likkle tyke she ride i ride sk neva leave my side hata try zzz zappa really nothing left

to talk about bobby rush my wife is two woman in one she is a saint in the day and a devil in the night

Wilhelm Reich Today http://orgonomist.blogspot.com Join board-certified psychiatrist, psychiatric orgone therapist and Wilhelm Reic h scholar, Richard Schwartzman, D.O. for a discussion that brings Reich s thinking and discoveries to a range of contemporary topics. Visitors can add their thoug hts on any post and ask questions. If you need to speak with Dr. Schwartzman dir ectly, you may do so by calling his Solebury office at (215) 862-9939. May 6, 2013 Bonfires of the Humanities Fredric Wertham, M.D., Wilhelm Reich, M.D., and American Book Burnings By Stephen Wahrhaftig May, 6, 2013 On an August day in 1956 the US Food and Drug Administration sent a dump truck t o a warehouse in Greenwich Village. It picked up six tons of literature comprise d of thousands of books and scientific journals. Proceeding to the Gansevoort St reet incinerator, decades of Wilhelm Reich's printed work were burned to ashes. Students of Reich are familiar with the popular articles of the late 1940's writ ten by Mildred Edie Brady for Harper s Magazine and The New Republic. Brady, a mod el-turned-leftist journalist, wrote The New Cult of Sex and Anarchy for Harper s, discrediting the West Coast intellectuals who were extolling literary and sexual freedom, and said Reich was influencing a generation of hedonists. The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich appeared a month later in the NR, and both articles contai ned fabricated tales about Reich. In this piece she portrayed him as a crackpot scientist with crazy theories about sexuality. She ended her article saying appr opriate laws were needed to protect the public, and if this was done people like Reich could be stopped from practicing any therapy not approved by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Mildred Brady was a sensationalist writer and her work, by itself, might have be en largely disregarded--if it did not have the support of someone not so easy to dismiss. This was Dr. Fredric Wertham, a New York psychiatrist. Born Fredric We rtheimer in Munich, he came to the USA and taught at John Hopkins, and eventuall y headed a psychiatric clinic that treated criminals.

Crime Explained In the late 40's and early 50's one of America's two unique art forms, comics bo oks (the other being jazz), was at its peak of popularity. The monthly titles of the comics often sold millions of copies and Dr. Wertham s criminal patients some times read comic books. Looking over the panels of flying superheroes, machine g un-toting mobsters, and bikini-clad jungle princesses shocked his Bavarian sensi bilities. Since his patients read comic books, he put two and two together and a saw tremendous career opportunity opening before him. Criminals read comics. Co mics caused criminal behavior. Wertham wrote articles promoting this idea. But here is where his line of work t ook a strange turn. He had built his reputation upon protecting young, innocent readers from stories of imaginary ghosts and monsters. Yet Wertham now was payin g his bills by writing books like Show of Violence. Based on his experience of w orking with the mentally ill, he wrote lurid accounts of people who murdered the ir children, each story more terrible than the last. Every chapter of Show of Vi olence is told in graphic, prurient detail. Wertham saw no conflict between what he was writng and what he condemned in comic books. This ability to rationalize his thinking and do what best served his own interests--combined with his skill in presenting pseudo-scientific evidence--came in handy when building a case ag ainst Wilhelm Reich. Wertham first wrote about Reich via a paid commission from (no coincidence) The New Republic. This influential magazine was far to the political left and, becau se Reich had become increasingly critical of communism, his position was at odds with its editor, Henry Wallace. NR wanted to bash Reich and needed a prominent figure to do their bidding. They chose Paul Goodman, a best-selling writer and c ritic, to review Reich s The Sexual Revolution and The Mass Psychology of Fascism. They had expected a hatchet job, but to NR's tremendous disappointment Goodman enthusiastically endorsed both of Reich s books. Now NR was in a bit of a fix. Inf uriated, they refused to publish Goodman s positive review and were in need of som eone sympathetic to their agenda. Wertham, as a member of the American-Soviet Fr iendship League, and as a qualified psychiatrist with suppressive theories, was made for the job. Wertham s Influence Reich s ideas of promoting freedom, personal accountability, and work democracy as presented in The Mass Psychology of Fascism agitated Wertham in the same way Ru lah of the Jungle did, her bare legs and long hair exposed seductively as she sw ung on jungle vines. In his 1946 New Republic review of the book he viciously at tacked Reich's theories, saying Reich had utter contempt for the masses and was a n eo-fascist. He ended his scathing write-up by urging all progressive intellectual s to take action against Reich and his psycho-fascism. This set the stage for Brad y's destructive follow-ups. It was only six months after Wertham s review that Brady s first attack, titled The New Cult of Sex and Anarchy, appeared in Harper's magazine. And a month after th at, in May 1947, The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich was published in the New Repu blic. Wertham s influence on the media continued unabated for, in a 1948 Collier s Magazin e article, there appeared a piece, Horrors in the Nursery, written by a Judith C rist. She sited Wertham's findings about the evils of comic books. Her wide assert ions about how crime and horror comics led directly to juvenile delinquency and worse, fully supported Wertham s ideas. However, throughout the article no actual science or studies were cited, and Wertham s conclusions were accepted as fact eve n though they were baseless. He simply felt comics were bad for people and the m edia believed him. Regarding the inconvenient question of press freedom, Crist q

uotes Wertham, "...the publishers will raise a howl about Freedom of Speech and of the Press...nonsense. The time has come to legislate these books off the news stands and out of the candy stores." In 1954, Wertham s book, Seduction of the Innocent was published. He claimed it to be the result of seven years of scientific investigation. Yet, like his other pub lications, the book contains no scientific investigations. Instead, it is full o f assertions based on what he believed to be true, and little else. Research don e in 2010 by Carol Tilley on Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Fals ifications That Helped Condemn Comics has confirmed that, Wertham manipulated, ov erstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence especially that evidence he attribu ted to personal clinical research with young people for rhetorical gain. Comic Books and Bonfires Wertham's 1940's articles, and his 1954 book, led to a massive witch-hunt by the government and other authorities, culminating in a senate subcommittee hearing to investigate the terrible scourge of American comic books. Even more disturbin g was the action taken around the country by local activist groups. As early as 1950, the mayor of Rumson, NJ, along with a local cub master and oth ers herded forty Cub Scouts (not Boy Scouts) into a commandeered fire truck. For two days, they drove the engine through the borough with the siren blaring, col lecting comic books for destruction. In Missouri, a Girl Scout troop and St. Mary's Church created a massive bonfire of comics. Children were seen crying among the gathered crowds. One child of a p oor rural family recalled being made to participate in the book burnings, even t hough he had never read a comic book. "The thing about it is that I didn't give the comic books much thought until that time, and when we started that bonfire, I started to think something really just wasn't right about it. I thought they w ere trying to use us, and I didn't think that was right. It got me pretty mad. I never did think about teachers in the same way after that." In the end, the government concluded that they had no legal reason for banning c omics. It was a simple matter of free speech. But the damage had already been do ne. In just two years, half of the comic books published in the US disappeared. Hundreds of artists and writers lost their jobs. Stan Lee, of the Timely/Marvel group, had to fire his staff in a day, one at a time. People who had created mem orable stories in a uniquely American art form found jobs bagging groceries and as security guards. The most creative company, EC comics survived by changing on e of their comic book publications to something called Mad Magazine. Every other title was canceled. In 1953, Ray Bradbury authoritarian future mes, and torched them onsigned thousands of before we here in the . wrote his classic, Fahrenheit 451, a cautionary tale of an where government firemen sought books hidden in citizen's ho in bonfires. It was only a few years since the Nazis had c books to the flames (including Reich s), and not many years United States burned comics and then Wilhelm Reich's books

The part Dr. Fredric Wertham played was not directly involved in the court s decis ion to burn Dr. Reich's books, and there Is no evidence he intended for schoolya rds across America to host bon?res of comics. But his attempt to protect the pub lic led, inexorably, to these acts of extreme censorship. The urge Wertham had t o clamp down and extinguish ideas and expression of freedom not consistent with his thinking took possesion of him. It drove him, as it did religious leaders, a nd authoritarian parents and teachers, to use the power they had to enforce thei r beliefs.

As we reflect on Dr. Wertham's legacy, we can console ourselves with the fact th at these book burnings took place in a different America, one that disappeared m ore than half a century ago. Except that this is not entirely true. In 2001 book burnings in New Mexico and Pennsylvania reduced Harry Potter novels to ashes. R everend George Bender, of The Harvest Assembly of God Church commented, "We got some people mad at us, but it's good to have publicity. It is generally believed that Mildred Edie Brady, who was granted an interview b y Reich by posing as one enthusiastic about his work, was the single person resp onsible for the US government s campaign against Reich. It is true her article in the NR did lead, just two months later, to the FDA investigation. But Wertham s bo ok review in the same publication, six months earlier, may well have set the sta ge for Brady. There is no hard evidence that Brady decided to visit Reich because of Wertham s r eview of The Mass Psychology of Fascism. However, it s not a far reach to question if she would have, or could have, written The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich had it not been for Dr. Frederick Wertham. If this is so, Reich s books might not hav e been burned and he sent to prison where he died. -------------------------------------------------------------------------Stephen Wahrhaftig writes from West Chester Pa. His site, www.stevewdesign.com, covers design and marketing. 0 Comments ADD YOURS HERE April 5, 2013 Annals of the Institute for Orgonomic Science The latest issue of this important journal is now available. It is an engaging a nd eminently readable publication dedicated to the science of orgonomy and the w ork of Wilhelm Reich, M.D. Since 1984 the Annals of the Institute for Orgonomic Science has been providing information to the public on a wide range of topics. They include: orgonomic the rapy; childrearing; education; social orgonomy; studies of biogenesis; and evide nce for the biological and physical effects of Reich s orgone energy accumulator a nd DOR-buster. This issue [Volume 11, Number 1 (2011)] contains the following articles: In Malinowski Revisited and Reich s Children of the Future, Morton Herskowitz, D.O., discusses Reich s insights concerning childhood in the light of Bronislaw Malinow ski s findings in his classic anthropological studies of the Trobriand islanders. In Double-Blind Controlled Experiments in the Orgone Energy Accumulator, Philip Be nnett, Ph.D., reviews the history of double-blind methods in biomedical research , noting the paucity of their use in orgonomic research. He then describes recen t double-blind studies demonstrating biological effects of a device that resembl es the orgone energy accumulator. In Onion Plant Responses to Orgone Accumulator Treatment, Joseph Heckman, Ph.D., p resents data from two field experiments on the effects of different durations of accumulator treatment of onion bulbs before planting. Although no significant d ifferences in plant growth parameters were noted, the results suggest that orgon e accumulator treatment may retard leaf senescence. In Politics, Religion and Human Nature, Peter Robbins illustrates how irrationalis m in politics and society have obstructed scientific research on unidentified f lying objects.

In Children as Teachers, Dorothea Fuckert, M.D., describes her experiences of pare nting that were based on self-regulation. She describes what she and her husband learned from their two sons through their infancy, the time they spent at Summe rhill School, and as they matured into adulthood. In Foundations for a Functional Analysis of Economics, Dean Davidson describes Rei ch s use of Karl Marx s analysis of living working power and its role in the product ion of surplus value. He contrasts Reich s approach with more recent attempts to u nderstand human economic relations that have ignored these findings. In Orgone Therapy A Patient s Perspective, f orgone therapy on her life. a patient movingly describes the impact o

The Communications and Notes section includes memorial tributes to Bernard R. Grad , Ph.D., Eva Renate Reich, M.D. and Ilse Ollendorff Reich; a listing of recent l ectures and publications by members of the Institute; and an announcement of the Training Program in Orgonomic Therapy offered by the Institute. The Annals is reasonably priced and, starting with this issue, can now be ob tained online: Print-on-demand hardcopy: $25 plus postage PDF download: $15 It may be ordered at: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/378920?__r=189316 . I also recommend to my readers the website www.psychorgone.com. It provides an e xcellent introduction to Reich s discoveries. Stephan Simonian, M.D., a psychiatri c orgone therapist practicing in California, is its founder and editor. He, alon g with many other contributors, present articles (and YouTubes) on a wide range of topics related to the science of orgonomy. The article written by Dr. Morton Herskowitz in this edition of the Annals has now been reprinted in its entirety on his website. 0 Comments ADD YOURS HERE March 18, 2013 Adding My Voice to the Circumcision Debate orgone-wilhelm-reich-circumcision In 1952 Wilhelm Reich said, Take that poor penis. Take a knife--right? And start cutting. And everybody says, It doesn't hurt. Everybody says, No, it doesn't hurt. G et it? That's an excuse, of course, a subterfuge. They say that the sheaths of t he nerve are not yet developed. Therefore, the sensation in the nerves is not ye t developed. Therefore, the child doesn't feel a thing. Now, that's murder! Circ umcision is one of the worst treatments of children. And what happens to them? Y ou just look at them. They can't talk to you. They just cry. What they do is shr ink. They contract, get away into the inside, away from that ugly world. This quo te appeared in the book Reich Speaks of Freud (1967). Now, more than sixty years later, there are organizations in countries around th e world that educate people about circumcision. Their message is that the proced ure is cruel, medically unnecessary, and has lifelong consequences. There are hundreds of websites speaking out against circumcision. Beyond the Bri s: Questioning Jewish Circumcision is an intactivist site with Jewish contributo

rs: http://www.beyondthebris.com/ An article I wrote for Beyond the Bris in February led Intact America, in March, to ask me to be their intactivist of the month: http://www.intactamerica.org/schwartzman I am honored to now be a member of their Board of Health Professionals. 1 Comments ADD YOURS HERE January 10, 2013 Introductory Seminar of Psychiatric Orgone Therapy and Character Analysis The Greek Society of Psychiatric Orgone ?herapy and Character ?nalysis is please d to announce a new course on the theory and general principles of Wilhelm Reich s method of treating emotional disorders. It will be the first of its kind in Eur ope, where Reich s discoveries are widely studied and continue to be put to practi cal use. The program will consist of monthly seminars beginning on January 27th in Thessa loniki and on February 3rd in Athens, and they will continue through June 2015. The three members of the Society s training committee are psychiatric orgone thera pists. In Thessaloniki the seminars will be conducted by psychiatrist Nassos Teo poulos, M.D., and in Athens by child psychiatrist George Argyreas, M.D. Both tra ined with the American College of Orgonomy where they were clinical associates f or more than ten years. Psychiatrist Richard Schwartzman, D.O., will participate by way of regularly sch eduled webinars. He trained with Morton Herskowitz, D.O and Elsworth F. Baker, M .D. who were students of Reich. He was director of The Advanced Technical Traini ng Seminar at the American College of Orgonomy for more than twenty years and is now an honorary member of the Institute for Orgonomic Science in Philadelphia, PA. The completion of this program is a prerequisite for physicians and psychologist s who wish to be accepted for future clinical training in the practice of psychi atric orgone therapy and character analysis. For further information and an appl ication individuals interested in applying for this initial course of study can contact the Society at: seminar@orgonetherapy.gr. > MONTHLY SCHEDULE FOR THE > INTRODUCTORY SEMINAR OF PSYCHIATRIC ORGONE THERAPY > AND CHARACTER ANALYSIS > 1? Session: Introduction. General principles of orgonomy and orgonethera py. > 2? Session: Erogenous zones, libidinal stages and psychic structure, and the concept of character in psychiatric orgonetherapy. > 3? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on erogenous zon es, libidinal stages, psychic structure and character. > 4? Session: The concept of armoring. Origin and segmental structure of so matic and psychic armoring. (Part A) > 5? Session: The concept of armoring. Origin and segmental structure of so matic and psychic armoring. (Part B) > 6? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on armoring. > 7? Session: The concept of contact. Problems of contact, genitality. > 8? Session: Adolescence: treatment of problems and therapeutic interventi ons.

> 9? Session: Genital character types: Genesis, character traits and sympto ms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part A) > 10? Session: Genital character types: Genesis, character traits and symptom s, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part B) > 11? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on genital charac ter types. > 12? Session: Phallic character types: Genesis, character traits and symptom s, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part A) > 13? Session: Phallic character types: Genesis, character traits and symptom s, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part B) > 14? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on phallic charac ter types. > 15? Session: Anal character types: Genesis, character traits and symptoms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part A) > 16? Session: Anal character types: Genesis, character traits and symptoms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. (Part B) > 17? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on anal character types. > 18? Session: Oral character types and Ocular character types: Genesis, char acter traits and symptoms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic princip les. (Part A) > 19? Session: Oral character types and Ocular character types: Genesis, char acter traits and symptoms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic princip les. (Part B) > 20? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on oral and ocula r character types. > 21? Session: Socio-Political character types: Genesis, character traits and symptoms, biophysical structure and general therapeutic principles. > 22? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on socio-politica l character types. > 23? Session: The orgonomic concept of biopathy. > 24? Session: Initial examination of a patient, history and its importance, general therapeutic principles of psychiatric orgonetherapy. > 25? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on the importance of history and the general therapeutic principles. > 26? Session: Armoring prevention, management and therapeutic intervention o n newborns, babies and infants. > 27? Session: Webinar with Richard Schwartzman: Discussion on armoring preve ntion and the treatment of early armoring in newborns, babies and infants. > > Examinations are mandatory for those interested in continuing into the Clinica l Seminar and optional for all others. page2image4592 0 Comments ADD YOURS HERE October 22, 2012 Wilhelm Reich and Emotional Illness In a recent post I wrote about short-burst therapy, an intensive treatment approac h that can serve as an alternative to regularly spaced therapy sessions, saying it was especially suited for those living a long distance from a qualified orgon e therapist. In this post I will discuss some of the reasons why more has not be en written about this unique therapy, one that makes use of emotional release in the treatment of mental disorders. I will also begin a discussion of the princi ples that govern the practice of orgone therapy, starting with Reich s concept of armor. In the past half century a fair amount has been written about Wilhelm Reich s meth od of treating emotional disturbances. Many have recorded their thinking on the subject and therapists have written case histories that have appeared in various journals. Nevertheless, I feel much has been left out of the discussion.

For me, in almost every therapy session, there is some aspect of the patient tha t s revealed that proves valuable in their therapy. I am never bored and am freque ntly amazed, even after all these years, as I see Reich s theories and approach to treating proved time and again. Each session confirms the effectiveness of orgo ne therapy, and almost any session could be written up for publication. Barriers to Publication Those few of us who do this kind of work will understand my feeling, as their ex periences must be the same. So why hasn t more been written about this treatment? And why have some important elements crucial to its understanding been omitted i n what has been published? There are many reasons for this, however a few are wo rth noting. First, as therapists, our focus is on seeing patients. Establishing contact with them and staying connected, from moment to moment, session after session, is ou r primary goal. Writing up a case history for a professional journal is seen as a secondary task, if the thought is entertained at all. Another reason more hasn t been written is that many of the things that occur in therapy sessions do not l end themselves to being reported, let alone to be written up. They occur all the time, and while we may share them with colleagues in conference, or in one-on-o ne training with students, such valuable observations passed on in this way are not being documented for the future. Also, some orgone therapists have had concern when it comes to publicly expoundi ng technique--the nuts and bolts of therapy. Their worry is that if too much of the actual methods are revealed to the lay audience, they will be latched onto a nd misused. Unfortunately this has happened, and there are a wide array of vario us bodywork therapists and energy healers who have taken it upon themselves to offer various therapies very loosely based on the treatment Reich employed. These hav e no meaningful ties whatsoever to psychiatric orgone therapy. While I do share concerns about the potential for information about Reich s treatm ent approach to be misused, I am also aware that much of what I and others know has never been written down. In light of this I have been making an effort to re cord some of what I know, based on my forty years of experience. What is known of Reich s therapeutic approach--in the true sense--comes down to us , almost exclusively, from two psychiatrists who were treated and trained by Rei ch. Both have written an authoritative book on orgone therapy. These important w orks are: Man in the Trap by Elsworth F. Baker, M.D. and Emotional Armoring: An Introduction to Psychiatric Orgone Therapy by Morton Herskowitz, D.O. These publ ications are especially valuable because Reich wrote almost nothing about the bi ophysical approach he developed long after he published Character Analysis. Even with these two excellent books, and with the contributions that have appeared i n journals, there is more that can be said about the cause and prevention of emo tional illness, as well as the practice of this treatment. Purpose of Therapy The goal of treatment is to remove the root cause of emotional illness. This dif fers markedly from today s traditional psychiatric approach, which is only about s ymptom management with various cognitive strategies or the use of medications. Because the principle governing orgone therapy is that emotional disturbances be gin before speech develops, verbal therapies, while they can certainly be valuab le, are necessarily limited in effectiveness. They can help to explore mental pr ocesses and solve some of life s problems, but they can t reach back to the very ear ly traumatic events that laid the foundation for an individual s present emotional

state. There is no question medications can be enormously valuable in the treatment of emotional disorders. They have helped alleviate suffering in untold millions--ma king their lives more tolerable. However medications can, at best, only relieve some symptoms associated with emotional illness, and none have ever effected a c ure. What s more the side effects are such that the trade off between benefit and drawback is a constant challenge to every patient taking these agents, as well a s to their prescribing physician. Medications, like verbal therapies, are unable to strike at the source of mental disorders. Role of Armor The premise of orgone therapy is that armor develops in the body to repress the em otional and physical traumas that occurred in infancy and early childhood. Armor is the body s way of keeping past painful events out of awareness. It is nothing less than the unconscious locked in the body. We know this is so because, as arm or dissolves in the course of orgone therapy, long buried feelings and emotions spontaneously appear. Not infrequently these are accompanied by flashbacks to tr aumatic events that occurred soon after birth and in the first year or two of li fe. Armor can be defined as the chronic muscular spasms that develop as a defense ag ainst the breakthrough of repressed feelings and emotions. It develops throughou t the body and, while it lodges primarily in muscles, it also appears in other a reas, such as in the internal organs and in the brain itself. However, armor is not just a physical phenomenon. It is revealed in character as well--that is, ho w one presents themselves to the world. For example, character can show itself a s an attitude, in mannerisms, and in posture. Physical and character armor are n ot separate entities, but rather two side of the same coin. Together, they can o ften indicate how a person adapted to traumatic events when very young, and much about how they are now as adults. Armor permeates the body, yet people are entirely unaware of its existence. They think their emotional problems exist solely because of heredity, events that ca n be recalled from when they were little, today s society, and so on. But they nev er realize their unhappiness resides deep within them, and that their buried emo tions determine how they now feel and function. In a sense armor is a valuable mechanism, and everyone should be thankful that i t does its job so well. Given that the painful past remains alive in us, as it s urely does, who would want to be constantly in contact with it? However, as ever ything has two sides, so it is with armoring. While it does blot out the past as best it can, it also deadens. Without it people would function naturally and be able to enjoy all life has to offer. 3 Comments ADD YOURS HERE August 27, 2012 Emotional Illness: A Different Perspective Today the treatment of emotional conditions is based upon the idea their cause l ies largely in heredity, chemical imbalances and changes in the brain. From thes e premises, a variety of treatments have been advanced. There are cognitive approaches, newer pharmaceutical medications, and most recen tly technology that allows the brain to examined and treated in various ways. Ge ne modi?cation, now in the early stages of research, is also believed to hold pr omise. My next series of articles will present a very different understanding of the ca use of emotional illness and how it may be treated. Also addressed will be when

disorders begin, and what might be done by way of prevention. Finally I will des cribe what occurs in the method of therapy I practice. I will give examples of t ypical interventions and discuss how patients respond. 1 Comments ADD YOURS HERE January 23, 2012 Reich's Great Gift: Health in 2012 Those of us involved in carrying on the work of Wilhelm Reich often discuss the significance of his contributions and question which of them will resonate most with those new to his work. Is it his discovery of the life energy and his attem pt to place it on scientific footing? Is it his insight into the workings of hum ankind on the grand scale with his discovery and exposition of mass psychology? Or is it the unique therapy he developed with its ability to enable those who un dertake it to lead more all-embracing and joyful lives, to have better relations hips, to be better parents, and to take pleasure in their work? Solid arguments can be made for any one of these three major contributions as be ing the most significant. The energy provides the basis for understanding life s p rocesses; mass psychology provides a means for understanding everything from the politics of the playground to the politics of nations; and orgone therapy is ab le to provide immeasurable benefit to individuals. Except for the interest of a handful of investigators across the globe, the scie ntific community remains either unaware of, or unconcerned with, Wilhelm Reich s d iscovery of a universal energy, one which he explained flows through all living things and drives the cosmos. At least for now, Reich s orgone energy remains a vi rtually unknown and yet untapped scientific resource, one that awaits recognitio n and acknowledgement so that it can be built upon for the betterment of humanki nd. I think it probable that Reich will never be credited with his discovery of the energy he called orgone, as this energy has already begun to be recognized by one branch of today s scientific establishment--with never a mention of Reich. Just la st year three astronomers were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for invalidati ng decades of accepted knowledge in the field of cosmology. They demonstrated th at so called dark energy is causing our universe to expand at an ever-accelerating speed. Just as the connection between Reich s work and current astrophysics waits to be made, so does the connection between the dark energy in the universe and the life energy that flows and pulsates within us. Reich s understanding of mass psychology is of great import, and it has the potent ial to one day reform the structure of political and social institutions. Here t oo, as in the case of orgone energy, his sociopolitical work stands for future g enerations to rediscover and explore. It is not possible to predict which aspect of Reich s vast body of work will event ually be rediscovered to open doors for tomorrow s research. However, the reality is there is only one contribution he s made that can improve YOUR life, right now, in a very real way--and that is therapy. To Our Health in 2012 Across the globe we rang in the new year with toasts to health. Salud! L chaim! Prost! any of us resolved to eat healthier, exercise, or take vitamins and other supple ments. All of these resolutions, if put into action, are wonderful things to do. However, I m always surprised by how few of the people I know--who are very knowl edgable and enthusiastic about Reich s discoveries--are actively engaged in orgone therapy. There are many armchair advocates of Reich, individuals who have had some therapy and declare they benefited greatly, but who stopped treatment somewhere along the way. I hope to write more extensively about stopping therapy as there is much to say on the subject. Some people report having stopped because they felt good enough. T hey used therapy to get themselves through difficult times, and when they could again walk--or limp along--continuing treatment became no longer a priority. The re are also often largely unrecognized factors responsible for the decision to d ropout. Sometimes the relationship with the therapist grows stale, or therapy ce ases to progress and prove beneficial, or resistances develop which are not prop

erly overcome. ( Resistance is the term for the forces within the patient, consciou s and unconscious, that oppose the purpose of the therapy. It is something that almost always occurs to some degree in the course of treatment.) If you are reading this and are someone who has had some therapy in the past, or if you have never tried orgone therapy, consider giving yourself the gift of th erapy, a unique treatment that doesn t rely on medications. Reich s mind-body method of treatment is not just for those who are experiencing significant emotional p roblems. It s for anyone who wants to feel increasingly better, with more energy t o do what they love--with greater clarity of mind and an increased feeling of in ner calm. Barriers to Therapy Of course there are real barriers to undertaking treatment, as well as good, wellrationalized excuses to put it off, or abandon the idea entirely. One real barri er is the difficulty in finding a traditional orgonomist, someone who was traine d to practice the therapy as it was conceived by Reich. For this reason travel, sometimes long distances, may be required. Embarking on a course of this treatme nt requires a commitment of time and financial resources. It requires an emotion al commitment as well, but it s one that has a tremendous payoff. Barriers to ther apy have always existed and therefore only those with a strong desire to feel be tter and lead a happier, healthier life get into therapy and stick with it. Indi viduals with this kind of motivation are my patients and I admire their courage and tenacity--and love them for it! It is enormously gratifying to see virtually every aspect of their lives improving. It is why I do the work that I do. I am honored to have second and now third generation patients, the children and grand children of individuals who embarked on a course of therapy with me more than 35 years ago. Short-Burst Therapy I have long been an advocate of what I call intermittent intensive orgone therapy , a cumbersome sounding designation which is better termed short-burst therapy. Wit h this approach the patient does not come for treatment on a weekly or every-oth er-week basis (the traditional model) but rather has a number of consecutive ses sions with long intervals in between. Years ago, in the 1980s, I was asked to tr eat patients in Italy and then Germany, and would travel there regularly to Euro pe for that purpose, as well as to train orgone therapists. At first I was unsur e about the effectiveness of seeing patients for a series of sessions only four or five times a year. However, what I discovered was that my short-burst therapy patients in Europe did as well, if not better, than the patients I saw back hom e on a very regular basis. On my long list of things to do is to update my article Intermittent Intensive Or gone Therapy, which was based on a lecture I presented in New York in 1986. In th e years that have followed since the publication of that article, I have become even more convinced of the benefits of a spaced, intensive treatment approach, a nd today I have more evidence that confirms its effectiveness. Short-burst therapy has proven to work well for almost all patients, but it part icularly fits the needs for those who wish to embark on a treatment program with an orgonomist not in their area. I have a number of such patients who see me fo r fifteen or twenty sessions over the course of a year. They combine a week of t herapy with a vacation away from home and their daily routine. In the interim, b etween visits, we can address any important issues that might arise by telephone . Recently, thanks to the wonder of technology, I have also been using Skype s vid eo-calling service to hold sessions with some of my long-distance patients. It is always distressing when I hear from people that they have stopped seeing t heir therapist before reaching their full potential for feeling well and leading a satisfying life. I don t in any way find fault with these individuals. While so me cannot tolerate the new feelings and emotions that come up during the process , I believe the vast majority of those who enter this therapy can be helped and would stick with it, if treated appropriately. I have often wondered how many in dividuals who have had some therapy could have not only led fuller lives for the mselves, but also could have gone on to make a real contribution to the future o f orgonomy, had treatment not disappointed them. If you are among those who made

it a resolution in 2012 to live healthier, and if you are not currently in orgo ne therapy, consider jumping back in or trying it out. While legitimate barriers exist to embarking on a journey of therapy, they all can be overcome with a wil ling spirit. To your health in 2012! There are very few orgonomists worldwide, although there are hundreds, if not th ousands, who call themselves Reichians or who practice some offshoot of the mind-b ody treatment Reich originated. If you are interested in traditional orgone ther apy, you can contact me directly at (215) 862-9939 and I will try to recommend a therapist in your general area. 4 Comments ADD YOURS HERE Older Posts Home Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Our Visitors from Around the Globe Psychiatric Orgone Therapy One of Wilhelm Reich s most important and lasting contributions is a unique treatm ent for emotional disorders called psychiatric orgone therapy. Reich began as a psychoanalyst and was a member of Freud s inner circle, but moved away from Freud s method of free association when he developed a more effective verbal approach he called character analysis. Later he came to recognize the existence of a specif ic biologic energy in living organisms that he called orgone, which was coined fro m the word organism. With this discovery Reich was able to combine his verbal meth od with a technique that could normalize a person s energy. The result was an enti rely new approach to treating emotional disorders that he named orgone therapy. Reich s work with patients convinced him the disturbance in an individual s energy s tate is caused by contractions in the body, especially in the musculature. He ca lled these contractions armor, and established that they begin to develop in infan cy as a way to block out emotionally painful events. Past traumatic experiences are locked in the body--and they remain throughout li fe. How this happens is not fully understood, but there is no question that anxi ety, anger and sadness, as well as the other upsetting feelings and emotions fro m childhood are not forgotten. Armor not only holds the disturbing past, causing it to remain alive but out of consciousness awareness, but it also affects how one feels and functions. Because living a natural healthy life depends upon whet her a person s energy flows freely or is blocked, the aim of psychiatric orgone th erapy is to free up energy by breaking down armor. As these areas of holding dis solve, patients release their long buried feelings and emotions in the safety of the therapist s office. They most usually surface spontaneously with the specific method Reich innovated, without the need of urging or any intervention on the p art of the treating psychiatrist. However, occasionally, pressure needs to be ap plied to spastic muscles, or other techniques used to normalize the body. Becaus e this treatment combines a verbal approach with a physical technique, it addres ses both the mind and the body to bring about profound changes in how one thinks , feels and functions. Today almost all people seeking treatment from a psychiatrist are given medicati ons to reduce their symptoms. However, with psychiatric orgone therapy it is usu al that patients, over time, find themselves able to wean themselves off medicat ion and function without pharmacologic treatment. Reich s therapy is unique in tha t it not only relieves distressing symptoms, but also does much more. It enables individuals to expand and feel pleasure, and better enjoy the many satisfaction s life has to offer. There are people who claim to practice some form of Reichian or orgone therapy, even though they have had no formal training in medicine or psychology. Often the te chniques used by these self-proclaimed therapists have little or nothing to do w ith the very specific methods Reich developed and taught. The value of such ther

apies is questionable and may even harm those who get involved in them. Qualified psychiatric orgone therapists have extensive training. They are physic ians who have gone on to specialize in psychiatry and then in the very unique su bspecialty of orgone therapy. They practice in much the same way as Reich did mo re than a half century ago. Ph.D. Psychologists who have had proper training can practice a form of orgone therapy safely and effectively. However, it is crucia l they have supervision by a qualified psychiatric orgone therapist. SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG Enter your email address to receive new blog posts directly to your inbox: Curriculum Vitae Email me Curriculum Vitae Search This Blog Archive of Posts ? 2013 (4) ? May (1) Bonfires of the Humanities ? April (1) ? March (1) ? January (1) ? 2012 (3) ? 2011 (4) ? 2010 (13) ? 2009 (12) Articles / Case Histories on Speech Disorders by Dr. Schwartzman Stuttering A Case of Spastic Dysphonia Treatment of a Stuttering Child Curriculum Vitae Who Was Wilhelm Reich? Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) was an Austrian born psychiatrist who is recognized as one of the most brilliant and controversial figures in the history of psychiatr y. His life was extremely complex. Outbreaks of fascism, communism, and war forc ed him to live in five European countries before he ultimately came to America. As a young man, Reich became interested in the work of Sigmund Freud and became a practicing analyst and member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Reich's sk ill as an analyst, and as the author of many key articles on psychoanalysis, led Freud to select him as a first-assistant physician when Freud organized the Psy choanalytic-Polyclinic in Vienna in 1922, the year Reich graduated medical schoo l.

Like many extraordinarily bright individuals with a high capacity for work and t heir own ideas, Reich ultimately broke from established dogma to pursue his own direction. He was expelled from Freud's organization. The stated reason for his expulsion was that his thinking and activities were angering the two great force s in power at that time, Stalin and Hitler, but it is more likely that Freud's g roup was intolerant of his divergent ideas. Reich was a true independent who studied and wrote about many fields of human en deavor beyond psychology. These include sociology, politics, religion, biology, chemistry, agriculture, astronomy and more.