Biodynamic Psychology Theory & practice
Biodynamic Psychology's theory of the person centers around a Primary Personality which is the latent potential within the person, often unattainable through unresolved repressions, traumas, conflicts, and fear. These, and especially the fear, limits the primary personality in its thinking, its ability to feel and in relationship to itself, to others, and the socio-physical and emotional environment, so that it does not develop its creative potentials and abilities. This is done by the placement of a series of neurotic blocks, emotional and psychosomatic, on one's actions and expressions of thought and emotions. Similar blocks have been shown clearly in animal studies. They also exist in our upbringing, not just from one event, but from repeated occurrences creating complex overlays throughout childhood - and they exist on many levels; intellectual, emotional, psychological, social, relationship, proprioceptive, and including the unconscious vegetative systems of the body, creating a multi-level interlaced pattern, based on fear, that comes to be called the neurotic or secondary personality.
Whilst the basic matrix or pattern of the person and their intellectual, emotional, and physical make-up has a reasonably strong genetic component, this only sets a boundary to the latent potentials. Biodynamic Psychology uses the basic Freudian theory of development, modified by Reichian and Jungian concepts. It sees that there are basic, significant stages of development; oral, anal, phallic, genital, social and eventually spiritual.
It must be emphasized that with all these emotional and psychological developmental phases there are exactly corresponding changes in the person's physiology and in the energy flows within their body (By "energy" it is essentially meant a complex mixture of the subtle energies found in Eastern medicine (acupuncture meridians, shiatsu points, etc.); Reich's libidinal and vegetative streaming; and fluid build-ups in the tissue and tense or dry areas of the body recognized in various massage techniques). The various "energy" flows result in a build-up of physical symptoms over time that eventually rigidifies and is then called "armoring". The pattern of armoring differs with different psychological character structures.
Biodynamic Psychotherapy, since it works on both the mind and the body, can help, through its physical and psychological methodologies, to free the character pattern, loosen up any psychological fixations and thus enable the underlying personality to move more easily towards its natural state. The aim of Biodynamic Psychotherapy is to help undo and dissolve the constrictions of the Secondary Personality and to encourage the Primary Personality to emerge and mature.
Within the Freudian structures, Biodynamic Psychology further sees that a child sucking at the breast is involved in two interactions; there is the physical and psychological nurturing; and then there is also a phase of contentment and bliss, involving alpha rhythms, similar to REM sleep. This secondary function is necessary for full emotional development, and if this second stage is disturbed (as it often is), this can help create an oral fixation. In the anal phase, there are again two significant stages, but more separated. Dysfunctions in these stages can have powerful effects. The potty-training stage, if badly handled, can help to create a pedantic rigidity, neurotically over-clean, with attendant obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns. This originates from a holding pattern, the fear of letting go, and is mixed up with aggressive attitudes towards the parent. In the second phase, the temper-tantrum phase, the child begins to express its independence from the parent(s), and starts to find its own will. To the extent that this is allowed, the self-determinative function is not impaired in later life. There is also a testing of the parental love at this stage. Karen Horney's concepts of moving towards, moving against (fighting), and moving away are seen to be significant here. The environment is also seen to become significant here. Conditional love can create neurotic but socialized patterns - always having to be nice, being eager to please, not wishing to rebel, etc. - which are conditioned by the big fear that the child will be thrown out into an environment in which it will not be able to survive.
In the later Freudian phallic phase, there is a possible distortion when the person's sexual energy flow gets caught in an axis running between the anus and the genitals. This often results in masochistic or sadistic impulses. But when the energy and the libidinal streaming flow freely through the body, there is witnessed a higher frequency electromagnetic energy flow that has a corresponding set of spiritual feelings. Biodynamic Psychology postulates a positive reinterpretation of the Freudian "Super-ego" concept in this light. Whereas the negative super-ego represses the higher parts of the personality, the soul and the spirit, and this connects with Freud's theory that hatred towards other is connected to self-hate (very strict and condemning against pleasure). The super-ego represses and distorts a pleasurable sense of self and pleasurable feelings within the body, and correspondingly distorts the natural energy circulation, and thus in turn represses the primary personality.
The Biodynamic Psychology theory of health & disease is partially based on a quote of Freud's when he said that the ego is not only a matter of brain and nerves but is also in the muscles. As mentioned, Biodynamic Psychology links the ego structure (psychological armor) and muscular armor where the former, based largely on childhood repression and fear, prevents a healthy flow of energy within the person's system. Repeated incidents and layers and layers of repression ultimately creates the muscular armoring. Which exists as a relatively stable neurotic system. However, at some later point this armoring can break down. This is when a period of psychosomatic stress can activate the unresolved deeper conflicts and traumas and repressed emotions start to come up, but do not come out. At this point the person is effectively in crisis, and their mental, emotional, or physical health will begin to deteriorate.
Biodynamic Psychology postulates that when the levels of fear are reduced, emotionally, and vegetatively, the flow of health is largely restored. Biodynamic Psychotherapy works to do this. The main goal of Biodynamic Psychotherapy is to help the client move towards a position of health within the body, and within the psyche. Within the body, when there is a clear, steady energy flow fully between the two hemispherical domes of the cranium and the pelvic bowl, and into the head and down the limbs, such a healthy flow gives an 'oceanic' feeling to the person, often not experienced since early childhood. In psychological terms, the person then experiences a state of independent well-being, separate from the therapist and capable of flexibility and strength, gentleness and power, compassion and healthy aggression.
The actual practice of Biodynamic Psychotherapy varies considerably with the level of armoring and its permeability, and the extent of psychological 'updrift'3 (which means the ability of the person to access memories, and emotions, and then to express them eventually). There is a sort of sliding scale starting from the very rigid personality, with a lot of armoring, who would need a lot of bodywork to begin with to get in touch with themselves and their feelings. This type of person has both psychological armoring and muscular armoring, and these ensure that any verbal contact is usually on quite an intellectual and unemotional level. Techniques used tend to be special exercises, some of them similar to some of Bioenergetics (Lowen), though done in a more Biodynamic way, some special assistance to get in touch with the person's breathing patterns, and possibly some Biodynamic massage and direct bodywork. After a while, or if the person is less armored, the therapist can use techniques more akin to vegetotherapy4 , where the person is asked what they are feeling, and subtle gestures, impulses and movements are encouraged, and these sorts of techniques lead towards more easy emotional expression. As the psychological and emotional 'updrift' increases, both the psychological and physiological armoring softens, and the therapy becomes much more verbal; free association is more relevant and meaningful; the therapist listens much more, 'does' much less; and the client progresses more readily towards the desired independent state. The primary therapeutic technique at this stage is called "rooted talking"5 .
However, if there is initial negative transference, before some of the deeper bodywork can be attempted, levels of trust must be built up first, before bodywork can be attempted with any degree of success. Image work is often used here, to see the therapist 'in the mind's eye' and see whether this changes back to the mother or father. Alternatively initial positive transference is used to work on the bodywork level to build up levels of trust first, and the negative transference can be worked with later.
There are obviously people that cannot be worked with in normal circumstances using Biodynamic Psychotherapy. Besides the practical difficulties, psychopathic personalities cannot tolerate any lessening of the armor, which makes them feel very out of control, which is terrifying. Pre-psychotic and psychotic clients can only be worked with in a secure environment and cannot usually be worked with in normal therapy situations with ambulant clients. These limitations and how to recognize these are taught to the trainees.
Furthermore, there are very different techniques used for encouraging emotional and psychological updrift and then helping discharge the emotions. Trainees need to know how and when to use these different methods, when to "provoke" and when to "empty", and when to work towards integration and "balance". There are considerable dangers in using the wrong technique at the wrong time as provocation further repressed material at a time when there is already a lot of unintegrated feelings and emotions can overwhelm the client, and they can get very ill, physically or psychologically. Something must also be stated about the Biodynamic Massage work. The whole vegetative nervous system is seen as very important as emotions are directly related to the autonomic nervous system. Constant sympathetic (adrenaline-based) stimuli and activity has the effect of inhibiting the parasympathetic functions of the digestive system (food and emotional digestion). This can result in chronic nervousness and stress.
Using psychotherapeutic massage, working to re-stimulate the parasympathetic functions (using a stethoscope) can help re-balance the autonomic nervous system, reduce sympathetic activity symptoms, and reduce fear and tension. Gerda Boyesen calls this storing of emotional material and then having to process it through the digestive system, the "psychoperistalsis" 6 and sees a healthy psychoperistalsis as the day-to-day regulator of emotions. This is often used as a pre-treatment for Biodynamic Psychotherapy, or for remedial work, if there is a residue of fear and stress around any particular trauma that is being worked through. It is taught to trainees in the early stages of their training and is a very useful component within Biodynamic Psychotherapy.
Finally, in order to clarify the distinction (sometimes asked) between whether the Biodynamic work is just a psychotherapeutic body therapy, rather than a full body-oriented professional psychotherapy, Biodynamic Massage is definitely the former and can be used without activating the person's psychodynamic process simply as a therapeutic means of relaxation and stress reduction, and as it touches the emotional levels, it has some psychotherapeutic aspects. It is not seen or practiced as a psychotherapy, but it can be practiced as an efficient adjunct to and in parallel with Biodynamic Psychotherapy. Trainee Psychotherapists are thus taught this Biodynamic Massage as part of the Professional training course in Biodynamic Psychotherapy. It is also taught separately as a part-time two-year training in Biodynamic Massage only.
Differentially, Biodynamic Psychotherapy is working primarily with the whole of the person's psychodynamic process, at various points in their psychological development, and assisting them, the client, to move towards a more healthy and un-neurotic state. It has a totally different professional background, outlook, intent, scope, ethics, and set of methodologies. The Psychotherapy training course complies with UK & European criteria for a training in the profession of psychotherapy, and particularly body-oriented psychotherapy. It uses (in some small way) some of the Biodynamic Massage techniques. The difference is therefore quite profound.
It is clear that with the moves to form an independent profession of psychotherapy, that Biodynamic Psychotherapy, and it's offshoots and developments, fall well within the field of a proper psychotherapy, and a body-oriented one at that. Body Psychotherapy is clearly a separate modality within psychotherapy and has been recognized as such. At various times, the practice, the trainings, the various courses throughout Europe, have varied in their content and their emphasis. At times there has been more emphasis on teaching a psychotherapeutic body-work, as an adjunct to other therapies or psychotherapies, rather than on the full-blown Biodynamic Psychotherapy as outlined here. This is all developmental.
