4-Personal History-Nicholas O'Connor
My original training to become a Psychotherapist was with the Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists Institute of New Zealand (PHINZ) which I completed in 1981.
After attending a lecture and Bodywork demonstration by Auckland Reichian Therapist Ken Busch, I decided to dedicate my life to furthering my understanding and awareness of the body in this way.
I became his client for 4 1/2 years and during that time resolved many issues that the normal Psychology I had been trained in, had failed to help or enlighten me in any way that brought inner peace and understanding.
My own experience as a client in Bodywork proved to me beyond doubt, that the body knows all there is to know about itself and that given the right opportunity will heal any emotional problem in the best possible way. When allowed to operate in a completely natural and feeling way, body knowledge is what heals and it does not matter what the problem is, the body knows how to heal it. Our problem, and I must own this for myself, my problem, was that I had accepted the wishes of my family and those around me over and above my own desires for wholeness. Doing this placed a thought in my mind that I had to adhere to what was socially expected of me in all situations and my training in life had included only one situation. I was insecure about all other situations which resulted in insecurity in the home as well, for the dysfunction I had learned as normality, did not serve me well in any area of existence. I have concluded from that, that insecurity, a feeling of being insecure in a given situation, is really about not being sure of what is expected. This kicks the body into survival mode and the unpleasantness of insecurity, the body sensations, sweating hands, a slight stutter or halting of words, too many uhmms and hars, coughs, fast talking, the eyes darting- ness of insecurity and any other reaction we get, is fear that we are not doing the right thing for the given situation, and we fear for our lives, because of it. At least, we fear rejection, at worst, grievous body harm.
Living permanently this way stresses the body unhealthily and the result is ill health. I had ill health and learning to release the energy that was bound around my need to do what was expected, enabled me to find out who I was. Being myself, whatever that entailed, healed indirectly and directly, permanently and completely, the insecurity that had provided me with all of the symptoms that spoke of my insecurity.
By working at two levels at once, in a feeling way with the body and bringing the importance of feelings into intellectual awareness, deep reaching changes automatically occurred that I found impossible to achieve in any other way. The changes that came firstly to the body state and secondly to the mind by way of understanding, readjusted my whole being to a point that was past holding and the awareness I gained freed up my mind to do what it was originally designed to do. Operate within the body structure as an organ of understanding.
The purpose of Bodywork, to release bound energy through spontaneous movement and feeling expression, extended my personal boundaries and reduced any limitations I felt. It is hard to explain exactly how it works by describing what it is that you actually do in bodywork, for as a therapist who has now worked for over 22 years in this way, no two people do the same thing and to say that you do this or that in Bodywork gives a false impression of what it is.
What it did do for me, was loosen up my whole system, including my mind. As the blocked energy was released, self awareness, self confidence and feelings of self worth developed. My feeling life widened and my relationships deepened, living life became a rewarding experience. As I freed up I uncovered deeper levels within myself.
Some of the problems that I experienced as a child and young adult that were completely healed through the combination of Reichian Therapy, Bioenergetics and Bodywork are listed below. I found no change occurred to any of these problems with normal Psychology based therapy, which I endured weekly for 3 1/2 years.
Tinnitus - Shortness of breath - Nervous Tension and Stress - dizziness - Skin Rashes - Acne - Headaches - Grinding Teeth - Fear of Closeness - Fear of open Spaces/Agoraphobia - Fear of Enclosed Spaces/Claustrophobia - Fear of Heights - Lack of Feeling - Intense and deep seated Anger - Premature Ejaculation and Sexual Dysfunction - Peer Identification - Lack of Self Expression - Serious Relationship Problems - Emotional Dependency - Lack of Self Worth - Inability to Concentrate
From the first session in Bioenergetic Bodywork I noticed change in how I felt, the body felt lighter and I could see that my feelings had worth. In subsequent sessions, without working on particular problems, they started to go. Later in the course of therapy, I would be thinking back on how I used to be and realized that I didn't feel threatened any more when I was close to someone, or, that I enjoyed going out into the world, or that small rooms and lifts didn't worry me at all, my fear of heights had disappeared, relationship problems started to be understandable and fixable, I felt separate from others and was able to express myself more fully. My anger disappeared
I find that this is the way it works with my own clients. Whatever problems are identified as interfering with the ability to live a full and satisfying life are not actually the problem, they are the result of the problem. The problem is in the way that the body has been restricted in it's movements and expressions. Working with and on the body and showing a way to release energy bound in the cellular structure and understand it, brings about deep and lasting change. Problems disappear without any particular focus being placed on them.
This is work that is past thinking. The process cannot be worked out intellectually, it must be felt. The mind is at the end of the body and it's primary function is as an organ of understanding. It is after the body not before it, it is a receiver of information and an assessor of correct action, providing it has the right information. When the body state is open and the mind is open to the feelings of the body, feelings tell about what is going on in the immediate environment. The bodies primary concerns are first for safety and second for satisfaction. Social conditioning interferes with this process at it's base by expecting that we act according to what is expected by others.
If this page interests you and you wish to read on more specific problem areas, click on any of the segments below and it will take you to the relevant section. There are ways of contacting me if you desire, costs involved in therapy sessions and other relevant information are listed in each section.
All of the best to you
Nicholas O'Connor.