They called him a madman. A sex-crazed fraud.
But Wilhelm Reich discovered something no one was ready to hear:
Trauma lives in the body—and healing must begin there.
Here’s how he was silenced, erased, and proven right 70 years later: 🧵 (by a PhD psychologist)
But Wilhelm Reich discovered something no one was ready to hear:
Trauma lives in the body—and healing must begin there.
Here’s how he was silenced, erased, and proven right 70 years later: 🧵 (by a PhD psychologist)
Reich began as a rising star under Freud.
But he soon broke away.
Freud focused on talk. Reich watched the breath. The posture. The tension.
He said the body remembers what the mind forgets.
Trauma lives in our muscles, not just our thoughts.
But he soon broke away.
Freud focused on talk. Reich watched the breath. The posture. The tension.
He said the body remembers what the mind forgets.
Trauma lives in our muscles, not just our thoughts.
He called it “muscular armor.”
Chronic tension that forms as a defense against feeling.
Stiff jaws. Collapsed chests. Shallow breath.
You’re not just anxious—you’re armored. And it started long before you knew the word “trauma.”
Chronic tension that forms as a defense against feeling.
Stiff jaws. Collapsed chests. Shallow breath.
You’re not just anxious—you’re armored. And it started long before you knew the word “trauma.”
Reich believed healing meant more than insight.
It meant release. He touched. He moved. He breathed with patients.
He broke the rules of psychoanalysis—and was cast out for it.
The body, he said, must express what it once had to suppress.
It meant release. He touched. He moved. He breathed with patients.
He broke the rules of psychoanalysis—and was cast out for it.
The body, he said, must express what it once had to suppress.
In 1939, Reich fled Nazi Germany and came to America.
He brought his most controversial idea yet: that humans had a life energy, which he called orgone.
He believed trauma blocked this energy—and the body paid the price.
He brought his most controversial idea yet: that humans had a life energy, which he called orgone.
He believed trauma blocked this energy—and the body paid the price.
To help patients heal, he invented the orgone accumulator.
A strange-looking box designed to restore energy flow.
The press mocked it.
The government hated it.
The FDA called him a dangerous fraud and launched a full investigation.
A strange-looking box designed to restore energy flow.
The press mocked it.
The government hated it.
The FDA called him a dangerous fraud and launched a full investigation.
In 1954, the U.S. banned his device. But they didn’t stop there.
They seized his materials.
Then—by court order—burned his books.
Six tons of his work destroyed.
Pages of wisdom turned to ash.
They seized his materials.
Then—by court order—burned his books.
Six tons of his work destroyed.
Pages of wisdom turned to ash.
In 1956, Reich was arrested for violating the FDA’s injunction.
He died in federal prison the next year. Alone. No funeral. No obituary.
Just silence.
His name, scrubbed from psychology’s mainstream.
He died in federal prison the next year. Alone. No funeral. No obituary.
Just silence.
His name, scrubbed from psychology’s mainstream.
But his influence survived—through those he trained.
One of them was Alexander Lowen, who created Bioenergetic Analysis.
He taught that emotions live in the body—and must be released through movement, sound, and breath.
Dr Alexander Lowen
One of them was Alexander Lowen, who created Bioenergetic Analysis.
He taught that emotions live in the body—and must be released through movement, sound, and breath.
Dr Alexander Lowen
From Lowen came a new generation.
Gabor Maté. Peter Levine. Bessel van der Kolk. Pat Ogden. Stephen Porges.
Somatic therapy. Polyvagal theory. Trauma-informed breathwork.
They all stand on Reich’s forgotten shoulders.
Gabor Maté. Peter Levine. Bessel van der Kolk. Pat Ogden. Stephen Porges.
Somatic therapy. Polyvagal theory. Trauma-informed breathwork.
They all stand on Reich’s forgotten shoulders.
Wilhelm Reich saw it before the science proved it.
Trauma gets trapped in the body. And no amount of thinking will set it free.
The body has to tremble. Cry. Breathe. Shout.
It has to feel.
That’s how it heals.
Dr Gabor Maté
Trauma gets trapped in the body. And no amount of thinking will set it free.
The body has to tremble. Cry. Breathe. Shout.
It has to feel.
That’s how it heals.
Dr Gabor Maté
Reich died in disgrace.
But his vision lives in nearly every body-based therapy we use today.
He was exiled by Freud.
Imprisoned by America.
Erased by history.
But his legacy breathes in every trauma survivor who learns to feel again.
But his vision lives in nearly every body-based therapy we use today.
He was exiled by Freud.
Imprisoned by America.
Erased by history.
But his legacy breathes in every trauma survivor who learns to feel again.
Want more threads like this on the secret history of healing, psychology, and transformation?
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And if you are on the body-focused healing path…
I'd love to hear your story.👇
Follow me @DrBobBeare for more.
And if you are on the body-focused healing path…
I'd love to hear your story.👇
And, if you're ready for a doorway to body-focused healing:
I’ll teach you how to reconnect with your emotions to start living authentically.
Get my free 5-day course: “Emotional Integrity 101”
offers.drbobbeare.com/emotional-inte…
I’ll teach you how to reconnect with your emotions to start living authentically.
Get my free 5-day course: “Emotional Integrity 101”
offers.drbobbeare.com/emotional-inte…
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👉Reply with your thoughts on body-focused healing.
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