Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Neo-Reichian Psychology Torrent Description
Neo-Reichian Psychology Torrent Description
developed higher thought processes, there was Sigmund Freud. The guy has produced
copious volumes of mostly BS that many college students in pastdecades have been
forced to endure. As to Freud's credibility as a guide for others to live by, I have
yet to see any photos of the guy where he wasn't looking incredibly depressed and
sad. I can't imagine a worse person to listen to for the meaning of life, love, or
to find the joy of living. Next there was Wilhelm Reich, a student of Freud.
Reich viewed Freud as being neurotic and the two men hardly got along. Reich
discovered the connection between blocked sexuality and feelings, and the "muscular
armoring" of modern "civilized" humans. Reich noted the tight jaws, shoulders,
pelvises, the restricted breathing patterns, and the tension around the eyes of the
patients he saw. Reich devised some techniques to help relieve the tensions, bring
emotion, sexual feelings,and life back into the people who came to him. Reich also
coined the phrase "genital character" to denote someone who was completely unblocked
and sexually open. It turned out to be largely a "pie in the sky" ideal to be
striven for, as it was an extremely elusive goal for his patients to reach.
(Bioenergetics), John Pierrakos, Ellsworth Baker (Man in the Trap), and Charles R.
Kelley. While Lowen had a slicker PR approach to marketing his therapy with flashier
titles and hot babes on the covers of his books, Kelley almost had a loathing for
all forms of showy marketing. Despite his major contributions to the field of body-
mind psychology, Kelley has been largely sidelined because of this by his more PR
savvy peers.
Charles Kelley's version of bodywork had several points of note. He studied the
Bates Method of vision improvement under its founder William Bates, and tried
noted the correlation between blocked emotion and myopia and hyperopia, and also
noted that blocked fear, and sometimes blocked sadness, can lead to myopia (near-
blocked anger. There has been more of an emphasis on dealing with vision and the
"eye segment" with Kelley's bodywork than with the other bodywork modalities because
of this.
Another of Kelley's views that differed from the other neo-Reichians, was his
egalitarian view of personal growth work. There was none of the "top down, I'm
enlightned and your a mere peasant" view that has characterized many psychologists
from the inception of the field. Kelley viewed the muscular armor as having a
purpose for the person doing the armoring, and he viewed it a matter or choice for
that person to either let go and experience fully the feelings inside when
something. Also, he did not view the unblocking of emotion in someone to have a
of the armor, as an ongoing process necessary for survival and for the full range of
choices in life. Instead of the term "psychotherapy", he considered the process of
opening to one's emotions more of a matter of education and choice. Again, the term
choice. Kelley's philosophy extended to his marketing of his books and teachings,
and he didn't like the idea of slickly selling his views, books, or his teachings to
those who might benefit from them. Also, unlike others under the Reichian umbrella,
Kelley didn't share in the medical elitist view of bodywork that Reich and Lowen
promulgated. Kelley was more willing to share in the specifics of the emotional
release work than were the others. Included in the titles in this set is "Freeing
the Feelings" that describes in a fair amount of detail some of the blockages to
specific emotion that won't be to my knowledge found in the writings of any other
Reichian psychologist. Again, Kelley didn't have the "I am enlightened my child,
and some day you may be wise and not nuts like me" that has been prevalent in the
personal growth field from Osho and Hubbard, to Reich and Janov. Kelley even shared
his own personal emotional release work with his "students." He made a deliberate
attempt to be seen as an equal by the people who worked with him and not a "guru" or
a saint. Many people crave charismatic leaders to follow, and in their leaders find
personal strength and glory by identifying with them. We see this throughout human
history--in wars, politics, religion, sports and even in marriage and relationships.
Kelley didn't want to cater to this human desire. He was just who he was.
While the articles included in this torrent do not cover everything Charles Kelley
has ever written, it does give the reader a good basic understanding of his neo-
Reichian psychology and goes into some of his ideas about "Radix", his term for life
force or life energy. There are other works of his, "A New Method of Weather
Control", "Life Force" (his last book before his death), and some materials only
available to those studying his work on feeling and purpose through the classes
offered through the following websites. The first site listed is maintained by
http://www.kelley-radix.org
http://www.radixaustralia.com.au
http://www.radix.org
This collection of torrents is an excellent resource for those looking for some good
basic understanding of body oriented psychology, without the pages of filler that
typically characterizes some of the works of Reich and Lowen. "Freeing the
Feelings" is not light reading, but in a few pages does a very good job of
summarizing the last 60 years of body oriented psychology. Whether a person's into
simple massage work, Rolfing, or just wants a deeper understanding of what is going
on inside of them, Kelley's works are invaluable. For anyone in the helping
Files:
1.What is Orgone Energy
A summary of the discovery of orgone energy by Wilhelm Reich, with a listing of its
Review of Reichs observations about the muscular armor and Kelleys subsequent
insights into its positive value as the mechanism of the human will. The dawn of
Dr. Kelley's seminal work concerning muscular armor, programs in "Feeling" and
the two.
pulsation, charge and discharge, and its application in mobilizing the armor in the
Synthesizing the work of Wilhelm Reich and of the ophthalmologist William H. Bates
was a revolutionary concept in 1971 and, along with the techniques described here,
remains valid today. Detailed work with the ocular segment is a unique feature of
Radix bodywork.
Describes radix overcharge and its effect on the environment and on human life;
gives tips for handling radix overcharge including which types of environments are
Coalition, Portland, Oregon, February 1998. Informal summary of Radix history and
This perspective of Reich was written in 1962, only five years after his death. It
summarizes Reich's life, his work, and his struggles with the Federal Food and Drug
years, and the evolution of his thinking away from the medical model of orgonomy to
general fairly cool. However, I doubt that all that are around are people that I
advisable to go with your gut feelings about people before you chose them as your
a guide is extremely important and one who you are comfortable with in expressing the
ToadOne Torrents