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Psychodynamic Foundations of Bioenergetic Analysis

Experiencing, Understanding and Healing the Body and the Mind
2-2-1 Transcultural Challenges of Bioenergetic Analysis / Transkulturelle Herausforderungen der Bioenergetischen Analyse
Volume 2 Part 2: Bioenergetic Analysis in the Postmodern Age Chapter 2.1

Transcultural Challenges of Bioenergetic Analysis

Ulrich Sollmann

The author of the essay criticizes the fact that the curriculum of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis (IIBA) lacks a reference to bioenergetic- psychodynamic forms of group work and that cultural differences are not considered. He emphasizes the need to find ways to transfer Bioenergetic Analysis to other cultures. To this end, he suggests simultaneously adopting a top-down approach, which ensures the reference to bioenergetic teaching, and a bottom-up approach to continuously review the theory with reference to the respective social, transcultural and experience-based processes. He also advocates expanding the bioenergetic concept of grounding a person in the reality of their life to include grounding in the group process, in the formative social environment and in the individual’s respective event space. As a bioenergetic analyst working in China, the author distinguishes between inter-, multi-and transcultural communication and illustrates his position with examples such as the cultural mode of perception, Confucian hierarchy, specific modes of communication and relationships, or the particular relevance of the English language in Bioenergetic Analysis.

Link to the original publication at Routledge

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  • Bioenergetic Analysis (BA) is closely linked to the person of Alexander Lowen.
  • After Lowen’s death, the IIBA found itself in a crisis that threatened the institute’s very existence and could only be overcome with great difficulty. After Lowen’s death, various efforts were made to develop the organization. Some of them were very conflictual, but they were characterized more by the attempt to radically free themselves from the perceived »superfather«. Accordingly, those involved tended to remain stuck in their own resistance behavior. Overall, there is little evidence that the establishment of a transparent organizational structure was or is successful.
  • Although BA is learned and practiced as individual therapy in a group, or through individual work in front of the group, there is no conceptualization of an explicitly bioenergetic group therapy.
  • BA-training worldwide is based on the standards of the curriculum developed by the IIBA, which makes no reference to social conditions and cultural particularities.
  • However, there is now a broad consensus in the psychotherapeutic community, as well as in therapy research, that the social context, cultural characteristics and group dynamics must be considered. Thereby, the interplay of the BA theory/concept on the one hand (top-down) and experience-based practice as a learning experience, or learning history, on the other (bottom-up) is important.
  • In order to be able to consider cultural particularities in BA training and practice, e.g., in China or Brazil, the inter-, multi- and transcultural dimensions of the respective culture must be taken into account.

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Sollmann, U. (2008b). Affektive Gratifikation und Organisationsentwicklung − Zum Verhältnis von persönlicher Sehnsucht und Sehnsucht nach Professionalität in einer psychotherapeutischen Organisation [Affective Gratification and Organizational Development − On the Relationship Between Personal Desire and Desire for Professionalism in a Psychotherapeutic Organization]. Psychotherapie Forum, 16:179–183.

Sollmann, U. (2016). Integration of Psychotherapy (Schools) in China (Retrospect to the Panel at the Annual Meeting of the Chinese Association of Mental Health, Beijing, August 2016). International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture, 5(1):61–66. http://doi.org/10.22122/ijbmc.v5i1.107.

Sollmann, U. (2018). Begegnungen im Reich der Mitte – Mit psychologischem Blick unterwegs in China [Encounters in the Middle Kingdom − Traveling in China with a Psychological Eye]. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag.

Sollmann, U. (2020). »Independent Self« and »Interdependent Self«. Reflections on the Reference to the Body Perspective in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics in China. Auckland: Traditional Medicine Research.

Sollmann, U. (2024). Bioenergetische Analyse zwischen Tiefenpsychologie und Humanistischer Psychologie – ein Blick zurück [Bioenergetic Analysis between Psychoanalysis and Humanistic Psychology – Looking Back]. In C. Holle & J. Tasche (Eds.), Psychodynamische Grundlagen der Bioenergetischen Analyse [Psychodynamic Foundations of Bioenergetic Analysis] (p. 263–280). Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag.

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Ulrich Sollmann
Ulrich Sollmann

Ulrich Sollmann, graduate social scientist (German diploma), bioenergetic analyst (CBT/supervisor), Gestalt psychotherapist, executive coach in business and politics, author and...

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