By the middle of the twentieth century, American psychiatry and psychology were dominated by two influential theories, psychoanalysis and behaviorism. However, an increasing number of prominent clinicians, researchers, and thinkers felt deeply dissatisfied with the mechanistic orientation of these two schools. The external expression of this trend was the introduction of existential psychotherapy by Rollo May (1958) and the development of humanistic psychology. Since both existential and humanistic psychology emphasize the freedom and importance of individual human beings, there has been a considerable overlapping between the two orientations. These two movements are of great interest from the point of view of our discussion, since they represent a bridge between mainstream academic psychotherapy and the views presented in this book.
Existential psychotherapy has its historical roots in the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard and the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. It emphasizes that each individual person is unique and inexplicable in terms of any scientific or philosophical system. The individual has freedom of choice, which makes his or her future unpredictable and a source of anxiety. A central theme in existential philosophy is the inevitability of death. This fact found the most articulate expression in Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit (1927). According to his description, human beings are cast into an unfriendly world, desperately trying to achieve goals, the relevance of which will be mercilessly annihilated by death. They might try to avoid the thought of this final destiny by living in a superficial and conventional way; however, this gives life an inauthentic quality. The only way to be true to oneself is to be constantly aware of one’s eventual death.
It is impossible to review here the vast, complex, and often contradictory writings of existential philosophers and psychotherapists. However, there is no doubt that this orientation is closely associated with perinatal dynamics. Individuals who are under the psychological influence of BPM II typically experience a deep confrontation with death, mortality, and impermanence of material existence. This is accompanied by a deep existential crisis—a sense of the meaninglessness and absurdity of life and a desperate search for meaning. From this vantage point, all the subject’s life in the past appears to have been unauthentic—a “treadmill” or “rat-race” type of existence—and characterized by futile attempts to deny the ultimate inescapability of death. Existential philosophy thus offers a powerful and accurate description of one aspect of the perinatal level of consciousness.7 The major mistake of the existential approach is that it generalizes its observations and presents them as universally valid insights about the human condition. From the point of view of deep experiential work, the existential approach is limited to the perinatal level of consciousness and loses its relevance with the experience of ego death and transcendence.
Viktor Frankl’s existential analysis, or logotherapy (1956) is an approach that puts great emphasis on the sense of meaning in life. Although Frankl does not specifically recognize perinatal dynamics and the twin problems of birth and death that it entails, it is significant that the development of his system of therapy was deeply influenced by his drastic experiences in a concentration camp (1962). The extreme suffering of the inmates of concentration camps is a characteristic perinatal theme, and so is the search for meaning. However, the resolution of this search that occurs in the context of the death-rebirth process is quite different from the one suggested by Frankl. Rather than an intellectual fabrication of a meaningful goal in life, it involves an experiential embrace of a philosophical and spiritual way of being in the world that appreciates the life process as it is.
Ultimately, one cannot justify life and find meaning in it by intellectual analysis and the use of logic. One must reach a state in which he or she experiences emotionally and biologically that it is worthwhile to be alive and feels active excitement about the fact of existence. Agonizing philosophical preoccupation with the problem of the meaning of life, instead of being a legitimate philosophical issue, should be seen as a symptom indicating that the dynamic flow of the life process has been obstructed and blocked. The only effective solution of this problem is to be found not in the invention of contrived life goals, but in a profound inner transformation and shift in consciousness that reinstates the flow of vital energy. A person who is actively engaged in the life process and experiences zest and joy will never question whether life has any meaning. In this state, existence appears to be precious and miraculous, and its value is self-evident.
The dissatisfaction with the mechanistic and reductionistic orientation of American psychology and psychotherapy found its most powerful expression in the development of humanistic and, later, transpersonal psychology. The most outstanding representative and articulate spokesman of this opposition was Abraham Maslow (1962; 1964; 1969). His penetrating critique of psychoanalysis and behaviorism became a powerful impetus for the movement and provided a focus for the crystalization of new ideas. Maslow rejected Freud’s grim and pessimistic view of humanity as hopelessly dominated by base instincts. According to Freud, such phenomena as love, appreciation of beauty, or sense of justice are interpreted either as sublimation. of low instincts or as a reaction formation against them. All higher forms of behavior are seen as acquired or imposed on the individual and not as natural to the human condition. Maslow also disagreed with Freud’s exclusive concentration on the study of neurotic and psychotic populations. He pointed out that focusing on the worst in humanity instead of the best results in a distorted image of human nature. This approach leaves out man’s aspirations, his realizable hopes, his godlike qualities.
Maslow’s criticism of behaviorism was equally incisive and determined. In his opinion, it was erroneous to see humans simply as complex animals responding blindly to environmental stimuli. The behaviorist’s heavy reliance on animal experimentation is highly problematic and of limited value. Such studies can provide information about those characteristics that humans share with other animal species, but are useless as an approach to specifically human qualities. The exclusive focus on animals guarantees neglect of those aspects and elements that are uniquely human—conscience, guilt, idealism, spirituality, patriotism, art, or science. The mechanistic approach exemplified by behaviorism can at best be seen as a strategy for certain kinds of research, but it is too narrow and limited to qualify as a general or comprehensive philosophy.
While behaviorism focused almost exclusively on external influences, and psychoanalysis on introspective data, Maslow advocated that psychology should combine objective observations with introspection. He emphasized the use of human data as a source for human psychology, and his special contribution was the focus on psychologically healthy and self-actualizing individuals, the “growing tip” of the population. In a comprehensive study of subjects who have had spontaneous mystical states (“peak experiences”), Maslow (1962) demonstrated that such experiences should be considered supernormal rather than pathological phenomena, and that they are associated with a tendency toward self-realization. Another important contribution was Maslow’s concept of “metavalues” and “metamotivations.” In sharp contrast with Freud, Maslow (1969) believed that human beings have an innate hierarchy of higher values and needs, as well as corresponding tendencies to pursue them.
Maslow’s ideas were among the most important influences shaping the development of humanistic psychology, or the Third Force as he called it. The new movement emphasized the central significance of human beings as subjects for study and of human objectives as criteria for determining the value of research findings. It put a high value on personal freedom and the ability of the individual to predict and control his or her own life. This was in direct contrast with behaviorism in which the objective is to predict and control the behavior of other people. The humanistic approach is holistic; it studies individuals as unified organisms, rather than as merely a sum total of separate parts.
Humanistic psychotherapies are based on the assumption that humanity has become too intellectual, technologized, and detached from sensations and emotions. The therapeutic approaches of humanistic psychology are designed as corrective experiential procedures to remedy the resulting alienation and dehumanization. They emphasize experiential, nonverbal, and physical means of personality change and aim for individual growth or self-actualization, rather than adjustment. Humanistic psychology provided a broad umbrella for the development of new therapies and the rediscovery of some old techniques that overcome to various degrees the limitations and shortcomings of traditional psychotherapy.
The humanistic approaches represent an important step toward a holistic understanding of human nature, as compared to the one-sided emphasis on either body or psyche characterizing mainstream psychology and psychiatry. Another significant aspect of humanistic psychotherapy is a shift from intrapsychic or intraorganismic orientation to the recognition of interpersonal relations, family interaction, social networks, and sociocultural influences and the introduction of economic, ecological, and political considerations. The spectrum of humanistic therapies is broad and so rich that it is impossible here to do much more than name and briefly define the most important techniques.
The physical emphasis of the human potential movement was deeply influenced by Wilhelm Reich, who first used body work in the analysis of character neuroses. The most important of the neo-Reichian approaches is bioenergetics (Lowen 1976), a therapeutic system developed by Alexander Lowen and John Pierrakos. It utilizes the energetic processes in the body and body language to influence mental functioning. The bioenergetic approach combines psychotherapy with a wide range of exercises involving breathing, postures, movements, and direct manual intervention.
Lowen’s therapeutic goals are broader than those of Wilhelm Reich, whose single aim was the sexual fulfillment of his patients. The emphasis is on integration of the ego with the body and its striving for pleasure. This involves not only sexuality but also other basic functions, such as breathing, moving, feelings, and self-expression. Through bioenergetics one can connect with one’s “first nature,” a condition of being free from structured physical and psychological attitudes, as compared to the “second nature,” psychological stances and muscular armouring imposed on the individual that prevent one’s living and loving.
Another neo-Reichian approach is the Radix Intensive, developed by Reich’s disciple Charles Kelley and his wife Erika. It is a therapeutic form that combines the intimacy of individual work with the energy and dynamism of the group. The Kelleys employ a spectrum of techniques that involve some of Reich’s original approaches, bioenergetics, sensory awareness, and other body-oriented methods. The emphasis is on freeing the muscular armor which releases feelings of fear, rage, shame, pain, or grief that have been held since childhood. As the client accepts and works through these negative feelings, he or she discovers a new capacity for pleasure, trust, and love.
While the neo-Reichian approaches have an explicit psycho-therapeutic component, the focus of some other important human potential techniques is primarily physical. This is certainly true for Ida Rolf’s structural integration, Feldenkrais exercises, and Milton Trager’s psychophysical integration and mentastics. The method of structural integration, or Rolfing (Rolf 1977), as it is popularly known, was developed by Ida Rolf as a method for improving the physical structure of the body, particularly in regard to its adjustment to the gravitational field. According to Rolf, humans as bipeds should keep their weight distributed about a central vertical axis. However, most people do not maintain such ideal distribution, which guarantees optimal functioning of the skeletomuscular system and the entire organism. The consequences are tightness and shortening of the fascia with a resulting restriction of motility, constriction of circulation, chronic muscular tension, pains, and certain psychological disturbances of somatic origin. The purpose of Rolfing is to relieve this condition, restore the proper fascial structure, realign the body’s weight segments, and restore normal body movements. In a standardized series of sessions, the Rolfer uses powerful physical interventions to achieve this goal.
Moshe Feldenkrais (1972) created a program of systematic correction and re-education of the nervous system using movement sequences that engage most unusual combinations of muscles. These exercises, known as Feldenkrais, are designed to expand the possibilities of the neuromuscular system and stretch its habitual boundaries. They relieve tension, increase the flexibility and range of movements, improve posture and the alignment of the spine, develop paths of ideal action, facilitate coordination of the flexor and extensor muscles, deepen breathing, and introduce awareness into these physical activities. The subtlety of the Feldenkrais exercises is in sharp contrast with Rolfing, which utilizes deep pressure and massage and can be very painful when the area involved is blocked.
Milton Trager’s psychophysical integration (1982) is another elegant and effective body technique of the human potential movement. Through a systematic sequence of passive rolling, shaking, and vibratory movements, the clients achieve a state of deep physical and mental relaxation. The spectrum of the human potential techniques focusing on the body would not be complete without mentioning the various forms of massage that have become increasingly popular, from its sensual forms to techniques that represent a deep intervention in the body energies, such as polarity massage.
Two of the new experiential therapies deserve special attention because of their intimate relation to my own subject. The first of these is gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls (1976a; 1976b), which has rapidly become one of the most popular approaches in the field. In his development, Perls was influenced by Freud, Reich, existentialism, and particularly by gestalt psychology. The basic assumption of the German gestalt school is that human beings do not perceive things as unrelated and isolated, but organize them during the perceptual process into meaningful wholes. Gestalt therapy has a holistic emphasis; it is a technique of personal integration, based on the idea that all of nature is a unified and coherent gestalt. Within this whole, the organic and inorganic elements constitute continuous and everchanging patterns of coordinated activity.
The emphasis in gestalt therapy is not on interpreting problems, but on re-experiencing conflicts and traumas in the here and now, introducing awareness into all the physical and emotional processes, and completing the unfinished gestalts from the past. The client is encouraged to take full responsibility for the process and free himself or herself from dependence on parents, teachers, spouses, and the therapist. Gestalt therapy frequently uses individual work in a group context. The emphasis is on breathing and full awareness of one’s physical and emotional processes as the fundamental prerequisites. The therapist pays great attention to the client’s uses of different ways to interrupt his or her experiences. He identifies these tendencies and facilitates full and free experience and expression of the unfolding psychological and physiological processes.
Another experiential technique that is of great interest from the point of view of our discussion is primal therapy, developed by Arthur Janov (1970; 1972a; 1972b). The origins of primal therapy were strictly empirical; they were inspired by several accidental observations of dramatic relief and change of basic attitudes in patients who allowed themselves to emit an inarticulate, primordial scream. According to the theory that Janov built around his observations of deliberately induced “primals,” as he calls them, neurosis is a symbolic behavior that represents a defense against excessive psychobiological pain associated with childhood traumas. Primal pains are related to early occurrences in life that have not been acted upon. Instead, the emotions and sensations have been stored up as tensions, or in the form of defenses. In addition to several layers of primal pain from various periods of childhood, Janov also recognizes the role of pain rooted in the memory of traumatic birth. Primal pains are disconnected from consciousness because to become conscious of them would mean unbearable suffering. They interfere with the authenticity of one’s life experience and prevent one from “being a real person,” according to Janov.
The therapeutic focus is on overcoming the defenses and working through the primal pains by experiencing them fully and reliving the memories of the events that created them. The major therapeutic outlet encouraged in this approach is the “primal scream,” an involuntary, deep, and rattling sound that expresses in a condensed way the patient’s reaction to past traumas. Janov believes that repeated primals can gradually eliminate the layers of pain, reversing the process of successive appositions by which they have been created. According to Janov, primal therapy dispels the “unreal” system that drives one to drink, smoke, take drugs, or otherwise act in a compulsive or irrational way in response to an inner buildup of unbearable feelings. Postprimal patients who have become “reai”—free from anxiety, guilt, depression, phobias, and neurotic habits—are capable of acting without the compulsion to satisfy neurotic needs of their own or of others.
Janov initially made extreme statements about the efficacy of primal therapy that have not withstood the test of time. He claimed originally a 100 percent success with his patients, as illustrated by the title of his first book, The Primal Scream: Primal Therapy —The Cure For Neurosis (1970). The sensational improvements of emotional problems were allegedly accompanied by equally stunning physical changes. These included development of breasts in flatchested women, the appearance of hair in previously hairless men, improved circulation and a rise of peripheral temperature, increased sexual appetite and orgastic potency, and improved performance in tennis. Although primal therapy continues to be a popular form of treatment, the results lag far behind the original claims. Many patients have been in primal therapy for several years without making substantial progress, and occasionally there is a worsening of the clinical condition instead of improvement. Many primal therapists have disassociated themselves from Janov and his Los Angeles-based organization and formed their own independent primal centers because of serious disagreements about both theory and practice.
The human potential movement also includes many techniques utilizing group dynamics. The advent of humanistic psychology represented a real renaissance of group therapy, which ranged from a renewed interest in psychodrama to the development of such new group techniques as transactional analysis, T-groups, and encounter, marathon, and nude marathon sessions.
It is interesting to look at the different therapeutic avenues of the human potential movement from the point of view of the observations from LSD research. Such an approach brings a strong support for Maslow’s criticism of academic psychology. Only in the early stages of therapy, when subjects deal with biographical issues and certain aspects of perinatal dynamics, do the observations endorse the Freudian image of human nature as dominated by instinctual drives, such as sexuality and aggression. Once the individual moves beyond the death-rebirth process and gains experiential access to the realms of the transpersonal, he or she connects with a system of higher values that roughly correspond with Mas1ow’s metavalues (1969). Thus, continued penetration into the unconscious does not reveal increasingly bestial and hellish regions, as indicated by psychoanalysis, but rather extends into the cosmic realms of the superconscious.
Similarly, the richness of the various experiential areas underlying the everyday experience of both the healthy and neurotic or psychotic individual makes the behaviorist’s point of view look simplistic and absurd. Instead of reducing the uniqueness of the human psyche to the simple neurological reflexes of the rat or pigeon, observations of this kind reveal dimensions of cosmic consciousness behind the existence of these animals. Anybody who has seriously studied the material from psychedelic sessions is left with no doubt that subjective data are essential for the study of the human psyche.
The observations from LSD research also clearly support the basic thesis of humanistic psychology about the unity of mind and body. Powerful experiences in psychedelic sessions always have important correlates in psychosomatic processes. Resolution of psychological issues have characteristically physical concomitants, and, vice versa, clearing of somatic blocks is always accompanied by corresponding changes in the psyche. This connection is quite obvious in the body-oriented human potential techniques. As originally developed by Ida Rolf, structural integration was strictly a physical procedure (Rolf 1977). However, many of her followers have noticed that their clients occasionally experience dramatic emotional release and have powerful experiences of a biographical, perinatal, or even transpersonal nature. As a result, some of them decided to combine Rolfing with systematic psychotherapeutic work (Schutz and Turner 1982). A similar development seems to have taken place with the Feldenkrais exercises, Trager mentastics, polarity massage, and even acupuncture.
Of all the therapeutic techniques of humanistic psychology, Fritz Perls’s gestalt practice is probably closest to the system described in this book. His main emphasis is on a full, here-and-now experience with all its physical, perceptual, emotional, and ideational characteristics, rather than remembering and intellectual analysis. Although gestalt therapy was originally designed to deal with problems of a biographical nature, individuals involved in systematic gestalt work can occasionally experience various perinatal sequences and even such transpersonal phenomena as embryonal, ancestral, and racial memories, animal identification, or encounters with archetypal entities. This can happen in spite of the sitting position of the client, the use of verbal ploys, and the biographical orientation that characterize the work of most gestalt therapists. It is important to emphasize that there is no reason why the basic principles of the gestalt approach could not be applied to the work on perinatal and transpersonal issues, if the conceptual framework of the therapist includes them. Some gestalt practitioners, such as Richard and Christine Price, have already moved in that direction by allowing the reclining position, restricting verbal exchange in certain situations, and giving the experiencer unlimited freedom to enter any experiential realms.
The implosion-explosion paradigm that characterizes so much of gestalt practice should also be mentioned; although it is usually experienced in a biographical context, it seems to reflect the deeper underlying dynamics of the perinatal level. Another observation that is highly relevant for our discussion is the fact that, during the reliving of complex scenes in psychedelic sessions, individuals frequently spontaneously experience simultaneous or successive identification with all the protagonists involved. This is exactly what the gestalt practice tries to accomplish by specific guidance and a structured sequence of interactions, particularly in the work with dreams and fantasies. In general, the basic principles of the gestalt approach are thus quite similar to the ideas advocated here. The basic differences are in the biographical emphasis of gestalt therapy and its lack of recognition of the perinatal and transpersoanl levels of the unconscious.
Another technique that deserves special attention is Arthur Janov’s primal therapy. His description of layered primal pain shows remarkable parallels with my concept of the COEX systems, first outlined in a preprint for the International Congress of LSD Psychotherapy in Amsterdam (1966), and elaborated in my book, Realms of the Human Unconscious (1975). Janov also acknowledges the significance of the birth trauma, although his understanding of it is purely biological and far narrower than the concept of perinatal matrices. However, he lacks any recognition of the transpersonal dimensions of the psyche. Thus, the major dilemma he faces seems to be that the technique he employs is sufficiently powerful not only to take clients into perinatal realms, but also to induce transpersonal phenomena, such as memories of a past incarnation, archetypal sequences, states of possession, and mystical experiences. However, his theoretical system, which is superficial, mechanistic, and antispiritual, does not account for, let alone appreciate, the whole range of experiences that his technique is capable of triggering. Increasing numbers of Janov’s followers find themselves, after months of intensive therapy, in an unsolvable dilemma and painful confusion, being propelled by the use of the primal technique into transpersonal realms for which the straitjacket of Janov’s theory does not allow. The external manifestation of this development has been a deep schism in the primal movement and creation of renegade factions seeking a more open-minded framework.
Perinatal and also transpersonal experiences have occasionally been observed in encounter groups, marathon sessions, and, particularly, in Paul Bindrim’s nude marathons and aquaenergetic sessions (n.d.). They occur quite frequently in the rebirthing sessions of Leonard Orr (1977) and Elisabeth Feher (1980).
In many ways, the experiential techniques of humanistic psychology show many similarities with the approach I am advocating. The major difference is that most of them have only a superficial and incomplete understanding of the perinatal level of the unconscious and a total lack of awareness of the transpersonal realms. This shortcoming was overcome by the development of transpersonal psychology, a movement that has fully recognized and acknowledged the importance of the spiritual dimension in human life.