Honoring Alexander Lowen

313 Pages·2011·3.99 MB·English

IIBA
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE
FOR BIONERGETIC ANALYSYS
Honoring Alexander Lowen
The Vitality of Bioenergetic Analysis

in the writings of some contemporary authors
IIBA
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE
FOR BIONERGETIC ANALYSYS

Honoring Alexander Lowen
The Vitality of Bioenergetic Analysis

in the writings of some contemporary authors

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Index

Foreward
by Diana Guest pag. 5

Introduction
by Rosaria Filoni pag. 7

Reich, Lowen and the IIBA: facing the challenge of a
conflict-ridden world
by Virginia Wink Hilton pag. 11

Standing on both legs: a bioenergetic perspective
on the family, gender roles and the development of the self
in the 21st century
by Garry Cockburn pag. 29

Paradigms for Bioenergetic Analysis at the dawn of
the 21st century
by Guy Tonella pag. 43

Bioenergetics and modes of therapeutic action
by Bob Hilton pag. 81

What do human bodies tell us?
In search of statistically significant empirical confirmation
for the "Language of the body"
A study in bioenergetic body-diagnostics
by Margit Koemeda-Lutz & Hans Peter pag. 95

Bioenergetics in search of a secure self
by Robert Lewis pag. 113

The embodied mind
by Helen Resneck-Sannes pag. 135

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Containment, holding, and receptivity
Somatopsychic challenges
by Scott Baum pag. 149

The importance of integrating pre- and perinatal issues into
Bioenergetic Analysis
by Wera Fauser pag. 175

Neurobiology and psychological development of grounding
and embodiment
Applications in the treatment of clients with early disorders
by Jörg Clauer pag. 197

Borderline character structure revisited
by Vincentia Schroeter pag. 223

A somatopsychic-relational model for growing an
emotionally healthy, sexually open body from the
ground up
by Elaine Tuccillo pag. 239

Teaching on the theme of sexuality while integrating the
homosexual perspective: challenges, joys and personal
voyage
by Louise Frechette pag. 259

A core energetics approach to negativity
by Odila Weigand pag. 277

Bioenergetic Analysis and community therapy expanding the
paradigm
by Mariano Pedroza pag. 289

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Foreward

This book commemorates the 10th anniversary of the death of Alexander
Lowen, MD, founder of Bioenergetic Analysis (BA).
Dr. Lowen died on October 28, 2008 at the age of 97. Lowen was a prolific
writer, writing many articles and 14 books on Bioenergetic Analysis that have
been translated into 17 languages.

The articles included in this e-book were suggested by the IIBA faculty as
some of the articles that furthered Lowen’s pioneering work in the field of body
psychotherapy. While it is not a complete review of all the advancements being
made in BA, each of these authors/CBTs is contributing to the evolution of
Bioenergetic Analysis. The majority of Lowen’s books were written for the
general public. All of these articles were written in the 21st century and are
written for clinicians to deepen a concept or integrate new information. This book
serves to illuminate how Bioenergetics continues to expand our vision of human
functioning.
So, get ready to enjoy learning more about how wide a net is being cast by
Bioenergetic therapists in their quest to learn more and more about human
functioning and the therapeutic process.

It is the Board of Trustees’ pleasure to present this e-book to our global
membership. This project is possible by the payment of your dues, by the IIBA
faculty members who submitted a list of articles, and Rosaria Filoni, Vice
President of the IIBA, by her tireless work to bring this e-book to fruition.

Diana Guest, CBT, IIBA Faculty
IIBA President

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Introduction

This collection of articles, many of which have been previously published in
the IIBA Journal, is a gift to our membership to celebrate the 10th anniversary of
Alexander Lowen’s death on 28th October 2008. We hope these articles will
refresh your commitment and help update your knowledge of Bioenergetic
Analysis.

The collection starts with a paper by Virginia Wink Hilton based on her
Keynote Address to the 2005 International Conference of the IIBA at Cape Cod,
USA, which addressed the theme of “Human Nature and Conflict Resolution”.
Virginia summarizes the lives and contributions of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander
Lowen in light of the conference theme and shows how their struggles are
relevant to the ongoing development of the International Institute for
Bioenergetic Analysis. She pays particular attention to the major conflicts, both
personal and socio-cultural, that arose in the lives of these men, and their differing
responses to them. The important question nowadays remains: What can we glean
from our history that may give us inspiration, and a realistic sense of direction for
contributing to healing and to change in these conflict-ridden times?
“How can we add new ideas to Bioenergetics without betraying Alexander
Lowen's essential ideas?” This is Garry Cockburn’s question in his paper and we
chose to put it near the beginning of this collection of articles as this question is
a challenge for all of us today, as we update Bioenergetic Analysis with new
knowledge.
“Love makes us free” and we do want to keep loving Alexander Lowen and
what we have learned from him, while at the same time feeling free in our love
of Bioenergetic Analysis to keep updating it, thanks to the dialogue with other
modalities and to the rich contributions of attachment theory, infant research, the
neurosciences and the studies on trauma.
Louise Fréchette in her article about “Teaching on the Theme of Sexuality
While Integrating the Homosexual Perspective” writes, “movement and
expression are to be considered as something positive, but the value we put on
them can also prompt us to miss out on the other important phase of the organic
process: the inward movement that allows a client to experience moments of quiet
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intimacy with himself/herself. Actually, the more we are able to allow these
inward movements to happen, the more it allows a genuine movement of
expansion, once the person is "ripe" to open up again. This (…) is also known as
"attunement", following Daniel Stern's terms.”
Robert Hilton, referencing a book by Martha Stark, reflects on the three
positions that a psychotherapist can take, flexibly, within the dyad, depending on
whether the work is on conflict, on the deficit or if it is necessary to emphasize
the relational aspect.
Guy Tonella reflects on and deepens what is needed for Bioenergetic Analysis
to be ready to face the challenges of the 21st century. Margit Koemeda-Lutz looks
for empirical confirmation for The Language of the Body, since, for body
psychotherapists, the patient’s body posture and movements convey highly
relevant clinical information.
Bob Lewis’ paper reevaluates classical Bioenergetic Analysis from a
perspective based on recent research from the attachment paradigm. Specifically,
he explores the use of the body, its energy and sexuality as substitutes for a secure
relationship with a caregiver. Helen Resneck-Sannes focuses her work on the
salient aspects of neurobiological research relevant for psychotherapy and
particularly for Bioenergetics. This research concludes that the brain informs the
body and the body in turn informs and sculpts the brain and the implications of
this finding are discussed in relation to the Bioenergetic theory of character
development.
Scott Baum’s paper discusses some principles in the organization of the
psychotherapeutic space. These central, basic principles include: the primacy of
the welfare of the patient; the therapist's ability to prioritize the experience of the
patient; the necessity that the therapist be versatile in the dynamics of holding and
engagement; and that the therapist have a grasp of her or his personality
dynamics, how they may intrude into the therapeutic space, when that can be
harmful and what to do if the intrusion is destructive.
Wera Fauser’s paper is about “The Importance of Integrating Pre- and
Perinatal Issues into Bioenergetic Analysis”, since the individual’s story begins
long before children can look into a mother's eyes. The pre- and perinatal period
creates the first foundation, the first grounding and the first attachment in the
world.
Jörg Clauer’s paper addresses the concept of grounding mainly conceived of
as relational and rooted in the psychosomatic self. Furthermore, a developmental
perspective of grounding is elaborated, based on scientific findings on the
primary triad of baby, mother and father. These results may gain importance as
organizing principles in body-psychotherapy. Three case vignettes illustrate
principles of grounding, cooperation and deconstruction from the perspective of
the patient and the therapist.
Vincentia Schroeter reviews the thinking of various theorists on the general
dynamics and etiology of the borderline personality. The aspects reconsidered
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include the parent-child dynamic; the body-type, including a new theory about
why there is no single body-type agreed upon; the age of the borderline wound,
including a new theory about both age and the major block in the body. Fitting
the borderline on the continuum of character types is examined using
developmental charts from Mahler and Horner.
Two articles are dedicated to the theme of love and sexuality: that of Elaine
Tuccillo on “A Somatopsychic-Relational Model for Growing an Emotionally
Healthy, Sexually Open Body from the Ground Up” and the one, already
mentioned by Louise Fréchette. Louise talks about how to deal with the topic of
sexuality in teaching and reconsidering the issue of homosexuality in the
bioenergetic community after Lowen.
We complete this collection of papers with two articles that take into
consideration different points of view from the bioenergetic one, that offer
interesting possibilities for reflection and integration of the interventions. These
are the articles by Odila Weigand on ''A Core Energetics Approach to Negativity''
and by Mariano Pedroza on “Bioenergetic Analysis and Community Therapy as
a way to expand the Paradigm”.
As you can see many authors and many subjects have not found a place in this
work. Sadly, we have been forced to make choices and all choices offer
something and also lose something. We intend to continue the work of
reproducing articles and essays for our members. We invite members of our
Bioenergetic Community to take full advantage of all our knowledge and
experience and to honor the work of our colleagues who have written of their
research and clinical work under the auspices of the IIBA.

Dr Rosaria Filoni, CBT, Local Trainer
Vice President IIBA

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