Alexander Lowen (New York, 23/12/1910 – New Canaan, 28/10/2008) – Psychotherapist

Alexander Lowen was the founder of Bioenergetic analysis, the branch of psychology that approaches the psychological problems from the body-mind point of view (To read more, see How I work).

He has been able to bring  modern psychology “down to earth“: Less intellecttualism, more therapeutic action. The symptoms of psychological illnesses are immediately reduced by using bioenergetic exercises: relaxing body and mind and allowing suppressed emotions to be released. It is a process of “grounding ” of the individual in his own body; the energy flows to the feet, the legs and the pelvic area, bringing the person in contact with his/her natural vitality. This approach supports the work during therapeutic sessions, the process is accelerated and becomes more precise and deep. Patients can then integrate the bioenergetic exercises in their daily life and have huge benefits.

I admire Lowen for his simplicity, practical approach and love for human beings, all present in his work .

The primary nature of every human being is to be open to life and love. Being guarded, armoured, distrustful and enclosed is second nature in our culture. It is the means we adopt to protect ourselves against being hurt, but when such attitudes become characterological or structured in the personality, they constitute a more severe hurt and create a greater crippling than the one originally suffered. (A. Lowen – From Bioenergetics)

Daniel Harold Casriel (New York, Mar 1924 – New York, June 1983, age 59) – Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

Casriel invented the Bonding Psychotherapy: A body and emotional oriented group therapy based on mobilizing and expressing deep feelings, developing positive attitudes toward self and others, and on learning and practicing new behaviors. I experienced myself this technique and I am amazed by the simplicity and efficacy of it. The core of the group or individual sessions is based on lying down on the floor with another participant or therapist on you as a “teddy bear” to hold. Immediately the body starts to react and emotions come on the surface. The invitation is then to express them using voice and movements. A central goal of Bonding Psychotherapy is to help individuals regain their sense of entitlement as human beings: firstly, through learning to mobilize, express, and integrate their basic emotions; and secondly, through a corrective experience of acceptance and affirmation in regard to their basic need for closeness.

The group process is humanizing. It is designed to establish trust and promote “bondedness” among participants. It is aimed at achieving emotional openness, the ability to express one’s own feelings, and to resonate to the emotions of someone else. (D. H. Casriel – From A scream away from happiness)

James Hillman (Atlantic City, 12/04/1926 – Thompson, 27 /10/2011) – Psychotherapist

James Hillman is the founder of the Archetypal psychology, continuing and expanding the work of his teacher Carl Gustav Jung.  It is a type of psychology that deals not only with the individual unconscious and consciousness but also with the collective and universal unconscious and counsciousness.

Hillman was the first author that I studied at my university that actually opened my mind. His Archetypal psychology was able to take my attention immediatly beyond the superficial and visible level of reality and has profoundly influenced my way of living life and practising therapy. The archetypes are the primal principles of the universal and collective Psyche. They tell us that we are not only mind, body and emotions, and that there are different universal dimensions which influence us and determine our individuality. The more we expand our consciousness, the more our little individual mind falters and the Universe reveals its secrets in us.

Thanks to Hillman I had my first taste of the Mystery of Life.

Therapy, or analysis, is not only something that analysts do to patients; it is a process that goes on intermittently in our individual soul-searching, our attempts at understanding our complexities, the critical attacks, prescriptions, and encouragements we give ourselves. We are all in therapy all the time insofar as we are involved in soul-making. (J. Hillman – From Re-visioning Psychology, 1975)

Osho Rajneesh (Kuchwada, 11/12/1931 – Pune, 19/01/1990) – Spiritual master

Osho was a meditation and therapy teacher who taught his methods to millions of people in the 70’s and 80’s. He invented many techniques to help the modern man to develop his potential, connecting the Western Psychology with the Eastern Meditation.

If I had to point out the essence of his contribution to humanity in few words, I would say that he was able to find the Spiritual Side of the modern Psychology/Psychotherapy and the Therapeutic Side of the ancient Meditations. Osho connected the two using unique methods that combine Bioenergetic, Primal and Emotional Release Techniques with meditations like Vipassana, Sufi whirling dance and Nadabrahma.

I personally attended many and different workshops and I experienced a long individual therapy lead by the therapists and the meditation teachers in the Osho world. The essence of his work is to help people to get out of control, to go inside their emotions and feelings, and to start to live an intense and creative life. It is a path of Freedom and Love, that goes from the head to the inner core of the human heart.

To be a good therapist is a very difficult job. A good therapist has to be immensely compassionate, because it is not his techniques of therapy that help people, it is his love. There is nothing compared to love as far as healing the wounds of a man’s being are concerned. All other techniques can be helpful, supportive, but the basic is not a technique but a loving heart. (OSHO – From The Great Pilgrimage: From here to here)

Mooji, (29/01/1954, Port Antonio) – Spiritual master

Mooji is a contemporary spiritual master who I love very much. Thanks to his simple and direct approach he is able to take me to experience deeper and more beautiful dimensions of myself every time I meet him. It is a simple and straightforward person that leads one to make a direct experience of what is the mystery of life. He helps thousands of people in the world to get in touch with themselves and live with trust and without fear.

Life is so much wiser and kinder than your mind imagines. Trust & Be still. (Mooji)

Daniel Robert Odier (born 1945 in Geneva), Spiritual master

The work of Daniel Odier is to bring the Tantra of Kashmir and the Chinese Chan to the West. They both consist of meditation practices that involve slow and mindful body movements. Tantra also includes visualizations of deities to connect with the archetypal mind in order to heal our emotional wounds. I am deeply grateful for these practices because they slow down the mind, soften the body and open me up to a more spacious experience of myself and life.