Portland Counseling with Core Energetics  Body-Mind Therapy

Core Energetics Resources

Links to Institutes:

The Institute for Core Energetics West, located in Mendocino, CA offers trainings in Core Energetics, supervision intensives, and general interest workshops. The institute director, Siegmar Gerken, PhD. leads workshops with Core Energetic work at various international locations. I studied at this institute and am part of the assistant faculty.

Links to other US based institutes include: Core Energetics East (East Coast, USA), Core Energetics South (S.E. USA),

Links to Core Energetic training at institutes in Germany and in Switzerland.

Links to Core Energetics Therapists

Marsha Antkies in Ridgefield, CT

Michael Antkies in Ridgefield, CT

Ann Bradney in New York, NY

Jim Bonney in New York, NY

Dana Zarcone in Wilmington, DE

Bill Say in Albany, CA

Michael Bartlett in Santa Fe, NM

Other Core Energetics Resources:

Robert Davis is building and selling the Rollers that are used by Core Energetics and Bioenergetics Therapists.

There are many other Core Energetics therapists, some with web sites and others who can be reached by phone or email. You are welcome to contact me for assistance in finding a Core Energetic therapist in your area or contact one of the training institutes listed above for a list of therapists in your area.

If you are a Core Energetics therapist and would like me to list you on this page I invite you to  contact me with your URL.

  Information about Upcoming Core Energetics Workshops can be found on my calendar page.

Pathwork International

Core Energetics has some concepts and principles in common with the Pathwork Lectures. Here's a link to the International Pathwork Foundation site where you can find newsletters, lectures, and other resources.

 
Bibliography of Recommeded Readings

Some recommended reading in Core Energetics and other body-mind psychology include:

• Dychwald, Kenneth, M.D.,  Bodymind, Penguin/Putnam Inc., 1977
• Lowen, Alexander, M.D., The Language of the Body, Macmillan Publishing Co, 1958.
• Lowen, Alexander, M.D.,  Bioenergetics,  Penguin Books, 1975.
• Michel, Elizabeth, M.D.,  Bent out of Shape, Self published, 1997.
• Pierrakos, John C. M.D., Core Energetics, LifeRhythm, 1990
• Pierrakos, John C. M.D., Eros, Love & Sexuality, The Forces That Unify Man and Woman, LifeRhythm, 1997
• Reich, Wilhelm, M.D.,  Character Analysis, Orgone Institute Press, 1945.
• Reich, Wilhelm, M.D.,  The Function of the Orgasm, Orgone Institute Press, 1942.

---

Other Body-Mind Psychology Resources

Core Energetics was developed from the body-mind principles developed by Wilhelm Reich and from other influences. Some other body-mind psychological approaches that have developed from Reich's principles are listed below.

Bioenergetics

The International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis describes Bioenergetics as "...a way of understanding personality in terms of the body and its energetic processes. Bioenergetic Analysis is a form of therapy that combines work with the body and the mind to help people resolve their emotional problems and realize more of their potential for pleasure and joy in living."

Core Energetics is a further refinement of Bioenergetics and has much in common with this approach. Links to Bioenergetics training institutes follow:

• San Diego Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis
• International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis

Books related to Bioenergetics can be ordered through the Bioenergetics Press.

Radix

The Radix Institute describes Radix  as "...a third-generation Reichian therapy practice derived from the work of Wilhelm Reich and Charles R. Kelley.  Like other somatic or "body-centered" psychotherapy practices such as Bioenergetics, Hakomi, and Core Energetics, Radix practically applies the principle of mind-body unity using an integrated approach that includes working with the body (somatic), feelings (affective), and thought (cognitive) to effect psychological change and profound personal growth."

Hakomi

The web site www.hakomi.com describes the Hakomi Method as "The Hakomi Method, developed by Ron Kurtz, is based on five therapeutic principles – Mindfulness, Organicity, Non-Violence, the Mind-Body Connection, and Unity – which give rich meaning and a spiritual dimension to the work."

• Link to the  Hakomi Institute  where you can find information about the Hakomi method and trainings.

Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP)

The Rosenberg-Kitaen Central Institute   describes  IBP as "IBP offers the therapist and client a unique way of tracking body-mind interruptions to the somatic core sense of self, life's most basic guidance system. Psychological interruptions include emotional patterns and beliefs developed in early childhood that habitually distort present experiences (Primary Scenario), our protective defenses (Character Style) and how we abandon our core selves for love and approval (Agency). Without knowing the difference between psychological interruptions and core self, we cannot trust our intuition, our inner voice."

BodyNamics

The BodyNamic Institute USA describes BodyNamics as  "A unique style of Somatic Developmental Psychology that evolved from 25 years of research into psychomotor development by an innovative Danish theorist, Lisbeth Marcher. She called her systematic approach “Bodynamic Analysis” and founded the Bodynamic Institute. Marcher’s key insights include the belief in human connection as the primary human drive and the discovery that each muscle, as it awakens in the developmental process, also acquires a psychological imprint."

Wilhelm Reich M.D.

Wilhelm Reich (1897—1957) was a student, and later a colleage of Freud's, member of Freud's psychoanalytic society, and one of the great psychoanalytic pioneers before his clinical studies led him into the laboratory and to investigations of the energy processes in nature. All of the somatic or body-mind psychologies and therapeutic methods trace their development back to Reich's fundamental discoveries and formulations. I list below some recommended readings and internet links to information about Wilhelm Reich's psychological work and also his later scientific work regarding energy systems at the biophysical, planetary, and societal levels.

• The following 2 books provide background on Reich's system of somatic psychology and the underlying energetic understanding of human body-mind experience: Reich, Wilhelm, M.D.,  Character Analysis, Orgone Institute Press, 1945.  Reich, Wilhelm, M.D., The Function of the Orgasm, Orgone Institute Press, 1942.

• Biographies of Wilhelm Reich: Boadella, David, In the Wake of Reich,  Ashley Books, 1977.  Sharaf, Myron R., Fury on Earth:  A biography of Wilhelm Reich, St. Martin's Press, 1984.

• Link to the Wilhelm Reich Museum in Rangely, Maine. The museum offers various programs throughout the year and the bookstore sells publications by Reich, some of which are rare and out of print. Reporoductions of Reich's art and paintings are also available from the museum.

• Link to James DeMeo Ph. D. research web site, and home page for the Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory. Reich referred to the biophysical energy of the human body's energetic processes as Orgone. (The yogic traditions know it as Prana; Chinese medicine calls it Chi.) DeMeo does scientific research to validate and further advance the biophysical research that Reich did with Orgone.

• Jamerling Ogg maintains the Public Orgonomic Research Exchange. Ogg's site has been the subject of some controversy and I do not necessarily endorse all that you might read here, but list it because I have found it to contain some interesting and insightful materials. 

Associations and Organizations:

• U.S. Association for Body Psychotherapy  - The USABP is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to developing and   advancing the art, science, and practice of body-mind psychotherapy.
• European Association for Body Psychotherapy - European organization for body-mind psychotherapy.
• The International Journal of Body-Psychotherapy - A joint venture between the EABP and the USABP.

Internet Resources:

• BoMi is an online guide to over 80 body-centered methods of healing and personal growth. The site contains information about books, holistic practitioner listing, useful addresses and links.
  

---

Other General Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Spiritual Practice Links

Gestalt Therapy:

The internet is rich in information resources for Gestalt therapy. Here are a few links:

• Link to the homepage for the International Gestalt Therapy Association. 
• The Gestalt Therapy Page is a project sponsored by The Gestalt Journal Press. 
• Link to The Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy. 
• Link to the Pacific Gestalt Institute. 
• link to the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy.
  

"The enemy of development is this pain phobia – the unwillingness to do a tiny bit of suffering." 
-- Fritz Perls in Gestalt Verbatim, p 56.

Humanistic Psychology:

Link to the Association for Humanistic Psychology. Click here to read a thoughtful description of Humanistic Psychology.

 

Gottman Institute:

John Gottman and Julie Gottman at the Gottman Institute reach out to families and couples in order to help create and maintain greater love and health in relationships. Their work is based on intensive, detailed, and long-term scientific study of why marriages succeed or fail.

Transpersonal Psychology:

Click here for a description of Transpersonal Psychology. Institutions with trainings in Transpersonal Psychology include: The Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, Saybrook Graduate School.

The most beautiful experience...
      we can have is of the mysterious.
      It is the fundamental emotion...
      that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.
      - Albert Einstein

Buddhist Psychology:

There are many articles about Buddhist Psychology and the connection between Western psychological insights and Buddhist principles available on the internet. Likewise, learning centers are being established to offer training and degree programs in Buddhist Psychology. I list a few resources below:

• Amida Trust offers courses and a degree program 
• Naropa University has an MA study in Contemplative Psychotherapy rooted in Buddhist teachings
• Link to an overview article by George Boeree PhD 
• Link to some thoughtful articles on the relationship between Buddhist and Western psychology by Rob Preece 
• The Buddhist Psychology and Counseling Research Center (BPCRC) at Hsi Lai University 

“Hatred never ceases through hatred. Hatred ceases through love alone. This is the ancient law.”
--The Buddha

---

Retreat Centers

Some centers in the western USA that offer programs in psychological work or spiritual practice include: 

Pacific NorthWest:

• Cloud Mountain Retreat Center
• Breitenbush Hot Springs
• HollyHock

California:

• Spirit Rock
• Southern Dharma Retreat Center

"Thoughts are endless, and they rush in to fill the yawning well of awareness."
--Jeff Greenwald, from "The Great Indoors", Tricycle, Winter 2004.

---

Other Related Topics

Barbara Brennan studied with John Pierrakos and her healing work uses a similar characterology approach. Link to the Barbara Brennan School of Healing

Internet directories and links.

---