October 9, 2011

Lecture on Reich's Influence on Marcuse

David Brahinsky, Ph.D. will be presenting his paper The Relevance of Wilhelm Reich's ‘The Mass Psychology of Fascism’ to the Struggle Against Fascism, a Project Shared by Herbert Marcuse at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, October 29th. His lecture is part of the 2011 conference of The International Herbert Marcuse Society. 
David Brahinsky, Ph.D.
Dr. Brahinsky is a professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religion at Bucks County Community College and has had an interest in Reich’s work since the 1960’s. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from S.U.N.Y. Binghamton. 
Dr. Brahinsky told me the focus of his lecture will be twofold. “First to express the fact that Reich's later work (the discovery of orgone energy and all that this entails) has been casually dismissed and ignored by Marcuse and Marcuse students and followers; the second that this later work is central to understanding the significance of Reich's contribution to our understanding of Fascism and so how to overcome it. I do this by tracing the evolution of Reich's understanding from his early days with Freud and onwards,” he said.

Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. His best known works are Eros and Civilization, One-Dimensional Man and The Aesthetic Dimension. 

Dr. Brahinsky’s lecture will be held at University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall, located at 3417 Spruce Street. The conference is open to all however advance reservations are required. The link to the conference is www.MarcuseSociety.org.

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What is Psychiatric Orgone Therapy?

One of Wilhelm Reich’s most important and lasting contributions is a unique treatment for emotional disorders called psychiatric orgone therapy. Reich began as a psychoanalyst and was a member of Sigmund Freud’s inner circle. But Reich moved away from Freud’s method of free association. Reich came to recognize the existence of a specific biologic energy in living organisms. This energy became fundamental to his treatment approach, which he called "orgone therapy."

Reich’s work with patients had convinced him that a disturbance of an individual’s energy state was the underlying cause of many emotional illnesses. He determined this disturbance is caused by contractions in the body, especially in the musculature. These contractions begin to develop in early infancy and childhood to protect against emotionally painful experiences.

Psychiatric orgone therapy employs a unique verbal approach along with allowing the release of long repressed emotions, such as anger and sadness, in the safety of the therapist’s office. Sometimes the therapist applies pressure to spastic muscles during a session, or uses other techniques to normalize the body and, with it, the individual’s emotional state.

Today most people seeking treatment from a psychiatrist are given medications to alleviate their symptoms. However, often with psychiatric orgone therapy, patients find themselves able to function well without pharmacologic treatment. This therapy approach is unique in that it not only alleviates distressing symptoms, but also does much more. It enables individuals to expand, feel pleasure, and to be in a much better position to enjoy the satisfaction life has to offer.

There are many who claim to practice some form of “Reichian” or “orgone” therapy, even those who lack formal training in medicine or psychology. Often the approaches taken by these self-proclaimed therapists have little or nothing to do with the very specific therapeutic technique Reich developed and taught. The value of such therapies is questionable and may even harm those who partake in them. Qualified psychiatric orgone therapists have extensive training. They are physicians who have gone on to specialize in psychiatry and then in the very unique sub-specialty of orgone therapy. They practice in much the same way as Reich did more than a half century ago.

Individuals in the medical field who are not physicians, including but not limited to Ph.D. psychologists, can practice a form of orgone therapy safely and effectively. However, it is crucial they have proper training and supervision by a qualified psychiatric orgone therapist.