REICH'S APPROACH TO THERAPY

INTERPRETATION OF RESISTANCE. Psychoanalysts were not doing this. They were very
involved with subsconscious--dreams, etc., paying no attention to behavior. Reich noticed
resistance right from the start. Wondered why people never fully let go. Why inhibitions not
relaxed?? n Reich!s approach, we should start with the armoring and defense mechanisms and
T"#$ go inward. %o he would start with the resistances the people were putting up.
&reud had 'nown that resistance was a sign of repression, but no effective techni(ue was ever
found to move through them, except free association.
Reich was much more interested in patients! resistances than in the information they offered )in
contrast to &reud.* n psychoanalysis, clients would offere the same information over and over,
going around in circles. Reich focused on brea'ing up inhibitions. "e declared, +the resistance
itself becomes the center of the work.+ When people discover how they resist awareness, then
they can choose to 'eep doing so, or to go deeper into themselves, at their own pace.
"e said, don't work with the deeer la!ers of the "nconscio"s "ntil the defense mechanisms
are identified# beca"se the resistance will hold the ne"rotic beha$ior in lace e$en if the
meanin%s are "nderstood. "e wor'ed first with resistances and would not interpret behavior
until the resistances had been laid bare.
n C&ARACTER ANA'(SIS# resistances could be observed in the patient!s behavior --ways
of tal'ing, wal'ing, moving. Reich couldn!t understand why psychoanalysts refused to pay
attention to observable behavior.
We have primarily one character structure. ,ur character can imprison us in rigid and
stereotyped reactions at the same time that we build our character as a defense against our
environment. -haracterological armoring. The armoring is a compromise between our impulses
and our social obligations--between what we want and what we thin' we should do.
n therapy, instead of digging into the deep meaning of the information people present, he would
notice how they breathed, held their shoulders, etc. and wor' with that.
n the ./01s, too' idea of armoring one step farther, to muscular armor. 2ssumes that we are the
sum total of our entire lives. "ow we breathe, laugh, hold ourselves.
"e focused on brea'ing down the muscular armor. Through breathing and other techni(ues that
mobili3ed body energies. 4oo'ef for +the orgasm reflex+ in breathing. %tart breathing way up
high and way down into the belly. Then become aware of your head --what does your head do as
you inhale and exhale, which way does the pelvis go?
%ome people, as inhale, head forward, pelvis bac'. 2s exhale, head bac', pelvis forward. 2n
important goal of therapy --5ust to have people breathe in this manner.
#xamples6 f someone with chin held high, he would interpret this as a resistance. Try and feel
sad with your chin up. "e might as' them to bring the chin down, and then see how easy it is to
feel sad.
f people had a scream to let out, put their head bac', then drop the 5aw. "is first step in therapy
--to get patient to breathe easily and deeply.
%econd step --mobili3e whatever is seen in the patient!s behavior. Touched and moved his
patients, another brea' from psychoanalysis.
C&I')REN6 "e wrote a lot about the self*re%"latin% child. 4etting the child determine when
it!s ready for toilet-training, etc. PR#7#$T,$ ,& $#8R,%%6 The social culture of people
would have to be altered.
NEO-REICHIANS
A'E+AN)ER 'O,EN )+9ioenergetics+* &R,: ./;<-=; Reich was treating and teaching
4owen, the founder of bioenergetics, who said that he learned everything that!s important to him
from Reich.Reich said, >ot to get energy down into the pelvis. 4owen6 >et it radiating into our
extremities, out into hands and feet. 2chiever energy --always outward, forward. Trainer had a
woman wal' bac'ward in a circle to get into her energy.
STAN'E( -E'E.AN6 :aintained a body-oriented psychotherapy practice in %an &rancisco
Wrote the most readable neo-Reichian body oriented psychology boo's !ve seen. 9est 'nown is
Sexuality, Self, and Survival. 2lso various others. highly recommend his writing.
.OS&E FE')EN-REIS/ T&E A'E+AN)ER TEC&NI01E. ,ther neo-Reichian
approaches that use gentle movements and manipulations. #leanor -riswell uses a similar
approach.
I)A RO'F6 ?eveloped a method of deep tissue massage that can be seen as an even deeper
cousin of shiatsu in which she actually went in with her thumb and fingertips and physically
separated stuc'-together muscles and tendons and ligaments that were held in certain positions
as a result of personality and character variables, thus literally freeing up the body to move in
ways that it had been unable to before. $ot infre(uently during Rolfing, deep emotions and
images from the past often come flooding out as the tension and held-togetherness of particular
areas of the body are released.
RO2ERT -. &A'', originally trained as a psychoanalyst, then as a >estalt therapist with &rit3
Perls, combined Rolfing with the 'nowledge he gained from the bodywor' system developed by
?r. Randolph %tone of ndia, which added wor' at particular acupressure points, as well as other
interventions, to Rolfing per se. "all called this 4,: 9,?@ W,RA. The 4omi %chool he
founded, which is in %anta Rosa, grants :aster!s degrees.
WILHELM REICH'S SOCIOPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
)$otes from a guest lecture by :ary >omes*.
T&E 3FRE1)IAN 'EFT+ Reich was part of the +&reudian left+ which included himself,
:arcuse, &romm, 2dorno, "or'eimer, and the various other figures of +critical theory.+ "e was
one of the first political psychologists. 8ndertoo' a creative synthesis of psychoanalysis and
:arxist socialism. . Was 'ic'ed of both the psychoanalytic association and the -ommunist Party
as a conse(uence of publishing The :ass Psychology of &ascism )./00*. ):ary!s comment6 "e
must gotten done something rightB*!!
,&AT IS O1R 2ASIC NAT1RE4 Reich as'ed, can our basic nature be trusted, can we trust
people!s natural unfolding? ,r if we thin' the child is inherently bad, we will probably insist on
strong external controls. 9ecause if you don!t trust people, you will loo' for some way to control
them.
REIC&'S .O)E'6 6
Reich!s model of Personality, ?rawn as a circle6
the center )core* is natural sociability, sexuality, spontancous en5oyment of wor' with no
external carrot or stic', and capacity for love. 2ll this often get repressed.
n a circle around the center, the next layer that arises. This is the &reudian unconscious,
in which sadism, greediness, lasciviousness, envy, and perversions of all 'inds are found.
n the outer circle is the layer of control6 compulsive, insincere politeness, coc'tail party
conversation and artificial sociability. #(uivalent to Cung!s Persona. We can also e(uate
this to +peeling the onion.+
RE5O'1TIONAR( OR REACTIONAR( ATTIT1)E Reich as'ed, ?oes psychoanalysis
have a +revolutionary+ or a +reactionary+ attitude toward our situation? ?oes it endeavor to help
people
a. >et out of suppressive social situations, or
b. %trengthen the authorities in them?
Reich!s brea' with &reud was partly around this very issue within the psychoanalytic movement.
&reud, although he opposed the $a3is, took the a"thoritarian osition within s!choanal!sis.
,nce he had fully developed his own ideas, Reich viewed &reud asreactionary. n Civilization
and its Discontents, &reud laid out a theory of innate aggressiveness,. "e held essentially that in
our deepest core we want to rape and pillage and murder. @ou can!t trust people. 8ltimately,
we!re inherently destructive. Reich read this and found it inherently reactionary. Reich thought
that &reud started to loo' underneath the character of the society he lived in, but did not loo' far
enough.
REIC&'S REF'ECTIONS ON FRE1)6
n Reich!s view, &reud sort of pee'ed underneath the little mas' of character and saw
perversions. &reud!s mista'es6
"e thought he had gone as deep as he could go, when in reality he had only ta'en the
first step.
"e thought he had found universal human tendencies, without fully considering the
culture in which the patterns he observed were formed.
ORGONE ENERGY
2n adaptation of libido theory. Reich argued that libido theory was too narrowly sexual, and
coined the term +orgone energy+ for a broader view. 8ltimately he argued that it is not only in
the body but outside as well, defining it as +2 subtle biophysical energy which permeates all
living things.+ t Permeates all space in different concentrations, ta'en into the body through
breathing.
"e developed an +orgone box+ or +orgone accumulator+ to capture this vital energy so that
people could then absorb it. 9ecause of his orgone box, people thought he was in left field, and
had gone mad.
9ut there are parallels among "indu prana and the cha'ras.&rit3 Perls, one of Reich!s students
and the central figure in founding >estalt Therapy, avoided all this trouble by spea'ing simply
of +excitement,+ noting thatour excitement can flow into emotion, inhibition of emotion,
thin'ing, sensation, or action at any given moment. "e paid attention to how excitement is
expressed and bloc'ed.
The orgone box was a = foot by < .D< by < .D< box made of layers of sheet metal and wood. >ot
into the weather, pulling energy from the universe, etc. These were purchased by doctors and
psychiatrists in both the 8.%. and abroad."e and his disciples bought land in :aine and called it
,rgonon.
The verdict on orgone energy can be seen most clearly in the fact that all of Reich!s students
who carried on his body-oriented therapeutic wor' dropped the concept of orgone energy and
did not ma'e it part of their wor'.
?#2T" $ PR%,$ "e had been an activist in the >erman -ommunist party during the ./01s.
n ./=;, during thered-baiting Coe :c-arthy era, when right-wingers found it politically
expedient to find a communist under every bed. The feds in the 8.%. went after Reich and&?2
placed a ban on transporting, etc., the orgone boxe across state lines. n addition, it insisted that
all copies of his books be distroyed..2 co-wor'er continued to transport them, Reich was
imprisoned. "e died of a heart attac' in prison at the age of E1 in ./=F after two years in &ederal
prison, the day before he was to go up for parole. "is son, who was .0 when father was
imprisoned, said, +-ry,+ we can cry together,+ when he visited in prison, and they did. 2fter
Reich!s death, most students stopped continuing his wor', but his daughter #va carried on, and
#llsworth 9a'er, and 2lexander 4owen.
PSYCHOLOGY'S STRANGE BLACKOUT OF REICH'S WORK. t is incontestable
that Reich is one of the seminal thin'ers and practitioners of twentieth century psychology. "e
singlehandedly brought the body into psychology at a time when others dealt with the mind and
emotions but the only reference to the body was physiological and neurophysiological.
When revised this lecture in <110, loo'ed through ten different history of psychology boo's
and found no reference whatever to Reich. loo'ed through a number of personality theory
boo's and found only one, Personality and Personal Growth, by Cames &adiman and Robert
&rager, that addressed and presented his wor'. @et there are do3ens of minor figures who made
only small additions to ideas articulated by others who receive considerable mention. find this
utterly bi3arre. @ou are welcome to your own speculations as to why 2merican psychology
largely ignores a man who was one of the last century!s greatest contributors to its advancement.
)There is an interesting parallel with the longtime ignoring of contributions by women
psychologists.* 2s he was persecuted in life for drawing attention to matters that others wished
to loo' away from, so is he largely ignored in death.
994,>R2P"@6
9a'er, #lsworth &. :an in the Trap. $ew @or'6 2von, ./F;.
9ean, ,rson. :e and ,rgone. $ew @or'6 &awcett, ./F..
9oadella, ?avid. Wilhelm Reich. -hicago6 Regnery, ./F;.
?unbar, &. :ind and 9ody6 Psychosomatic :edicine. $ew @or'6 Random "ouse,
./==.
4owen, 2lexander. The 9etrayal of the 9ody. 4ondon6 -ollier, ./EF.
4owen. 9ioenergetics. $ew @or'6 Penguin, ./FE.
4owen. 4ove and ,rgasm. $ew @or'6 :acmillan, ./E=.
:ann, W. #dward, and "offman, #. The :an who ?reamed of Tomorrow. 4os
2ngeles6 Tarcher, ./G1.
:an, W.#. ,rgone, Reich, and #ros. $.@.6 %imon H %chuster, ./F0.
Reich, lse ,llendorff. Wilhelm Reich. 4ondon6 #le', ./E/.
Reich, Wilhelm6 The -ancer 9iopathy. $@6 ,rgone nstitute Press, ./;G.
----- -haracter 2nalysis. $@6 &arrar, %trauss, H >iroux, ./;/.
-----The function of the ,rgasm. $ew @or'6 &arrar, %t. , ./F0.
-----4isten, 4ittle :anB $ew @or'6 &arrar, ./EF.
-----The :ass Psychology of &ascism. $@6 &arrar, ./F..
-----The sexual Revolution, &arar, ./E<.
%haraf, :yron. &ury on #arth. $@. %t. :artin!s, ./G0.
2utobiography6 Passions of @outh.