ABSTRACT
Basic to vegeto-therapy and bio-energetics is the view that the discharge of feeling and the mobilisation of energy is an essential tool in the softening and dissolving of the neurotic character patterns and muscular armour. Reich’s discovery of the physiological basis of the Freudian ‘stasis neurosis’ in dammed-up biological energy, trapped behind repressive defences, opened the way to a deeper understanding of ways of releasing bottled-up emotions. From the original cathartic approach of Josef Breuer, working with hysterics, there is a direct line through the work of Reich to the ‘primal scream’ therapy developed by Arthur Janov.
