three essential areas
of human existence:
somatic existence
psychological experience and
spiritual essence.
Biosynthesis has been researched and developed over
the past 40 years; it continues to be developed today
in theory and a wide range of practical applications by
David Boadella and Silvia Specht Boadella, as well as
leading members of the â€œInternational Training Faculty
of Biosynthesisâ€.
The â€œInternational Institute for Biosynthesisâ€ IIBS
is a research and training centre for Biosynthesis. About
20 training institutes in different countries around the
world are affiliated to the Institute. The IIBS is a member
of various organisations, including the â€œWorld Council
for Psychotherapyâ€ WCP, the â€œEuropean Association
for Psychotherapyâ€ EAP and the â€œMedicina Alternativa
Internacionalâ€.
The IIBS has a guiding influence within various different
international psychotherapy associations, for
instance it has a presence on the board of the scientific
recognition committee of the EAP, was involved in the
psychotherapy and spirituality working group of the
WCP, and many others besides. It is involved in a number
of scientific research projects.
The training in Biosynthesis â€“ somatic and depth-psychology
oriented psychotherapy at the IIBS is recognized
by the Swiss Charter for Psychotherapy SCP. The Training
fulfils also the requirements of an Advanced Training for
Specialists in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy FMH as well
as for Psychosomatic and Psychosocial Medicine APPM.
In Brussels in October 1998, Biosyn the sis was the first
body-psychotherapy method to receive scientific recogniLes
Parau Parau - Conversation, 1891, Paul Gauguin
tion from the European Association for Psychotherapy
EAP. With the Diploma in Biosynthesis and the affiliation
to the International Foundation for Biosynthesis
IFB graduates can receive the European Certificate for
Psychotherapy ECP.
New Structures
In 2009/2010/2011 the introductory courses take
place as follows:
3 days (Friday-Sunday), all in Heiden CH (near St. Gallen).
Each Training begins in May. It lasts over 3 years and
consists of 3 course modules of 7 Â½ days (4 Â½ weekdays
and 3 weekend days) per year.
After 3 years students receive a certificate showing
how many training hours they have completed.
Introductory Courses /
Introductory Training
Anyone who is interested in Biosynthesis and would
like to become familiar with it is invited to an Introductory
course / Introductory training. Normally you must
attend one of these introductory courses in preparation
for the training.
Tutors: David Boadella, D.Sc.hon. and Silvia Specht
Boadella, Ph.D.
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 67
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://rANl4DxjND9cx4gyKw4JXYM2qPOtTvVbvu2fs1JapAsÍ!¹Í`ÌÂÍ ×XšAä°VScÞ•×XšAä°VScÞ•ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://4mXGKPW7G3OTUlA3ngJ8zPf60GjIkm4CW18P597oIYMÎ ØÍÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://fUMcR-Ft5utJdHp87tnJZODX3ecbd1d0jZd5BUaI_BgÍbTÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YemW0xCGFrA6shSlNjrQclMqDgFZFApW6L6QiZMZQToÍ«Í`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://l2yxB8OpmJvLQ_6u98HRoS8YcV0MYkV5eca7hO2SkhsÍJ€DÍ ÍEÍñ×XšAä°VScÞ•×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://SEW-lwzhjfqbINP8SBGs1xBxW8wdCFn66FZ2aMmsfPcÎ çŠÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://uJJd0lHpAevK54u05PxlnsslL4yqd-LuJcdjN5Noh3UÍWöÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://tgPIpWzEA52wFdWYfkGxH--WoGu44391WPyYLXmrIssÍÅÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://T3DRPGq864WosrwLLzDgDXw6U0RAmHQ8XCorQDVQYhYÍO¶DÍ ÍEÍñ×XšAä°VScÞ•“× ×XšCä°VScÞ•F ÍYÍÒÌ§9×H¼mailto:anna.ischu@bluewin.ch××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•D ÍYÍ1Ì¢9×H½mailto:joke.vandebelt@rito.ch××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•C ÍYÌ•Ì›9×H¼mailto:info@biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ×‰EÚ¤Dates
Location, Time: International Institute for Biosynthe s is
19.06. â€“ 21.06.09 Heiden
11.09. â€“ 13.09.09 Heiden*
13.11. â€“ 15.11.09 Heiden
22.01. â€“ 24.01.10 Heiden*
19.03. - 21.03.10 Heiden*
11.06. - 13.06.10 Heiden
10.09. - 12.09.10 Heiden*
05.11. - 07.11.10 Heiden
28.01. - 30.01.11 Heiden*
* These introductory courses will be held in 2 languages (german
and english), the same as our trainings and our extension courses.
Location, Time: International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
Starting: Friday 13.00â€“20.00, Saturday 09.15â€“18.00,
Sunday 09.15â€“16.45
Accomodation: Journey suggestions and accommodation
(hotels, apartments, holiday homes, B&B): Tourist
Information, CH-9410 Heiden/Switzerland, Tel. +41
(0)71 898 33 01, Fax +41 (0)71 898 33 09, heiden@
appenzell.ch, www.heiden.ch > Tourismus
Course Fee: For all courses, 3 days: CHF 390.â€“
(does not include board and lodging)
Info and Registration: By email only:
info@biosynthesis.org
The number of students is restricted.
Trainings
The training T 21 (2009 / 2010 / 2011) begins in May
2009 with three course modules as follows:
1) 02.05. â€“ 09.05.2009
2) 08.08. â€“ 15.08.2009
3) 21.11. â€“ 28.11.2009
The training T 22 (2010 / 2011 / 2012) begins in May
2010 with three course modules as follows:
1) 29.05. â€“ 05.06.2010
2) 02.10. â€“ 09.10.2010
3) 04.12. â€“ 11.12.2010
The training T 23 (2011 / 2012 / 2013) begins in Spring
2011 with three course modules. The dates for this and
for further introductory courses in 2011 can be obtained
from our secretaryâ€™s office from February 2010.
68 Training and Courses in Biosynthesis
IIBS in Heiden (Switzerland)
Starts on first Saturday at 13.00, finishes on last Sa turday
at 15.00.
Wednesday afternoon is free time.
Each course module consists of 4Â½ weekdays and 3
weekend days.
Course Fee: CHF 225.â€“ per training day, excluding
board and lodging, incl. course material.
Tutors:
11,5 days per y/ear:
11 days per year:
David Boadella, D.Sc.hon.,
Silvia Specht Boadella, Ph.D.,
together with assistant trainers.
Guest lecturers are also invited to give lectures on
specialist themes.
Extension Courses
FT2-A: 26.09. â€“ 03.10.2009 Fulfilling your Freedom,
â€œReal Freedom is choosing the frame to be inâ€
Language: the teaching, correspondence and confirmation
etc will be only in English.
FT2-B: 17.10. â€“ 24.10.2009 Fulfilling your Freedom,
â€œReal Freedom is choosing the frame to be inâ€
Language: the teaching will be in German and English
(with translation into both languages), but the correspondence
and confirmation etc (all what there is in
writing) will be only in English.
FT3-A: 21.08.â€“28.08.2010 Trauma-Healing in Biosynthesis,
â€œDiscovering Resources and Healing Memoriesâ€
Language: the teaching, correspondence and confirmation
etc will be only in English.
FT3-B: 18.09.â€“25.09.2010 Trauma-Healing in Biosynthesis,
â€œDiscovering Resources and Healing Memoriesâ€
Language: the teaching will be in German and English
(with translation into both languages), but the correspondence
and confirmation etc (all what there is in
writing) will be only in English.
Tutors: David Boadella, D.Sc.hon. and Silvia Specht
Boadella, Ph.D.;
Location: International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
Time and days: total 7,5 days
Saturday
Sun/Mon/Tue
Wednesday
Thursday/Friday
Saturday
13:00 â€“ 17:30, 19.00 â€“ 21.00
09:30 â€“ 12:30, 14.30 â€“ 17.30
09:30 â€“ 12:30, Wed. afternoon free
09:30 â€“ 12:30, 14.30 â€“ 17.30
09:30 â€“ 11:45, 13.00 â€“ 15.00
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YemW0xCGFrA6shSlNjrQclMqDgFZFApW6L6QiZMZQToÍ«Í`ÌÂÍ ×XšAä°VScÞ•×‰EÚ	ˆCourse fee: CHF 1.200.â€“ each
Registration and Info: By email only:
info@biosynthesis.org
The number of students is restricted.
FTJS: 06.05.â€“09.05.2010 (in German and Englisch)
â€œLife-Transitions and Ritualsâ€
Language: the teaching will be in German and English
(with translation into both languages), but the correspondence
and confirmation etc (all what there is in
writing) will be only in English.
Tutors: Joke van de Belt-Optiker, Drs. and Silvia Specht
Boadella, Ph.D.
Location: International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
Time and days: total 4 days
Starts on Thursday at 13.00,
finishes on Sunday at 16.45.
Course fee: CHF 550.â€“, excluding board and lodging
Registration and Info: only by email:
joke.vandebelt@rito.ch
Biosynthesis Conference
Zurich 2010 Trauma and Encouragement
12. 3. 2010 Workshop â€žBiosynthesis and Traumaâ€
David Boadella and Silvia Specht Boadella
13. 3. 2010 Lectures
David Boadella, Silvia Specht Boadella and Anna Ischu
Languages: German and English, each with translation
Fee: CHF 250,â€“
Location: Volkshaus ZÃ¼rich, Switzerland
Info and Registration: Anna Ischu, Psychothera p eu
tin SPV/EAP
Niederdorfstrasse 20
CH-8001 ZÃ¼rich
anna.ischu@bluewin.ch
Thematic Training Units at the IIBS
New possibilities for European and Overseas advanced
students and professionals to take Thematic Training
Units at the International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS,
in Switzerland.
Training Units at the IIBS
2009/2010
2009:
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
2010:
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
Fou nding and
Grounding
Centering
Holding and
Charging
Bounding
Bonding
Sounding
Facing
Crowning
Forming and
Shaping
Founding and
Grounding
Centering
Holding and
Charging
Bounding
Bonding
Sounding
Facing
Crowning
Forming and
Shaping
T 21 02.05.2009
09.05.2009
T 21 08.08.2009
15.08.2009:
T 21 21.11.2009
28.11.2009:
T 20 21.03.2009
28.03.2009:
T 20 27.06.2009
04.07.2009:
T 20 31.10.2009
07.11.2009:
T 19 21.02.2009
28.02.2009:
T 19 06.06. 2009
13.06.2009:
T 19 05.12. 2009
12.12.2009:
T 22 29.05.2010
05.06.2010
T 22 02.10.2010
09.10.2010:
T 22 04.12.2010
11.12.2010:
T 21 27.02.2010
06.03.2010
T 21 26.06.2010
03.07.2010:
T 21 23.10.2010
30.10.2010:
T 20 24.04.2010
01.05.2010:
T 20 07.08.2010
14.08.2010:
T 20 20.11.2010
27.11.2010:
P = Places available; W = Waiting list
Description of the 9 Thematic
Training Units at the International
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 69
P
P
P
W
W
P
P
W
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
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I Founding and Grounding
The emphasis is on the root chakra and the spine as the
basis of autonomy and on the difference between over
grounded and under- grounded character tendencies.
The understanding of the motoric fields as patterns of
developmental movement, expressive gesture, and as affecto
â€“ motoric schemes is a main theme. Major teaching
themes are holding patterns in the body, polarity tendencies
in the body, and impulse qualities in movement.
II Centering
The emphasis is on the hara chakra and on pre- and
perinatal aspects of experience, womb life, birthing, and
ways to help clients with birth or pre-natal trauma. We
teach principles of working with breathing patterns,
hyper and hypoventilation; and character principles: the
schizo - hysterical split as expressed as a distortion of the
polarity between containment and release.
III Holding and Charging
The emphasis is on the first year of life, the throat
chakra, oral character tendencies, healthy needs, and
patterns of addiction. The Biosynthesis principles of the
elements of touch as forms of healthy nourishment are
taught. We work as well with the themes of pulsations
of pleasure in the body, work with restrictions in the
pelvis and the handling of healthy eros and sexuality.
IV Bounding
The emphasis is on the energies of the solar plexus
chakra, and the sympathetic emotions of anger and
anxiety, in relation to the movement patterns of constructive
aggression, and constructive self defence, or safety
- seeking. Character aspects of power, as in masochism
or psychopathy are also main themes.
V Bonding
The emphasis is on the heart as the centre of a love
relationship, and on patterns of cooperation in partnership,
(as opposed to symbiotic collusion, or destructive
collision). A central focus is on the energetics of the
arms as channels for expression and contact. We work
with character aspects of over activity, or over passivity
in relationship and with the somatic basis for dealing
with sexual problems of clients.
VI Sounding
70 Training and Courses in Biosynthesis
The emphasis is on the voice, the throat chakra, and
the ear. We teach Patterns of clear communication in
language and disruptions of this; also ways to help clients
who are over rational and clients who have difficulty
finding words for their experience.
VII Facing
The emphasis is on outlook and insight, eye contact
and vision, including the third eye. Therapeutic work on
the eye block includes ways of transforming restrictive
imagery to creative imagery, and ways of grounding
imagery in the body and in movement.
VIII Crowning
The emphasis is on the crown chakra as gate between
personal existence, and the transpersonal. We work
with themes of healthy spirituality as opposed to pseudo
spiritual escape from the body. We look at attitudes
to death. There is intensive teaching on working with
resources and qualities of essence.
IX Forming and Shaping
The emphasis is a continuation of the previous week
and a study of disturbances to the crown chakra functions
of integration in psychosis, traumatic states and
borderline conditions. We also look at the application
fields of Biosynthesis in private practice, in clinics, or in
other areas such as work with children or social applications.
We include character aspects of the process of
transition and saying goodbye, as well as resources in
harvesting and new beginnings.
General Information
1. Trainers:
All units are led by Dr.h.c. David Boadella for 4 Â½ days
and Dr.phil. Silvia Specht Boadella for 3 days.
2. Admission
These places are available to the following persons:
â€¢ Trainers who wish to update their training and add
some specialisation in two or more of the thematic
course units. Additional time will be created for specific
questions from trainers.
â€¢ Assistants who accompany Biosynthesis National or
Regional Trainers to the thematic training units and
wish to support their trainers within the National or
Regional trainings.
â€¢ Biosynthesis - Therapists who already have received a
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://BGpdXVYtv3mak4TCLZ8301gikheKuqgHavTHhBhaEdsÍÇÍ`ÌÂÍ ×XšAä°VScÞ•×‰EÚ<certificate or a diploma.
â€¢ Advanced Students of a National or Regional Biosynthesis
training outside the IIBS.
3. Number of Places available:
In each training week there will be four places available.
We are offering the opportunity to reserve one or more
thematic units of the whole course.
4. Language:
German and English.
Theory parts mostly are fully translated into both languages
whereas experiential and discussion parts are
sometimes translated only as a summary.
5. Course-Fee:
CHF. 1.200.-- per Unit, 7 Â½ days, excluding board
and lodging.
6. Time:
Saturday
Sun/Mon/Tue
Wednesday
13.00 â€“ 17.30, 19.00 â€“ 21.00
09.30 â€“ 12.30, 14.30 â€“ 18.00
09.30 â€“ 13.00, Wed. afternoon free
Thursday/Friday 09.30 â€“ 12.30, 14.30 â€“ 18.00 h
Saturday
7. Location:
International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
BenzenrÃ¼ti 6
CH- 9410 Heiden/Switzerland
Tel.: +41-(0)71 891 68 55
Fax: +41-(0)71 891 58 55
E-Mail: info@biosynthesis.org
www.biosynthesis.org
8. Choosing units:
If you book more than one unit, we recommend you to
book the units, if possible, in the same training group.
9. Accommodations:
For accommodations contact the Apparthotel Garni
SantÃ© in Heiden (phone and fax: +41-(0)7- 891 21 77).
Mrs. Mettler is happy to welcome people from all over
the world since she speaks German, English, French,
Italian and Portuguese; or contact the Tourist Information
in Heiden for journey suggestions and fur ther
accommodations:
Tourist Information
(Hotels, Appartements, B & B)
CH- 9410 Heiden/ Schweiz
Tel.: +41-(0)71-898 33 01
Fax: +41-(0)71-898 33 09
web: www.heiden.ch ---> Tourismus
E-Mail: heiden@appenzell.ch
The IIBS does not do reservations!
09.30 â€“ 11.45, 13.00 â€“ 15.00 h
10. Registration and Course Conditions:
Registration by E-Mail only: info@biosynthesis.org
Please register as soon as possible, the IIBS will take
the orders on a first come, first served basis. After your
registration, the IIBS will send you an invoice for your
payment. After your payment, you will receive the confirmation
of your place by E-Mail.
11. Cancellation:
In case of cancellation the course fee will be refunded
with a deduction of CHF 200.-- provided that the place
can be filled by someone else.
12. Liability:
Course participants are responsible for their own actions
within the context of the course. The International
Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS and trainers running the
course accept no responsibility for accidents or for
consequences arising from the course. The participant
confirms that he/she has accident and health insurance,
valid in Switzerland and that he/she will maintain this
policy for the duration of the course.The CopyrightAgreement
with the IIBS has to be signed at the first
course day at the IIBS.
Special Training Modules at the IIBS:
Advanced Training / Supervision Course
T18 W 2009/2010
2009:
1. Module 23.04.2009
26.04.2009
2. Module 03.09.2009
06.09.2009
2010:
3. Module 25.03.2010
28.03.2010
4. Module 08.07.2010
11.07.2010
5. Module 16.12.2010
19.12.2010
lic.phil. Erwin Kaiser
Dr.h.c. David Boadella*
David Boadella u. Dr.phil.
Silvia Boadella*
* The detailed description of the Modules 1, 2, 4 and 5 you
will find on our website www.biosynthesis.org.
(In the Advanced Training T18 W the Module 2 with lic.phil.
Leena HÃ¤ssig Ramming corresponds to the Module 5 in 2011
and the Module 4 with Dr.h.c. David Boadella corresponds
to the Module 3 in 2011).
T19 W 2010/2011
The detailed description of all these Modules you will
find on our website www.biosynthesis.org.
2010:
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 71
Dr.h.c. David Boadella u.
Dr.phil. Silvia Boadella*
lic.phil. Leena HÃ¤ssig
Ramming*
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Mqm4v1IW4__vojJlSlnJWxO87P-fOcuYsYhN331RXQUÍxÍ`ÌÂÍ ×XšAä°VScÞ•×XšAä°VScÞ•ÍØÍ+×‘C’×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://726YjA5-nSre8aeU-MFoazdzyT7XKbpvnn_p8ZaxJ1YÎ ÄoÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://8fVAOBjkN3-DrnnV1lUlxqA8BgFwzBO4mX_alTrmUC8ÍPiÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://oUrPGVUI1-YdHl05s-GPoLmv2Jpk1WgO7jubGh8YwPoÍAÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://ZFIX4De4I0qwL0znwErDO55eVnlNJCI7qLLdPTEaJQAÍ@¦DÍ ÍEÍñ×XšBä°VScÞ•×˜š Íì ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://9InkNzIJDWad7cKcMGG8vBiHxq_A3RXBmQJIi-Rm9PYÎ •ßÍ` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://sjfDL_P8_bPRMkgMqIfaFMrSfcQVsRkzEteIsDmj61gÍt“Í`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://cZY0C1w7fJldoY8pLyQw86HT14xQ0AloTVQlNJihlssÍvÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_Z7C912rqih7jJ1uNQKMY16SI9cg7C_b02wckJXMVGYÎ QTÍ ÍEÍñ×XšBä°VScÞ•š× ×XšCä°VScÞ•P ÍáÍiÌ›9×H¼mailto:info@biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•O Í0ÍÌ–9×Hºmailto:heiden@appenzell.ch××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•N Í#Ìèp9×H´http://www.heiden.ch××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•M Í,ÌžF9×H°http://Dr.rer.na××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•L Í,{29×H¬http://Dr.ph××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•K ^ÍÌ9×H»http://www.biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•J Ì™ÍõÌ›9×H¼mailto:info@biosynthesis.org××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•I Í¨Í129×H¬http://Dr.ph××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•H ÌëÍ29×H­http://lic.ph××Ðˆ× ×XšCä°VScÞ•G eeE9×H«http://1.Mo××Ðˆ×‰EÚ
M1.Module 15.04.2010
18.04.2010
2. Module 14.10.2010
17.10.2010
2011:
3. Module
4. Module
5. Module
** Dr.h.c. David Boadella
** lic.phil. Leena HÃ¤ssig Ramming
** Dr.h.c. David Boadella u. Dr.phil.
Silvia Boadella
** The Dates for the three Modules in 2011 can be obtained
from our secretaryâ€™s office from November 2010.
Time
1. Day 13.00 â€“ 17.30, 19.00 â€“ 21.00
2. Day 09.30 â€“ 12.30, 14.30 â€“ 18.00
3. Day 09.30 â€“ 12.30, 14.30 â€“ 18.00
4. Day 09.30 â€“ 12.30, 14.30 â€“ 16.45
Place
International Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS
BenzenrÃ¼ti 6
CH â€“ 9410 Heiden/Switzerland
Tel.: +41-(0)71 891 68 55
Fax: +41-(0)71 891 58 55
E- Mail: info@biosynthesis.org
www.biosynthesis.org
Language
German and English.
Theory parts mostly are fully translated into both languages
whereas experiential and discussion parts are
sometimes translated only as a summary.
Course-Fee
CHF 900. â€“ per Module, 4 days, excluding board and
lodging .
Accommodations
For accommodations contact the Apparthotel Garni
SantÃ© in Heiden (phone and fax: +41 - (0) 71 - 891 21
77). Mrs. Mettler is happy to welcome people from
all over the world since she speaks German, English,
French, Italian and Portuguese; or contact the Tourist
In formation in Heiden for journey suggestions and further
accommodations:
72 Training and Courses in Biosynthesis
Dr.h.c. David Boadella u.
Dr.phil. Silvia Boadella
Dr.rer.nat. Gisela
Marxen-von Stritzky
Tourist Information
(Hotels, Appartements, B & B)
CH- 9410 Heiden/ Schweiz
Tel.: +41-(0)71-898 33 01
Fax: +41-(0)71-898 33 09
web: www.heiden.ch ---> Tourismus
E-Mail: heiden@appenzell.ch
The IIBS does not do reservations!
Registration and Course Conditions
Registration by E-Mail only: info@biosynthesis.org
Please register as soon as possible, the IIBS will take
the orders on a first come, first served basis. After your
registration, the IIBS will send you an invoice for your
payment. After your payment, you will receive the confirmation
of your place by E-Mail.
Cancellation
In case of cancellation the course fee will be refunded
with a deduction of CHF 200. â€“ provided that the place
can be filled by someone else.
Liability
Course participants are responsible for their own actions
within the context of the course. The International
Institute for Biosynthesis IIBS and trainers running the
course accept no responsibility for accidents or for consequences
arising from the course.
The participant confirms that he/she has accident and
health insurance, valid in Switzerland and that he/she
will maintain this policy for the duration of the course.
The Copyright-Agreement with the IIBS has to be
signed.
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://oUrPGVUI1-YdHl05s-GPoLmv2Jpk1WgO7jubGh8YwPoÍAÍ`ÌÂÍ ×XšBä°VScÞ•×‰EÚEditorial Information
Publishers and International Editors
David Boadella
(Born 1931), B.A., M.Ed., Dr.h.c.,
Psychotherapist SPV and UKCP.
Studied education, psychology and
literature. Trained in character-analytic
vege to therapy. Founder of Biosynthesis.
Since 1985 he has undergone
ongoing further training in â€œPsychosomatic
Centeringâ€ (Robert Moore,
Denmark). He has spent over 40
years in psy chotherapeutic practice.
He holds lectures worldwide, and is the author of numerous
books and articles. In 1995 he was awarded an honorary
doctorate from the â€œOpen International University of
Complementary Medicineâ€ for his pioneering work in the
development and promotion of Energy & Character, as well
as for his contributions to social sciences in this context. A
selection of David Boadellaâ€™s books: â€œLifestreamsâ€ (Routledge),
â€œWilhelm Reich: The evolution of his workâ€ (Arkana).
Silvia Specht Boadella
(Born 1948), Dr. phil., Psychotherapist
SPV and EABP.
Studied philosophy, literature, psychology
and art history. Trained in
Biosyn thesis. Since 1985 she has
undergone ongoing further training
in â€œPsychosomatic Centeringâ€
(Robert Moore, Denmark). She spent
four years lecturing at the University
of Kanazawa (Japan). There she dealt intensively with Zen
Buddhism and trained in Buto dance with Kazuo Ohno.
Since 1985 she has had a psychotherapeutic practice for
individual and group therapy. Since 1986 she has been a
Biosynthesis trainer at an international level and director of
the IIBS. She has published a book: â€œMemory as changeâ€
(MÃ¤ander).
Acnowledgment
Thanks to Renata Reich Moise for the painting, articles, EvaÂ´s
photos and article.
Thanks to Josef Optiker for his support and donations to Energy
and Character.
The International Editorial Advisory Board
Jacqueline A. Carleton (PhD) is a member of the Board of
Directors of the US Association for Body Psychotherapy and
founding editor of the USA Body Psychotherapy Journal. She
is also an active member of the European Association for
Body Psychotherapy. For more than 20 years, she has enjoyed
teaching Core Energetics and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in
different countries around the world.
Helder Coelho (PhD) is a full professor of Artificial Intelligence
at the Department of Computer Science of FCUL (Faculdade
de CiÃªncias da Universidade de Lisboa) and president of the
Institute for Complexity Sciences. He received a PhD degree in
Artificial Intelligence from Edinburgh University and his research
interests include cognitive agent models and architectures,
complexity sciences and multi-agent based simulation.
Liliana Acero (PhD) studied Human Science. She is a national
trainer in bio ener getic analysis and body psychotherapy, and
president of the Foundation Centre for Bio synthesis in Argentina
and Chile.
Marianne Bentzen (born 1955) is a movement and relaxation
therapist. Since 1998 she has been working at an international
level as a freelance trainer and consultant in the field of Somatic
Developmental Psychology. For four years she held the post of
energy & character vol.37 may 2009 73
Producers and Managing Editors
Esther Frankel
(Born 1948) M.A., Clinical Psychologist
and Psychotherapist, trained with
Jean Piagetâ€™s team at the University
of Geneva. She was a student of
Gerda Boyesen, David Boadella, Silvia
Specht Boadella, Alexander Lowen,
Jerome Liss and Alberto Pesso. She
is one of the pioneers of Body Psychotherapy
in Brazil. She is a director
of the Biosynthesis School of Rio de
Janeiro (Brazil), the Biosynthesis Training for Israel, the Biosynthesis
Training for Portugal and she is the main trainer
and supervisor of the Biosynthesis Training for London.
Esther is a leading member of the â€œInternational Training
Faculty of Biosynthesisâ€. She has over 25 years experience
in the field and currently divides her time between training,
supervision, psychotherapy practice and as a consultant to
international institutions and organizations.
Milton CorrÃªa
(Born 1947) Graduated in Engineering,
MSc in Computer Science, PhD
in Artificial Intelligence, Biosynthesis
Psychotherapist and Trainer. Studied
Zen Buddhism, shiatsu, karate, ikebana,
painting and mythology. He
did more than 25 years of psychoanalysis,
gestalt and bioenergetics.
He was a student of David Boadella
and Silvia Specht Boadella. His main
area of interest is the bridge between Complexity and
System Theory and Psychotherapy. He is a leader of a
research project about trust, democracy and multiagents
systems under the Brazilian National Council for Research.
Milton is the Scientific Director of the Biosynthesis School
of Rio de Janeiro, the Biosynthesis Training for Portugal and
the Biosynthesis Training for Israel. He was the Chair of the
Scientific Committee of the 4th International Biosynthesis
Congress in the University of Lisbon in 2006.
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://cZY0C1w7fJldoY8pLyQw86HT14xQ0AloTVQlNJihlssÍvÍ`ÌÂÍ ×XšBä°VScÞ•×XšBä°VScÞ•ÍØÍ+×‘C‘×˜š   ÍìÍ+u×‰œ”×‰	Ú 7cassandra://dMYEBSxtwB-mPsFMfEErcPW3zJylIoS6XAy2npkO9PEÎ }‚Í` ÍåÍÄ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://WZ_6LaanjTKDeUiU6YKdAi9Rrt3TQ6QBFeNUyryl284Í}óÍ`ÍlÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://M03jdsVjyoJgaEzDOzMsLzvbowXI5vc8u2u7eTJIftUÍOÍ`ÌÂÍ ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://JU8HB_if06qRBdngOyg7VWQBoKl1iVRpbSCiZGjXBBgÍZIDÍ ÍEÍñ×XšBä°VScÞ•%‘× ×XšCä°VScÞ•E ÌÃÍB59×H«http://M.Ph××Ðˆ×‰EÚchairman of the EABP Ethics Committee. One of her specialist
areas is trauma work. Her work is influenced by transpersonal
aspects and the chaos theory, as well as by somatic development
approaches.
Will Davis (born 1944) is an American with more than 25
years experience in the psychotherapy field. He is a psychologist
who was trained by Charles Kelley in neo- Reichian Radix work.
Will developed the Points and Positions techniques, a school
of body psychotherapy that is based on functional energy, and
he is considered one of the major researchers in the field of
plasmatic origins of early character disorders.
George Downing (PhD) works at the SalpÃªtriÃ¨re Hospital
in Paris where he is a chief psychologist in a child psychiatry
outpatientsâ€™ unit at the hospital. He is also co-director of a
research project on the subject of infant development, which
is run jointly by the SalpÃªtriÃ¨re Hospital and the Harvard Medical
School (Boston).
Esther Frankel Psychologist and Psychotherapist graduated
by the University of Geneva, in 1976, and one of the pioneers
to work with Body Psychotherapy in Brazil. She is International
Trainer in Biosynthesis and directs the Biosynthesis Training for
Portugal and Israel and the Biosynthesis School of Rio de Janeiro
(Brazil). She works with trauma and family in Biosynthesis.
Esther also works as Adviser for institutions and international
organizations.
Ulfried Geuter (PhD, born 1950), is an independent practising
psychotherapist and scientific journalist in Berlin. He is a private
lecturer at the Freie UniversitÃ¤t Berlin, where he represents the
field of body psychotherapy. He lectures at the Institute for Body
Psychotherapy in Berlin. His qualifications in psychotherapy
include â€œIntegrative Bio dyna micsâ€ and Jungian psychoanalysis.
Michael Heller (PhD /born 1949) was trained by Jean Piagetâ€™s
team in Geneva, and he trained with Gerda Boyesenâ€™s team
in biodynamic psychology. As an experimental psychologist
he specialised first in social psychology and then non- verbal
communication. He is currently vice- president of the EABP
and chairman of the Scientific Committee. Heller is one of the
most important researchers of non- verbal communication at
the University of Geneva.
Barbara Jakel (M.Phil.) was born in 1954 in Poland, where
she graduated in German and education. Her main focus was
the link between psychological disorders and language. She
was trained as a body psychotherapist by P. Bolen as part of an
Emotional Reintegration team. She has many yearsâ€™ experience
in meditation and religious systems, which also contributed
towards her change of focus to energetic phenomena in
regression and therapeutic communication.
Rubens Kignel works as a Bio syn the sis trainer in Brazil (Sao
Paulo), Japan and France. He has been a teacher and body
psychotherapist since 1980, mainly teaching neo- Reichian
work on Biosynthesis and Bio dynamics.
Hans Krens (PhD / born 1948), a psychological psychotherapist,
is the founder of depth psychology body therapy. He
has been the director of the International Academy for Body
Therapy (IAB) in the Netherlands, since 1984. Depth psychology
body therapy based on is a body-oriented therapy form
with its origins in academic principles. From this perspective
the significance of prenatal learning is particularly important.
Heiko Lassek (born 1957) is a doctor with his own practice,
and a fundamental researcher specialising in Life Energy re74
Editorial Information
search. In 1979, Heiko Lassek, Dr. Bernd Senf and Prof. Arnim
Bechmann established the Wilhelm Reich Initiative Berlin, as
well as the Wilhelm Reich journal â€œemotionâ€. From 1987 â€“
1999 he has been the Chairman of the â€˜Wilhelm Reich Society
for Research into Life Energy Processesâ€™. In February 2000 he
became the first Western scholar under Prof. Lu Jinchuan to
adopt the approach of merging Western and Asiatic life energy
research, both at a high theoretical level and in practice.
Peter Levine (PhD) received a doctorate in medical and biological
Physics from the University of California in Berkeley. In
addition to this he holds a doctorate in Psychology from the
International University. Over the past thirty years his primary
focus has been â€œstress and traumaâ€. He developed a new
therapy technique (â€œSomatic Experiencingâ€) for treating severely
traumatised individuals.
Jerome Liss (Doctor of Medicine) is a Professor of Clinical
Psychology at the La Jolla University in San Diego, California
(European Campus, Lugano, Switzerland) and former Professor
of Clinical Psychology at the West deutsche Akademie in DÃ¼sseldorf,
Germany. He studied medicine at the Albert Einstein
College. He is the founder of Bio systemic Psychology.
Victor Seidlerâ€™s introduction to Reich and body psychotherapy
came through meeting Myron Sharaf when he was living in
Boston in 1970 as a postgraduate student in philosophy for
a year. Over the years he has been influenced and worked
with David Boadella, Terry Cooper, Stanley Keleman and Bob
Moore. These influences have resonated in the theoretical
writing he has been developing in relation to ethics, bodies
and emotional life.
Ulrich Sollmann (Dipl. rer. soc. / born 1947) practises as a
body psychotherapist (bioenergetic analysis / Gestalt therapy)
in Bochum, where he provides support for both commercial
and non-profit-making organisations in the form of coaching,
supervision and organisational development. He is also
involved with the executive Boards of the DVBA and DVP at
a professional/political level.
Clover Southwell (born 1935) lived in an academic atmosphere
until the age of 24. In 1973 she first experienced
Biodynamic therapy. This affected her quite radically, and
has been her passion ever since. Today she is writing a book
about Biodynamic therapy. Her intention is to present the
depth, coherence and simplicity of Biodynamics, and how it
springs from the essential unity of soul and body.
Ole Vedfelt (PhD / born 1941) graduated from the C. G. Jung
Institute in Copenhagen in 1977, and has been a practising
psychotherapist since then. He is also certified in Gestalt
therapy, psychodrama and body psychotherapy. He completed
four years of training in Biosynthesis with David Boadella.
He is currently a training analyst at the C. G. Jung Institute
in Copenhagen, member of the International Association
for Analytical Psychology and the European Association for
Psychotherapy. He is the author of numerous books about
the dream and consciousness, in which he incorporates
cybernetic models.
Susana B. Volosin Sexer (PhD) has a Mastersâ€™ Degree in Psychology
from the University of Buenos Aires. She is a didactic
member of the AEPP (European Association of Psychoanalytic
Psychotherapy), and has trained in dance, bodily expression
and body therapies. She is a former professor of psychology
at the University of Buenos Aires, and works as a professor at
the University of Palma, Mallorca. She works as guest trainer
at the Institute for Biosynthesis in Heiden.
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