Neo-Reichian body psychotherapy is based on the idea that what we experience psychologically and emotionally is also reflected in the body.

When, as children, we experience fear, rejection, lack of love, excessive control, or other difficult situations, we may not have the opportunity to express what we feel. For example, we may not be able to run away, defend ourselves, get angry, cry, or ask for what we need. According to the Neo-Reichian model, the body adapts by holding on to these unexpressed reactions through certain patterns of muscular tension and behaviour. Over time, these protective responses can become automatic. They affect not only the body, but also the way a person thinks, feels, forms relationships, sets boundaries, expresses their needs, and responds to the world. For this reason, therapy does not rely solely on talking. It also uses body-based and experiential exercises – movement, breathing, postures, pressure and resistance, working with the voice, contact, awareness of bodily sensations, and other experiential techniques.

“What does my body do when I am afraid?”

“What happens when I want to say NO?”

“How do I react when I want to get closer to someone?”

“What happens inside me when I need to ask for something?”

“Can I feel my own strength and sense of support?”

After the bodily experience, what has been experienced is explored and analysed together with the therapist – the sensations, emotions, images, impulses, memories, and meanings that have emerged, and how they are connected to the person’s life.

The goal, therefore, is not simply for a person to “relax their muscles”, but gradually to recognise old protective patterns, develop a wider range of possible responses, and build new ways of meeting their needs and relating to the world.

Tools Used by a Neo-Reichian Psychotherapist

Neo-Reichian psychotherapy views the person as a whole – body, feelings, and thoughts. Therefore, therapy does not rely solely on conversation. It also works with the body through breathing, movement, bioenergetic massage, and various experiential exercises. What a person feels, experiences, or remembers during these exercises is then explored and processed together with the therapist. The approach also incorporates techniques from other psychotherapeutic approaches, including psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, psychodrama, cognitive behavioural therapy, person-centred therapy, art therapy, and others.

What Is the Goal?

One of the main goals is to help a person better recognise what they need and find healthy ways of meeting those needs.

For example:

What do I want? → How do I feel it? → What is stopping me? → What can I do? → Can I move towards what I want? → Can I receive it? → Can I then relax and move forward?

Sometimes this natural process was interrupted during childhood. A person may have learned, for example:

“I shouldn’t ask for things.”

“I shouldn’t say NO.”

“It isn’t safe to get angry.”

“I have to be good in order to be loved.”

“I can’t rely on other people.”

“It’s better to withdraw than to get into conflict.”

What was once a useful way for a child to adapt to their environment may, in adulthood, become limiting. In therapy, a person gradually recognises these old patterns and experiments with new ways of acting. Rather than simply talking about how they would like to set boundaries, for example, they can physically and emotionally experience what it is like to take their place, stand up, say “no”, push away, ask for something, move closer, or move away.

Getting to Know the Parts of Ourselves We Don’t Like

Another important part of therapy is encountering what is often referred to as the “shadow” – those qualities, feelings, and desires within us that we have learned to reject or ignore. For example, a person may think:

“I never get angry.”

But behind this may be a great deal of suppressed anger and difficulty protecting their boundaries. The idea is not to get rid of this part of ourselves, but to understand:

“What do I need my anger for? Can it help me protect myself, say NO, and stand up for myself?”

In this way, qualities that once seemed “bad” or unacceptable can be understood and used in healthy ways.

From “Who I Should Be” to “Who I Am”

Ultimately, therapy helps a person gradually distinguish between:

What do I really want, and what do I do because I have learned that “this is how I should be”?

When we constantly follow other people’s expectations, rules, and ready-made patterns, we can lose touch with our own desires and our creative side. Therefore, the goal is not for the therapist to tell the client who they should become. Rather, therapy creates a space in which they can explore who they are, what they feel, what they want, and how they want to live. And this is where play and experimentation come in. Through movement, roles, images, the body, and different experiences, a person can safely explore:

“What would happen if, this time, I did something differently?”

Author: Gina Veresie