Fear of Life by Dr. Alexander Lowen M.D

Author:Dr. Alexander Lowen M.D. [Lowen M.D., Dr. Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Alexander Lowen Foundation
Published: 2012-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

5

A Therapy for Being

The Spiral of Growth

When I was a young therapist, I was enthusiastic about therapy and optimistic about what it could do. I believed we could free an individual from his repressions and restore him to a state of harmony with himself and with nature. I was firmly convinced that Reich was correct in claiming that the suppression of sexuality was the cause of all our difficulties. The therapeutic aim, therefore, was to reestablish the capacity for full surrender to sexual feeling, which Reich called orgastic potency. This was to be accomplished by a combination of character analysis and body work. The latter was designed to reduce or eliminate the muscular tensions that blocked the giving in to the body and its feelings. As a patient of Reich, I had experienced the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach.1

It is now thirty-five years since I began my own personal therapy with Reich, which lasted three years. I have also had therapy with my former associate, Dr. John Pierrakos, for about three years, in addition to which I have consistently worked with myself to free my being from the inhibitions and repressions stemming from my upbringing. It would be nice to say that I have succeeded, but, though I have changed in significant ways, I am still aware of tensions and difficulties that disturb me and limit my being. This makes me sad. However, there is nothing to stop me from continuing to work with my body to expand my being, and I am committed to this undertaking for the rest of my life. The idea that I haven't “made it” yet is not depressing. Rather, it is exciting to think that I could improve in areas where I sense a lack in my being.

What about my sexual potency? It has changed with the change in my being. To the degree that I as a person have grown and matured, my sexual feelings have become deeper and fuller. However, as I became older my sexual drive lost some of its intensity. Sexuality is an expression of a person's being, and it reflects, therefore, the state of his being. So I haven't “made it” on the sexual level either. I am not totally potent orgastically in Reich's sense of that term. I have had some great experiences, which I can credit to therapy. And, most important, the feelings of pleasure and satisfaction that I derive from my sexuality have increased greatly.

I believe that therapy has helped me enormously, but it has not brought me to paradise or elevated me to a state of transcendence, though I have spent the major part of my life engaged in the process. I also believe that I have helped most of my patients, but none of them have been totally freed from repression or inhibition. Therapy is not a panacea for human ills; it is not the answer to the human dilemma. That most people need help today to function with some measure of ease and pleasure is a sad reflection of our culture, but it is true.

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