Why Bioenergetics is Such a Hard Sell?

[nyslowdive]

Most people have never heard of Bioenergetics Analysis (BA), and of
those who have, most do not know what it is. Some would confuse it with bio-
energy while others would simply say it is a fringe form of therapy. BA is often
mislabeled and identified with new-age and other non-academic streams. While it
shares certain principles with cognitive theories that emphasize the mind and
eastern philosophies that focus on the body -- at its core BA is rooted in the idea
that “a person is a unitary being and that what happens in the mind must also be
happening in the body.”

In today’s culture, any idea that does not align with the conventional
wisdom of intellectualism, academia, and the scientific establishment is
dismissed as mystical or unfounded. This is perhaps the most prominent reason
for why BA has been such a hard sell since Dr. Alexander Lowen began its
development more than 60 years ago.

BA is neither mystical nor purely intellectual. Rather, it combines
psychoanalysis with physical exercises that aim at releasing chronic muscular
tension, surrendering ego control, and the liberation of feeling.

Human mental evolution has been on a rapid course of development for
centuries, which brought up increasing societal pressures, permeation of
theological morality, extreme technological advancements, and the exponential
spread of cognitive ideas. The human ego has become so grandiose, so god-
like, that any attempt to argue against it is extremely difficult to comprehend. BA
constitutes such an attempt and is thus blocked by lines of defense mechanisms
and the unconscious denial of feeling. BA embraces progress that stems from
the ground up, that is connected to feeling, while fending off the misguided,
conceptual form of being that modern society dictates. Thus, making it difficult for
people to relate to its ideas.

Contemporary society is ego-driven and is plagued by hyper-
commercialism, power, and success. This breeds the pursuit of quick solutions
with immediate and absolute results. Funded by the health-insurance and
pharmaceutical industries, there are massive research campaigns that focus on
achieving such results. Seeking to maximize profit, these conglomerates aim to
eliminate long-term, in-depth therapy treatments, and instead direct their
investments into the development of brief-therapies, pills, and other symptom-
specific solutions. These may help patients in the short-term, but often fail to
resolve the underlying problem that causes the symptom.

Since BA involves the analysis and working through "not only of the
psychological problem of the patient, but also the physical expression of that
problem as it is manifested in the body structure and movement of the patient" -
its therapeutic process is often complex and protracted. It is a long-term solution
that becomes a part of the patient's way of being in the world.

Thus, in a society in which people are brought up on the principles of ego
control, power, and the suppression of feeling, it then becomes extremely
difficult, and often impossible to undo this process and return to a more natural
state of being. This does not mean a return to prehistoric, primitive way of living,
but it does mean re-legitimizing the nature in us, and leading a life that is less
neurotic and more unitary.

BA encourages a natural state of being in which the body lead the mind.
This is not to discount thinking. It simply aims at helping people restore the unity
of mind and body. But this concept is deemed false both by intellectuals who
dismiss the body and feeling, and by spiritualists who dismiss the ego and
thinking.

Another crucial issue in the sporadic consideration given to BA is the fact
that it has never been solidified academically in an authoritative way. While Dr.
Lowen is mentioned in a few lines in a few Psychology textbooks, his ideas are
never being considered seriously. But even inside the Bioenergetics field there
are numerous organizations, foundations, and institutions that are pulling in
different directions. This greatly contributes to the marginal state of BA and
impedes its chances to reach more people.

The physical exercises in Bioenergetics therapy are effective only when
they are connected to feeling. Otherwise it’s like going to the gym - you get a
good workout, release some tension from the surface of the body, but you do not
achieve the deeper effects of releasing suppressed feelings and the unconscious
chronic muscular tension that has become structured the personality. One cannot
just understand Bioenergetics; one must also feel it. But, nothing is more difficult
than understanding, facing, and letting go of ones deepest suppressed feelings.

Our society is plagued by emotional and physical disturbances, and its
healing is a slow and painful process. As Dr. Lowen wrote, “it is not a quick and
easy cure, though it is effective.” In today’s culture, where people seek a quick fix
or a pill to cure pretty much anything, a slow, complex healing process is far from
appealing, no matter how effective it may be.

June, 2010
By Yaniv Gafner
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All quotes by Dr. Alexander Lowen.
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