Dear Dr................................... ,
,
Recently
I had a conversation with a biologist who had never heard of Reich or
orgone therapy, I was explaining to her what orgone therapy is and what
it does, and she had no problem with any of that, but then I mentioned a
drawback to orgone therapy, that in many cases it takes so many years,
essentially forever, and that many people effectively remain in
treatment for a lifetime.
She
suggested that could be due to the deep abdominal breathing practiced.
There is sound scientific evidence that deep abdominal breathing
increases secretion of oxytocin in the body, and this is the chemical
responsible for bonding between mother and infant, between mates, and in
other situations. She thought it could be that a patient whose system
is flooded with oxytocin from the deep breathing in orgone therapy
becomes bonded to, or "hooked" on the therapist and unwilling to leave
therapy.
It
is well-known in orgonomy that the transference relationship in orgone
therapy is much stronger than in conventional psychotherapy and that
patients frequently take on the political orientation of the therapist.
Some therapists have even stated that successful therapy makes a patient
"more conservative" and consider a conservative political position
healthier than a liberal or leftist one. It ocurs to me to wonder if at
least some of the change in political orientation to match that of the
therapist on the part of some patients could be due to identification
with the therapist caused by the bonding effect of oxytocin.
These un-looked for results of orgone therapy significantly resemble the worshipful relationship between a chela and his guru in traditional Indian yoga, where the same deep abdominal breathing is practiced, accompanied by the same uncritical willingness to accept the doctrines advocated by the guru. I know the deep breathing methods in yoga and orgone therapy are not the same, but the difference between them is in the spontaneous, autonomic breathing encouraged in orgonomy, vs. the formally prescribed regulated breathing rate used in yoga, and the common functioning principle, as Reich would have called it, is that deep abdominal breathing is common to both.
These un-looked for results of orgone therapy significantly resemble the worshipful relationship between a chela and his guru in traditional Indian yoga, where the same deep abdominal breathing is practiced, accompanied by the same uncritical willingness to accept the doctrines advocated by the guru. I know the deep breathing methods in yoga and orgone therapy are not the same, but the difference between them is in the spontaneous, autonomic breathing encouraged in orgonomy, vs. the formally prescribed regulated breathing rate used in yoga, and the common functioning principle, as Reich would have called it, is that deep abdominal breathing is common to both.
I must now suspect on the basis of
scientific evidence that the deep breathing employed in both yoga and
orgone therapy increases oxytocin levels and triggers the bonding to the
guru or therapist.
I have not personally ever been in orgone therapy, and cannot speak from personal experience on this, but I have known many who have and in many, perhaps most, cases they have seemed addicted to therapy, often remaining with it for many years, long after a critical thinker would have been expected to give it up as not working and and decide to try something else.
I have not personally ever been in orgone therapy, and cannot speak from personal experience on this, but I have known many who have and in many, perhaps most, cases they have seemed addicted to therapy, often remaining with it for many years, long after a critical thinker would have been expected to give it up as not working and and decide to try something else.
And
many have also seemed emotionally dependent on the therapist to a
degree incompatible with mental health as the term is usually understood
in modern western societies. I have several times seen people who had
concluded therapy years ago run to their former therapist for advice on
if they should marry a particular person, if they should have children
or not, and other highly personal situations that a healthy,
indendent-minded adult should be able to decide for himself.
So, as a psychologist familiar with orgone therapy, do you have any opinions on a possible role of oxytocin in orgone therapy, please?
So, as a psychologist familiar with orgone therapy, do you have any opinions on a possible role of oxytocin in orgone therapy, please?
Sincerely,
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