Medical orgone therapy is the result of a progressive evolution of Wilhelm Reich’s discoveries.
Reich saw character as the main resistance to uncovering unconscious feelings, memories and impulses. He understood character armor as an automatic and chronic way of reacting to the outside world, a defense against the unconscious.
Psychoanalytic technique therefore shifted toward the patient’s way of being and character traits. Emotional responses emerging in clinical work allowed Reich to recognize the role of the body and, in particular, muscular armor: a rigid neck, tight throat, expanded chest or arched back.
The technique came to involve the musculature and autonomic nervous system through breathing and direct work on armored muscles. Character analysis became vegetotherapy.
Further research into sexuality, orgasm and orgone energy led to the name medical orgone therapy. In this perspective, the work involves psyche and soma together and is reserved for specialist physicians with specific orgonomic training.
This content presents the author’s perspective and is provided for information. It does not replace medical assessment or treatment.
