Vegetotherapy is a form of Reichian

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

that involves the physical manifestations of

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definitio ...

Development

The fundamental text of vegetotherapy is

Wilhelm Reich Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most ...

's ''Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Strömung'' (1935), later included in the expanded edition of Reich's ''Character Analysis'' (1933 and 1949). The practice grew out of Reich's extension of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

to cover what he called "

character analysis ''Character Analysis'' (german: Charakteranalyse) is a 1933 book by Wilhelm Reich. Background Reich finished the manuscript in January 1933. He submitted it to the Psychoanalytic Press in Vienna, presided over by Sigmund Freud, who initially a ...

", which involved alleviating a person's body armor and the character defenses that maintain an individual in a state of

neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

. Reich argued that "the feeling of unity of all body sensations ... increases with each new dissolution of an armor ring," leading ultimately to a merger with the autonomic functions of the body. He considered that "

orgone Orgone () is a pseudoscientific concept variously described as an esoteric energy or hypothetical universal life force. Originally proposed in the 1930s by Wilhelm Reich, and developed by Reich's student Charles Kelley after Reich's death in ...

physics reduces the ''emotional'' functions of humans even much further, to the forms of movement of

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

and

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

". After his claim to have thus discovered "orgone" or life energy, vegetotherapy was accordingly adapted and succeeded by "psychiatric orgone therapy". Subsequently, neo-Reichian therapists have adopted the body work of vegetotherapy in various forms into their therapeutic practices.

Practice

The practice of vegetotherapy involves the analyst enabling the

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other heal ...

to physically simulate the bodily effects of strong emotions. In this technique, the patient is asked to remove his or her outer clothing, lie down on a sheet-covered bed in the doctor's office, and breathe deeply and rhythmically. An additional technique is to palpate or tickle areas of muscular tension, also known as "body armour". This activity and stimulation eventually causes the patient to experience the simulated emotions, thus theoretically releasing emotions pent up inside both the body and the

psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...

(compare with

primal therapy Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness for resolut ...

). Screaming and vomiting may occur as the

catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

of emotive expression breaks down the

cathexis In psychoanalysis, cathexis (or emotional investment) is defined as the process of allocation of mental or emotional energy to a person, object, or idea. Origin of term The Greek term ''cathexis'' (κάθεξις) was chosen by James Strache ...

of stored emotions. While experiencing a simulated emotional state, the patient may reflect on past experiences that may be the source of his or her unresolved emotions. These emotions are described as "stored emotions," and in Reichian analysis are seen as manifesting in the body. Vegetotherapy relies on a theory of stored emotions, or affects, where emotions build tensions in the structure of the body. This tension can be seen in shallow or restricted breathing, posture, facial expression, muscular

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

(particularly in the circular muscles), and low

libido Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act u ...

. Good sexual function and unrestricted, natural breathing are seen as evidence of recovery. Examples of vegetotherapy, as well as interviews with analysts and patients who have undergone vegetotherapy, can be seen in the film ''Room for Happiness'', directed by Dick Young and approved by the American College of Orgonomy.

Criticism

Psychoanalyst

Otto Fenichel Otto Fenichel (2 December 1897 in Vienna – 22 January 1946 in Los Angeles) was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". Education and psychoanalytic affiliations Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already ...

has criticized Reich's relaxation techniques. Although he accepts the fact that there are positive effects of vegetotherapy, he sees two potential problems. First, the possibility of psychological splitting that prevents changes in the body from affecting the mind and second, the need for subsequent working through to integrate the abreacted material into the psyche.Fenichel, p. 562-3

References

Bibliography

* Reich, Wilhelm: Psychic Contact and Vegetative Current. (Chap. xiv of ''Character Analysis'', 1949 ff) Orig. in Reich'
Zeitschrift für Politische Psychologie und Sexualökonomie

External links