Antidepressants and bioenergetics

[RobertGlazerPhd]

Dear Jeroen,

The purpose of Bioenergetics exercises is to exercise emotionally, meaning, by opening the respiratory wave, the active movements of hitting and kicking, using the breathing stool, hitting with tennis racket ? all are designed to have you have a vehicle for working with your inner feelings and your life force. Alexander Lowen?s book The Way to Vibrant Health: A Manual of Bioenergetic Exercises reflects the exercises that he and Leslie created over a many year period to open the body?s energy and release tensions and feelings around core emotional issues.

There are no general guidelines around antidepressants. How an antidepressant helps you - around feeling life and interactions with people and your general energy needs to be decided individually in relationship to how much you feel doing bioenergetic exercises, how much you feel living life and whether the medication is doing what you wanted it to do.

In my practice personally, I encourage clients to not use medications, but that is only after we have done some bioenergetic work and I know their energy system. The difference is that we use the opportunity of therapy to work through the issues that may have a person wanting medication. Sometimes it works very well, but sometimes people find that the medication is beneficial. I, as a rule, always suggest acupuncture as a tool to work with your internal energy in addition to Bioenergetics when the question of medication comes up.

Sincerely,
Robert Glazer PhD

[Jeroen]

I'm using an antidepressant (seroxat) and I want to know if this interferes with bioenergetic bodywork (or bodywork in general). Are there any 'rules' or guidelines regarding the use of antidepressants in the bioenergetic community?

Greetings, Jeroen