September 18, 2019

Using Live Video Sessions for Remote Orgone Therapy

The greatest challenge for patients wishing to undergo orgone therapy has always been access to a qualified practitioner. Thankfully, and surprisingly, I’ve found therapy can be conducted quite effectively even when patient and therapist are in different locations though live video sessions.

Many call themselves “Reichian therapists” but scarce few employ the specific and unique method of treatment Wilhelm Reich pioneered. I, and others, have engaged in considerable efforts to maintain standards, train new therapists, and get the word out about the benefits of this treatment. Still there are just a handful of us who are qualified to do this work. Lack of access to orgone therapy presents a significant barrier for many. 
Some years ago, a training therapist I’d been working with for years, and who had been coming to see me from Europe, suggested we try video calling for some sessions. Initially I was skeptical. I had used video conferencing to lecture abroad, and conduct meetings, but didn’t see how this could be applied to therapy sessions which are an integral part of training.  

In the course of orgone therapy I don’t just talk with my patients. They’re also allowed to express powerful emotions, such as sadness and anger. There is in addition a “hands-on” aspect where I relieve areas of bodily tension by applying direct pressure to specific muscle groups.

Despite my reservations about video sessions, the need was real for this training therapist and, I have come to realize, for many others. Even the most dedicated patients and training therapists may not have the resources to regularly travel great distances.

Although we both had our doubts, my European trainee and I were pleasantly surprised by how well sessions went. The connection between us proved excellent. It was almost as if were together in the same room. For the hands-on work, we found ways to manage that. I instructed the trainee to apply pressure, themself, to specific muscle groups. It worked.   

Today I conduct video sessions with many patients and training therapists. Although I still prefer to treat and train in person, I’ve learned it isn’t necessary. Not everyone is a candidate for remote therapy and training but many are. 

Short-Burst Therapy

 When preparing for remote therapy, it's best to begin with a series of in-person sessions. These can be conducted in a short period of time, for example one session each day over the course of a week. I call this “short-burst therapy” or “intensive intermittent orgone therapy,” and it’s something I’ve written and lectured about. An obvious benefit of short-burst therapy is convenience. A patient can receive several sessions in a single trip. There are other benefits as well. I've found some patients do better with this more concentrated approach. Again, it isn't for everyone. Sometimes it's best to move slower. It all depends on the patient. 

When I was seeing Dr. Elsworth Baker as part of my own therapy and training, I drove every week from Center City Philadelphia, where I lived at the time, to his office in Red Bank, New Jersey. It was an hour and a half each way and certainly worth the travel time. However, had it been much farther, I doubt I would have been able to make the trip given the demands of my own work. I’m sure there are many people over the years who would have had therapy or training, but ultimately didn’t, because of lack of access to a therapist.

The distances one had to travel for training no doubt also hampered the progression of the work. There were so few of us and we were so far apart that it prevented the formation of a critical mass that could continue to grow. I travelled many times to Italy, Germany, and Greece to treat and train therapists, and to the U.S. West Coast to connect with colleagues. I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if online communication and video calling had been around back then, when we all struggled to connect, learn, teach, and spread the word about Reich. Maybe orgone therapy would have become a widespread method of treatment.

I’ve always been concerned that orgone therapy will end when the last of its true practitioners is gone. Today, I’m encouraged that there are still therapists in the U.S. — and many more abroad — who are interested in training to do this work. I’m fortunate to still be training orgone therapists in Reich’s unique method, and I’m glad to be able to conduct live video sessions. 

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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 Freud’s inner circle, but moved away from Freud’s method of free association when he developed a more effective verbal approach he called character analysis. Later he came to recognize the existence of a specific biologic energy in living organisms that he called “orgone,” which was coined from the word “organism.” With this discovery Reich was able to combine his verbal method with a technique that could normalize a person’s energy. The result was an entirely new approach to treating emotional disorders that he named orgone therapy.

Reich’s work with patients convinced him the disturbance in an individual’s energy state is caused by contractions in the body, especially in the musculature. He called these contractions “armor,” and established that they begin to develop in infancy as a way to block out emotionally painful events.

Past traumatic experiences are locked in the body--and they remain throughout life. How this happens is not fully understood, but there is no question that anxiety, anger and sadness, as well as the other upsetting feelings and emotions from childhood are not forgotten. Armor not only holds the disturbing past, causing it to remain alive but out of consciousness awareness, but it also affects how one feels and functions. Because living a natural healthy life depends upon whether a person’s energy flows freely or is blocked, the aim of psychiatric orgone therapy is to free up energy by breaking down armor. As these areas of holding dissolve, patients release their long buried feelings and emotions in the safety of the therapist’s office. They most usually surface spontaneously with the specific method Reich innovated, without the need of urging or any intervention on the part of the treating psychiatrist. However, occasionally, pressure needs to be applied to spastic muscles, or other techniques used to normalize the body. Because this treatment combines a verbal approach with a physical technique, it addresses both the mind and the body to bring about profound changes in how one thinks, feels and functions.

Today almost all people seeking treatment from a psychiatrist are given medications to reduce their symptoms. However, with psychiatric orgone therapy it is usual that patients, over time, find themselves able to wean themselves off medication and function without pharmacologic treatment. Reich’s therapy is unique in that it not only relieves distressing symptoms, but also does much more. It enables individuals to expand and feel pleasure, and better enjoy the many satisfactions life has to offer.

There are people who claim to practice some form of “Reichian” or “orgone” therapy, even though they have had no formal training in medicine or psychology. Often the techniques used by these self-proclaimed therapists have little or nothing to do with the very specific methods Reich developed and taught. The value of such therapies is questionable and may even harm those who get involved 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 subspecialty of orgone therapy. They practice in much the same way as Reich did more than a half century ago. Ph.D. Psychologists who have had proper training can practice a form of orgone therapy safely and effectively. However, it is crucial they have supervision by a qualified psychiatric orgone therapist.