Bioenergetic analysis

Bioenergetic Analysis is a form of body psychotherapy (body-oriented Reichian psychotherapy) that combines psychological analysis, active work with the body and relational therapeutic work. The approach is grounded in an understanding of the importance of the body—and the energetic underpinnings of body and mind—to psychological development and emotional health. The approach includes development of insight/understanding, expression of feelings and re-establishment of energy flow in the body. Bioenergetic Analysis was developed by Alexander Lowen, M.D. as a modification and extension of Wilhelm Reich's character analytic technique of vegetotherapy. It is practiced under the auspices of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis. Bioenergetic Analysis is practiced as both individual and group psychotherapy.

A basic tenet of Bioenergetic Analysis is that a person is his or her body, and all life experience is ultimately body experience. The body's expressions, posture, patterns of muscular holding and energetic integrity (or blocks, splits and fragmentation) tell the story of a person's emotional history. They also shed light on the person's characteristic way of being in the world.

Background

Bioenergetic Analysis is rooted in a psychodynamic and body-oriented theory of development originally described by Lowen. The approach has expanded to incorporate attachment theory, trauma theory and the latest findings in the neurosciences in its conceptual frame.

Children learn early in life that they can reduce painful feelings by holding their breath and tensing muscles to cut off feeling. When emotional experience is difficult (as it is for many), the holding patterns become "second nature"--built into the body as chronic muscular tensions that persist into adulthood. The tensions operate below awareness and rob the person of a fuller and more vital experience of life.

For example, a child who is told not to cry clenches his jaw to stop and tightens his chest to reduce breathing. If the child must repeatedly control and stop the expression of feeling this way, the pattern can get locked in the body and the sadness no longer appears. An adult with this history may have great difficulty accessing tender or sad feelings because they are locked away in the holding pattern that is no longer conscious.

The overall pattern of muscular tensions depends on how and when the tensions developed and the feelings that are being repressed. In his early writings, Lowen addressed this issue, describing five basic character structures or types: schizoid, oral, masochistic, psychopathic and rigid. He later added the narcissistic type to this list. Each character type develops in response to certain life experiences and has its own set of body and mind characteristics. While these character types are highly useful in understanding character development, the focus in Bioenergetic therapy is always on the uniqueness of the individual, and not the character type.

Bioenergetic Therapy

Bioenergetic therapists address both mind and body. They read the expressions of the body (and its holding patterns), resonate with its energy and feelings, and listen to the client's story. The language of the body (posture, movement, breathing and expression) is kept in focus as an indicator of where the client stands on the way to a fuller sense of self.

In addition to the analysis of history, dreams, thoughts and beliefs, Bioenergetic therapists utilize movement, breathing, stress positions and self-expressive exercises to work with the holding patterns in the body.

There are many ways of working with the body and techniques can be powerful or gentle depending on the need. For instance, expressive exercises such as rhythmic kicking on a mattress or hitting a mattress with a tennis racket can be used to open breathing, release tension and develop a greater capacity to both contain and express feeling. "Grounding" (an exercise that stretches the legs and opens breathing and feeling) helps a client better sense his or her legs and the ground, promoting a sense of security. Stress positions such as the "bow" (standing upright, with knees slightly bent, weight on the center to outside of the feet, belly relaxed, arch back and gently push fists into the lower back, breathing naturally) help a client to sense and gradually open blocked areas.

The body work can help a person sense more of the self and tap strengths and inner resources. It can also open deeper breathing. In the safety of the therapy relationship, this sometimes leads to a resurgence of repressed feelings and/or memories. These can be worked though with the therapist on both feeling and reflective levels (through catharsis, verbal processing and helping the client find his or her "grounding" in current emotional reality).

The body work and the "mind" work (analysis) complement and deepen each other. The body work opens feelings so they can be understood and integrated into the mature adult self. In turn, the analytic work provides insight that allows more relaxation, feeling and integration in the body. Both body work and analysis take place in the safety of a growing, evolving therapeutic relationship.

The goal of Bioenergetic therapy is more than just the absence of symptoms—it is to have greater "aliveness", pleasure, joy, love and vibrant health.

Organizations

Bioenergetic Analysis Societies exist in a number of areas in the United States and in countries around the world. Individual U.S. Bioenergetic Societies and Institutes are listed on the North American New Zealand Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis. The International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis publishes The Journal of the IIBA, focusing on issues related to Bioenergetics, and Bioenergetics Press now has republished most of Dr. Lowen's previously out-of-print works as well as his new autobiography Honoring the Body: The Autobiography of Alexander Lowen, M.D..

References

• Klopstech, Angela (2008): "Bioenergetic Analysis and Contemporary Psychotherapy: Further Considerations", The Clinical Journal of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis, Vol 18, p. 114-136.
• Lewis, B (2000): "Trauma and the Body", The Clinical Journal of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis, Vol 11, p. 61-76.
• Lowen, Alexander (1958). The Language of the Body, Macmillan Publishing.
• Lowen, Alexander (1990). The Spirituality of the Body, Macmillan Publishing.