came to visit. Adam’s father apologized for letting him down as an uncle and burst into tears. Adam knew his father was speaking to him and was filled with gratitude that his dad could come even that far in admitting his failures as a parent. After the session Adam reported feeling a surge of optimism about his life that was new. Curiously there was also a bruise around his right eye that lasted for several days and then healed. He said he couldn’t help but assume that in re-enacting the experience of being hit by his dad, there was a kind of body memory, which brought the bruise back. A week later he wrote about another result of the session. “The experience of being held by Dad was as palpable, as real, as if it was actually happening. I felt an enormous relief and surge of love; a combination of forgiveness and profound connection to this man who I knew loved me deeply yet could never express such feelings directly. I was aware of healing myself and also him at the same time, despite the fact that he was dead now. So I suppose I was healing the part of him that I have carried in me, the shadow. Somehow I felt the healing that occurred had not o nly an emotional but a spiritual basis; that somewhere I was releasing dad from his guilt and shame over hitting me, and in acknowledging my need for him to love me, and the fact that he did indeed love me with all his heart, I was helping to make him whole as well as myself. I had worked with Adam for the majority of his celibate 17 years as he fought a syndrome of immune system disorders. Progress had been slow, and only in the last couple of years had I been sure he would survive. Sessions such as that described above had to be carefully titrated and worked through, but he and I both agreed that it was this sort of work that had begun to materially loosen his creative drive and his willingness to seek and find a relationship with a woman. 4/14/08 Journal Entry by Adam “My work in therapy is yielding new results. Since I began to acknowledge the pleasure I feel in selfdenial, I’ve opened the door to examine the ways in which I cut off pleasure and excitement. Piano playing has become a kind of workshop and focus for this process. Writing is the other. Jacquie has asked me to be aware of how the excitement is building when my creativity and pleasure begin to flow, and 34 Jacqueline A. Carleton Reich Was Right then notice how I cut myself off. Her feeling is that I can learn to slow it down so it doesn’t become overwhelming. I believe I can channel it into the work I’m doing. The truth is that since my early teenage years, I’ve had very little experience with real pleasure and truly immersive and transformational creativity. Yes, it’s been there in spurts, and certainly when I was sexually active the channels were more open, but I’ve never kept them open, thrived on them, used them so that they became a consistent part of my being. That’s what I need now; that’s what will allow me to have a full and satisfying life.” Conclusion This vignette brings together and illustrates some of the principles and techniques that have been fashioned by contemporary trauma specialists, based on neuroscientific evidence for much of Reich’s work. Body psychotherapists, it seems to me, are at the nexus of an amazing number of treatment options which are being increasingly accepted and utilized by increasing numbers of psychotherapists. Only a few could be described in this paper. It’s an exciting time for us to reassess some of the early figures in the field such as Reich, while we welcome and embrace and propagate new ideas and techniques. References Amini, F., et. al. (1996). Affect, attachment, memory: Contributions toward psychobiologic integration. Psychiatry, 59, 213-239. Baker, E.F. (1967). Man in the trap: The causes of blocked sexual energy. New York: Avon Books. Baumann, N., Kaschel, R. & Kuhl, J. (2006). Affect sensitivity and affect regulation in dealing with positive and negative affect. Journal of Research & Personality, 14, 239-248. Bentzen, M. (2004). Shapes of experience: Neuroscience, developmental psychology and somatic character formation. In G. Marlock & W. Weiss (Eds.), Handbuch der Körperpsychotherapie. Stuttgart: Karger S. Verlag für Medizin und Naturwissenschaften. Boadella, D. (2005). Affect, attachment and attunement. Energy and Character, 34, 13-23. Boadella, D. (1987). Lifestreams: An introduction to biosynthesis. New York: Routledge, Kegan & Paul. Carleton, J. (1987). Self-regulated childrearing practices among the followers of Wilhelm Reich: An exploratory study of belief systems and social structure in cognitive minorities. Doctoral Dissertation. Carleton, J. (1991). Self-regulation. Energy and Consciousness, 1, 16-237. Carleton, J. (1991). Self-regulation part I: Its roots in Reich and Neill. Journal of Orgonomy, 25, 68-81.
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