The aim of this article is to propose an incisive, though brief, reflection on psychotherapy chosen with special care as one possible contemporary way towards self-knowledge and intra-organismic and cosmic reintegration. In other words, the intent behind these pages is to bring about a discussion on psychotherapy as such or the different psychotherapeutic approaches existing at this moment in our planetary history as possible pathways towards a healthy, responsible existence, marked by dignity and capable of providing fulfillment in terms of human aspirations.

In order to adequately pursue this theme, it is essential to consider the troubled times in which we live as members of an alienating society geared to consumerism and concerned with putting forth material and external "solutions" which supposedly provide safety and power, and therefore satisfaction.

On the other hand, this line of reflection will without fail lead to the need of a thorough reviewing of the role of psychotherapies in this world of obvious transition.

So before these issues are discussed, it is probably appropriate to go over a story which presents a different outlook on life or a diverse style of confronting the day-to-day puzzles of human existence.

Once upon a time, somewhere in the oriental half of the world lived a man, owner of lands. One day his horse was stolen and, being distraught, he sought out an old master to whom he narrated his plight. The wise man offered this comment: "This might mean good fortune or bad fortune". The man went back to his regular routine. Some time later, his horse returned in the company of another horse. Full of joy, he thought it correct to take the news to his master and listen for an omen. But the comment was repeated:

"This might point to good fortune or to bad fortune". Once more the man returned to his lands and took up the heavy work aided by a dedicated son who took an effort to tame the new horse. The rebellious animal, however, threw the young man off his back and galloped away. The fellow broke his leg and had to stop assisting his father in the farm work. Without his assistant the landowner felt at a loss and ran to his master to complain about his luck. The answer was the same. Upon returning home this time the landowner found out that officers from the King's palace had been in the neighborhood drafting the youths into military service. His son, nevertheless, was spared in view of the fact that his leg had been broken recently. By this time everyone knows what the sage's comment would be and so the story could go on endlessly.

This brief tale illustrates the viewpoint that all cultures and ages have their own styles and strategies for evaluating life issues and for dealing with problems.

At this point, I feel it might be appropriate to share something of my own personal life. I remember that sometime in the 60's, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as I needed therapeutic support to understand and be less rejecting of conflicts pertaining to my family history, I found myself in a difficult situation, as there were only the psychiatrist, the priest and the psychoanalyst to go to for help. I went to all three, one at a time of course, but neither was able to provide what I needed and so I ended at a spiritist center whose members practiced a blend of mediumship and Rosicrucianism. There, at least, I was not considered insane, neurotic or off the appropriate track in life. From the members of this sect I was able to secure comfort and support and some minimal explanation regarding the issues which troubled me.

However, I was only able to deal with the latter in 1962 when, as a result of fortunate life circumstances, I was able to establish residence in the U.S.. Very soon after my arrival in New York, I was referred to a psychotherapist and that was the beginning of a long series of psychotherapeutic processes which, among other important consequences, led to my decision to become a psychotherapist.

So now I believe I can ask: "What is, then, psychotherapy?"

The etymological root of therapy is the Greek word therapeuein, which means "attending to" or "caring after". Psyche refers to the soul and, thus, to be a therapist is to care after someone's soul.

What is the origin of psychotherapy? While the Greeks had their own ways of attending to the ails of the soul, and, while we can reclaim an infinite number of valuable therapeutic notions pertaining to ancient cultures, psychotherapy, as we know it, was created by Sigmund Freud.

Initially working with hypnosis in order to uncover the unconscious of his patients, Freud soon started to use free association and the interpretation of dreams. He elaborated his theory refining it at each further step in the search for solutions to the defenses, the resistance and the characterologic difficulties of his patients.

One of his most outstanding disciples was Wilhelm Reich, faithful follower and admirer of his master till the end of his own life. While not many people are familiar with this, Reich merely expanded on the work of his professor. Few differences exist between Psychoanalysis and Character Analysis; these differences, however, are fundamental.

In the first place, Reich added body work to psychoanalytic treatment introducing the element of touch which to psychoanalysts has always been taboo. Furthermore, he developed a system of somatic exercises.

In theory, perhaps the most basic difference lies in that while Freud spoke of life and death instincts, in Reich's view only the life force exists as a drive, death instinct emerging merely as a reaction to pressures of our social context.

Reich introduced the orgone concept (Freud spoke of libido).

According to his theory, neurosis -- a consequence of energetic blockage in the human organism, interferes with orgastic potency, that is, with the individual's capacity for total pleasure. Reichian psychotherapy or orgone therapy, consists in the recovery of vital pulsation through the sequential unblocking of the seven rings of tension established along an axis in the human body. Some studies have compared the areas of these rings of tension to those of the main Indian chakras.

Among the various neo-reichian approaches emerging after Reich's death, the one best known is probably bioenergetics.

Created by Alexander Lowen and John Pierrakos, bioenergetics works with the patient in a standing position, thus unblocking the segments from the ground upwards. Orgone therapy, on the other hand, approaches the client from a lying down position and works downward beginning with the ocular segment.

Reichian therapies deal with the pre-genital regressive themes emerging in therapy and referring to traumas between the nursing stage and the moment when the child begins to walk.

Biosynthesis, an approach created by David Boadella, director ofthe Center for "Biosynthesis International" and founder of the "European Association of Body Psychotherapies", is centered on the importance of embryology and the influence upon the future personality of the intra-uterine stages.

Instead of placing the emphasis on psychopathology, Biosynthesis has a typology of its own based on the three embryological layers.

As we return to the meaning of present day psychotherapies, it is important to distinguish between the various alternative therapies which thrive in our society distributing hopes for healing, peace and comfort, and psychotherapy understood as a long process of inner search for content with one's self, with past experiences and repressed traumatic situations, and the arduous effort to recover meaning, purpose and pleasure in one's life.

I have recently been fortunate enough to read two papers by the well-known and respected Brazilian psychoanalyst Dr. Wilson Chebabi, and have been deeply impressed by the concise, direct and realistic manner in which he discusses the questions which, in my view, regard not only psychoanalysts but psychotherapists of other approaches as well.

The first paper is a reflection on something the author refers to as psychoanalytic competence versus competition among psychoanalysts. It is a discussion regarding the need to return to Freudian beginnings in order to understand Freud and the psychoanalysis of the early XXth century in Vienna. It is also a proposal for professionals to gather together before it is too late and share their experiences, difficulties and viewpoints geared to renewal.

Chebabi explains that the function of psychotherapy and the role of the psychoanalyst must both be redefined for our present age where, in view of market restrictions, all of us run the risk of getting lost in the fierce struggle for a space, as we compete for power instead of effectively busying ourselves with that which is our task: carrying out the function of psychotherapy.

In the second paper, which refers to the patient in the year 2000, the author reflects upon our times, the speed characteristic of contemporary life and the intense social crisis which makes people want to escape from the present and, at all costs, leap into a future which has not been reached as a result of a sequential order of events and, therefore, cannot be real.

He ends his paper highlighting the task of the psychoanalyst as that of getting himself or herself and his or her patient outfitted to "overcome paralyzing neurosis and anxiety, thereby, serenely recovering anguish -- existentially understood as the passageway to the world -- and employing it as a driving force for creation".

In terms of body psychotherapy, this means working on becoming conscious of our sustaining ground, of our body from the waist down, i.e., of our pelvis, legs and feet. It also means developing an awareness of our spine and of our erect posture with which we face the world.

The ability to relate to other human beings by sharing, effectively exchanging and being capable of love are some of the objectives of a somatic psychotherapy.

As has been pointed out above, this is a long process and, in order for it to be really safe and accomplishing of its aims, it is basic for the professional to have had many years of study, training and supervision and, above all, for him or her to undergo extensive personal psychotherapy in one or more approaches and, in many cases, along her or his entire life.

So what are the important stages of a psychotherapeutic process ?

At first, the psychotherapist helps the client to develop trust and establish a bond. This will lead to a surrender to the psychotherapeutic process. Little by little, the client's history will emerge as a result. At any moment now transference will happen. Transference is a resource which allows the client in a new relationship to heal traumas relating to early family dynamics.

In biosynthesis, while the process might be said to be similar -- though operating in different time frames --, it is called resonance.

Resonance is the tie between client and psychotherapist; it presupposes surrender on the part of the client; from the facilitator, on the other hand, it requires experience, commitment and love. Should this very rare phenomenon actually occur in the therapeutic process, transformation will follow.

And what is transformation, other than the accomplishment of a serene acceptance of anguish, uncertainty and the contingencies surrounding the irreversibility of time ? This is an arduous human task, in which I am sure it is not too much to stress, psychotherapy might be valuable aid.

The above succinct descriptions of various therapies, in particular of biosynthesis which, by the way, means integration with life, allows for the opportunity to bring to focus another major theme of this paper: the concept of holism. Etymologically, the term holism is rooted in the Greek word holon, which means whole. Therein lies the origin of the English word as well.

Holism as a term refers to the integration of various parts of a system into a harmonious totality.

In the case of psychotherapies the term is often used to mean the inseparability of the various human aspects, i.e., mental, emotional, physical and psychological. It also refers to the oneness of everything within the cosmic system.

When in a psychotherapeutic process, it is clear that the acceptance of his/her entire existential condition will come from a deep connection, on the part of the individual, with both his/her background and present reality, and with him/herself as an organism.

In Reichian analysis, this will include what we designate as characterological and somatic aspects. The individual connected in this manner is a whole being intra- and interorganismically connected, as well as connected with the cosmos: it is someone who has recovered his/her original pulsation, as well as the ability to relate to the world surrounding him/her.

In David Boadella's view, this would be described as returning to the original wholeness, which means a blending of the three energetic flows present in early embryological development.

Curiously this original state of grace also corresponds to the acceptance of death; of all the tiny deaths which in infinite numbers we undergo in our everyday life, as well as the huge death which awaits us at any moment on our path.

The serene confrontation of every event in our existence implies a maturity requiring the acceptance of responsibility for our acts and choices.

Psychotherapy may facilitate such encounters of the individual with his/her own self, with the surrounding environment and with the major themes in life whose acceptance and laboring through secure us a space in the cosmos and provide us with enhanced meaning.

The confrontation with death results, therefore, in the understanding that each moment holds in itself the conceiving, gestation and birth of something new. So, in the last analysis, we could say that the human being continuously experiences full cycles of renewal.

In the existential approach, referred to as psycho-maieutics, psychotherapist is appropriately described as a psycho-maieutic therapist.

The original term is maieutica, which in Greek means "the art of delivery" and it is still used in our days because Socrates thus termed his manner of philosophizing as a homage to his mother, a professional midwife. He said that through the maieutic dialogue he actually performed the delivery of the spirits.

The cycle of rebirth, growth and death takes place at both ends of the psychotherapeutic relationship, because no therapy can occur without the client. Furthermore, each stage in the process is an opportunity for the professional to come into contact with his or her issues which thereby provides him or her also with an opportunity to grow as a human being.

Psychotherapy is an art, a tool for self-knowledge and connection, and a guidebook to help us along the pathways of our journey on this planet. When conducted with seriousness and affection, it can lead to a mutual initiation.

June 1994

Bibliography:

1 - BOADELLA, David - What is biosynthesis? - in Energy and Character, vol. 17, 2, August 1986.
2 - CHEBABI, W. de Lyra - Micrographed texts.
3 - ARGUELLES, José -- The Mayan Factor

Susana Hertelendy - Somatic Psychotherapist