Treatment of a Stuttering Child


 This case history demonstrates the value of immediate treatment at the onset of stuttering. In this situation a young boyʼs stutter was permanently relieved with one orgone therapy treatment. Such a quick resolution of stuttering illustrated here cannot always be achieved but, as this case demonstrates, it is possible.

In 2009, Michael, age three and a half, suddenly developed a severe stutter. He became stuck on parts of words whenever he spoke. This frightening turn of events began the day after breastfeeding had been abruptly discontinued. I saw Michael two weeks after the onset and treated him once, for about two minutes. His stutter immediately, and completely, disappeared and has not returned.
Before the brief session I explained what I would do would help him speak more clearly, but that it would hurt some, maybe a lot, but I hoped it would not be too much. I told him it would not be so bad if he shouted out as loudly as he could. I had him shout at me a few times to get him ready, and to help open his throat even before I began the biophysical work. I then explained I would press on his jaw and on the back of his neck to get the tightness out of the muscles, as that was causing him to not speak as he had before. When he agreed to the treatment I held his jaw down (to keep his mouth open wide) and pressed on his jaw muscles. They were spastic and tender, the right more than the left, and the pressure I exerted, though slowly, caused pain. Also, at the same time, I squeezed his neck muscles to relieve the spasms in those areas.
As I was working I told him to shout out as loudly as he could, and kept encouraging him to shout louder and louder as I applied more and more pressure. He did as I said. The treatment was painful, but it had to be to break the contractions in his jaw and neck, and to release the emotions held in the areas of armor. Shouting out did more than relieve his pain; it opened throat, and this, in turn, enabled him to breathe more easily. This led to sobbing. When Michael cried I consoled him, apologizing for having had to hurt him. He understood that what I did was to help him, and he seemed to forgive me--at least to some extent.
Although this boyʼs stutter completely resolved after the treatment, some residual difficulties in articulation persisted. Speech therapy appears to have helped him, but there is question whether his improvement would not have continued without it.
Summary
The dramatic success in eliminating a severe stutter with psychiatric orgone therapy goes far to confirm the validity of Wilhelm Reichʼs theory of armoring and the treatment he pioneered. It also speaks against the prevailing medical theories that the disorder is genetic or secondary to brain pathology--the mechanistic explanation that now dominates virtually all of medicine. Most importantly, a serious, lifelong disability that might not have resolved over time was averted. Finally, a word of caution is in order. Although I have described my treatment in detail, one should not think it can be applied without training and a great deal of experience. Harm can be done. Additionally, there is only one opportunity to treat a young child. If not successful, the child will not cooperate with subsequent attempts, and an effort to treat one who is scared and resistant will necessarily fail.
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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.