Wilhelm Reich: Beyond Condemnation and Worship

Classics of Psychoanalysis

Abstract

The article is dedicated to a psychoanalytic study of the life and work of one of the most prominent psychoanalysts of the early 20th century, Freud's "favorite son", Wilhelm Reich. As a brilliant clinician, in the first Viennese psychoanalytic period of his work (1921–1934), Reich developed the most important concepts of psychoanalysis technique, which continue to nurtureits development up to the present time. During the second Scandinavian period (1934–1939) Reich established the foundations of modern body-oriented psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. The third American period of his work (1939–1957) turned out to be a radical change of subject from the psychoanalytic and even psychotherapeutic space into bioenergetics and orgone therapy using energy accumulators designed by himself. The article analyzes in detail the influence of Reich’s personal history and his unprocessed internal conflicts on various collisionsof his life and work.