Psychodynamic Therapy Articles
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Psychodynamic Articles
Therapy Article:
Working with the Body in Psychotherapy
from a Reichian Viewpoint
Therapy Article:
Therapy Article:
Working with the Body in Psychotherapy
from a Reichian Viewpoint
The body has assumed greater importance theoretically and practically in the understanding of the
individual as a unity and in the conduct of therapy. By therapy I mean here interventions into the
cognitive and emotional structure of the individual to provide relief, amelioration, or “cure” of
emotional and/or behavioral malfunctions. Most often this takes the form of psychotherapy with or
without explicit attention to the body. In psychoanalysis, attention to the body was first significantly
noted by Ferenczi (T. Braatoy, Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique, John Wiley, 1954), then
practiced by Groddeck (G. Groddeck, The Book of the It, Vintage Books, 1961), but an understanding
of the greater depth of the relationship between the mind and the body did not come until the work of Wilhelm
Reich and his formulation of characterological and muscular “armoring” (W. Reich, Character Analysis, Orgone
Institute Press, 1949). Self-taught students of Reich’s work, such as Alexander Lowen (The Physical Dynamics
of Character Structure, Collier, 1971, Bioenergetics, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1957) and Charles Kelley
(Editor, Radix Journal, 1978-1980), and others totally independent of Reich, such as F. M. Alexander (E.
Maisel, The Alexander Technique, Corel Publishing, 1995) made their own contributions to the field. Today,
while these disciplines remain independent in organization and training institutions, they are all pioneers under
the umbrella known today as “somatics” or “body-oriented psychotherapy.”
Read the entire article at
Therapy Article: WORKING WITH THE BODY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY or download a printable copy at Psychodynamic Article: WORKING WITH THE BODY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY.
The Process of Orgone Therapy
The discovery of muscular armoring in the body by Wilhelm Reich came directly out of his explorations into the
character structure of his patients. "Character analysis" was Reich's seminal contribution to psychoanalytic technique.
In essence, Reich found that by attending strictly and consistently to the form of the patient's verbal productions rather
than their content, he was able to deal more effectively with the patient's defensive structure and thus penetrate more
deeply and surely into the structure of the neurosis. Each patient has a characteristic "way" in which he expressed himself.
By focusing on this way, be it a form of repeated or chronic facial expression, of speaking, of holding oneself, of walking,
etc., and by repetitively describing to the patient this way, mimicking the patient, and eventually analysis of the behavior
regarding its present-day and past functions, patients, after initially venting anger at the therapist for "attacking" them,
eventually give in to the softer, yielding emotions against which their defenses protect them. By systematically working on
the character of the patient, layer after layer of blocked emotions are released in the therapeutic sessions until, each
individual finds that at their "core" they are naturally, healthfully aggressive, responsible, independent, loving, sexual creatures.
Read the entire article at
Therapy Article: The Process of Orgone Therapy.
Dr. Richard Blasband M.D.,
has been a psychiatric orgone therapist for 40 years and is Research Director of the Center for Functional Research in Sausalito, CA.
415-331-2536
rablasband@sbcglobal.net
The Orgonomic Institute of Northern California
315 Eldridge Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941
415-388-0622
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