Article: 8.34
Narcissism in the Light of Biodynamics 648
Siegfried Bach
That which, unknown to humans
Or even disdained by them,
Through the labyrinth of the breast
Paces around during the night.
Goethe, 'To the Moon'
Narcissism
Narcissus' encounter with the magical reflections in the water of the mountain spring is the pivot
of the Greek myth of the same name. The mountain ranges of Helicon in Boeotia are a favorite
abode of the Muses, the tutelary goddesses of memory. But it is precisely the properties of
memory that make consciousness possible. Narcissus encounters his self-reflective spiritual
qualities in the magical waters649 and succumbs to the reflections of himself: "Unable to
embrace the image on the water, he lay down beside it, unable to tear himself away from it,
until he died." (Ovid). But how is it that the mental images take hold of Narcissus in such a way
that he feels neither hunger, thirst nor tiredness, but forgets his soul in the process?
The myth traces this back to the work of the goddess of vengeance, Nemesis, who cursed one
whom Narcissus despised: "Let love himself and not attain what he loves!", he's listening. The
psychoanalytic tradition speaks of narcissism as a libido directed towards the Self, after Sigmund
Freud had distinguished between object libido and ego libido as early as 1905 (Freud, 1905). But
can a person direct so much libido, so much pleasurable turning to his conscious self-image, that
he ignores even his basic needs? What forces are at work here?
Looking at narcissism from the perspective of Biodynamic Psychology leads me to surprising
conclusions. Narcissism is more than just a pathological phenomenon of unfortunate individuals; it
looks much more like its correspondences with the birth pangs of human consciousness in general,
which does not grow on trees. Cognitive self-defluxion and reason are gained in a painful
socialization process that has taken place over thousands of years in human cultural history and is
repeated in every individual like all vertebrae grow pharyngeal arches in embryonic development.
The dilemma of narcissism arises in a conflict between the qualities of the soul that has grown over
eons and the phenomena of cognitive consciousness that suddenly break out a few thousand years
ago.
The sensually anchored soul and the self-reflexive mind have very different properties and yet
together constitute the human psyche. The conscious mind at times seems unbound and free,
648
Presentation at the DGK Conference 1996. Published: Bach, S. (1997). Narzißmus im Licht der
Biodynamik. In: Narzissmus: Körperpsychotherapie zwischen Energie und Beziehung, Hrsg. Verein für
Integrative Biodynamik (VIB). Simon+Leutner, Berlin.
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That reflections are about qualities of consciousness can also be seen from the preceding story. When the
nymph Leirope asked whether her son Narcissus would live a long life, the seer Teiresias answered
(ironically): "Yes - if he never knows himself.
unaffected by emotion. Yet he is tied to a living subject whose endowments are unquestionably
ensouled. Parallel interacting processes take place on all levels, such as on the levels of
intracellular processes, individual metabolism, psyche, up to social interactions. Despite the
immense complexity of brain-physiological activities, which are directly linked to physical
dispositions and environmental conditions, they can generally be organized into a uniform mental
state. In animals, as well as in early human children, this can be observed as a form of sensual,
amodal self-experience.
The painful aspect of becoming conscious, of "eating from the tree of knowledge" is exactly the
narcissistic drama that the Greek myth of Narcissus describes and whose consequences and
genesis are examined in the psychoanalytic tradition as narcissism. Like the Biblical original sin, it
accompanies every incarnation. When a narcissist feels his integrity threatened by someone
(seemingly) less powerful, he tends to feelings of hurt with vengeful satisfaction and without
compassion. Man's entire history of consciousness is filled with escalating cruelty towards evil in
others as he falls helplessly into their hands.650 The small escalations of everyday life are probably
even worse. If a child does not behave the way the adult thinks it should, it is exposed to the adult's
power and has to protect itself from painful narcissistic attacks.
The child learns to anxiously hold back its spontaneous expressions, to feel and sympathize less.
In becoming conscious it will stumble into the narcissistic trap. It will develop its conscious
identity far away from the injured soul and securing this unrooted self will determine its life from
now on. The narcissistic 'bacillus', like the causative agent of an epidemic, propagates over
generations. It appears as the motor of callous perversions and in the small and large abuses of
everyday life. Wilhelm Reich called this mechanism the emotional plague (Reich, 1973, p. 252).
The compensatory striving for power and the lack of self-confidence probably contributes to the
development of intellectual and technical abilities so rapidly in human history that, in our time, it
seriously threatens all of nature, including humans. It seems high time to turn to this calamity
systematically and collectively suppressed topic with good reason - our survival as a species.
Another thesis is that the extent of mental integration of the factually existing state of the
visceral inner world determines the humanity of consciousness. From birth, humans have a
genetically fine-tuned communication system designed to optimally regulate issues of closeness
and distance, intimacy, territorial claims, and hierarchy, i.e., social synergetics. Thus, it includes
innate behavioral patterns of adults to tune in to the neediness of others: a newborn child,
vulnerable adults, the sick, the poor, the opressed. If the infant's existentially sustaining sensual
sense of self is disrupted by lack of compassion or narcissistic actions on the part of their
caregiver, the basal sense of self collapses and must later inflate in a compensatory manner.
However, since the communicative, compassionate humanness of the infant has been lost, its
sensory self gets buried alive under an inconsolable soul, under a suffering for itself and the others,
whilst revolving around the cognitive-self trying to set up a secure identity, in a frightening social
climate.
Basics of Biodynamic Psychology
What does Biodynamic Psychology do in particular to be able to make and derive the above
claims about narcissism? Biodynamics provides me, amongst other things, with a comprehensive,
holistic theory of psychosomatic and biosocial interactions, which I would now like to outline. At
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Editor’s Note: See Scott Peck, M. (1983). People of the Lie: The hope for healing human evil.
Touchstone.
this point, we recommend that readers who do not like to deal with abstract theories do not get off
straight away if they are confused, but instead read sideways or continue straight away with the
chapter on the "mental self".
The foundation of Biodynamics is derived from the understanding of the physiological and
psychological importance of the vegetative system. Gerda Boyesen, the founder of Biodynamic
Psychology, had the first contact with this developmentally earliest part in the Psychiatric
Department of Oslo Psychiatric Hospital. If the patients began to rage, sob or scream after the
massage of their hardened muscles, this was welcomed by Bulow-Hansen, the head
physiotherapist. She understood such "vegetative abreactions" as an expression of the tormented
child's soul, their discharges mostly promised an improvement of the symptoms. Parallel to these
encounters with the intensity of vegetative charges in massage, Gerda Boyesen made her
vegetotherapeutic experiences with Ola Rakness, the most prominent Norwegian student of
Wilhelm Reich.
Through her own therapeutic process and through the intestinal peristaltic reactions of her
clients (Boyesen, 1987, p. 77 f), Gerda Boyesen began to recognize the key functions of the
vegetative system. After violent abreactions from her manic-depressive "Oscar"651, strong
abdominal activity repeatedly set in during the relaxation that followed, which was accompanied
by a peaceful mood and spontaneous realizations. Because of this dual function of the audible
bowel movements, she called this "psycho-peristalsis", the central, vegetatively innervated organ
system between the pharynx and the anus, canal, as the physiological equivalent of Freud's Id.
Figure 1: Alimentary-Canal and direction of energy flow
However, the vegetative Id is not the inexorable antagonist of the Ego as in psychoanalysis, but
rather the potential of the "primary personality" (Boyesen, 1982) that originally wants to unfold. In
the socializing encounters with an insensitive, often narcissistic environment, the primary potential
must protect itself. It forms an 'armouring' for itself and has to find compromises for its vegetative
charges.
A first Biodynamic model considers the harmonizing, downward, centering libido flow that
accompanies oceanic well-being and abdominal self-discovery, and the upward, outward
emotional Id flow that is most prominent in cathartic abreactions. Gerda Boyesen herself drew
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See Article 1.5 in this volume.
these sketches (Fig. 1) in 1978 to explain the central hypotheses of Biodynamics for both energy
directions in the Id channel, and especially the regulating function of the diaphragm.
One hypothesis is that - given an atmosphere of space, time and security - every human being is
able literally to 'digest' any kind of trauma. The downward directed, harmonizing energy and the
psycho-peristalsis play an important -if not essential - role. If this ability vegetative self-regulation
(Boyesen, 1987, p. 148f) has been lost, the organism increasingly accumulates residual tension and
waste products, which solidify in muscle and tissue armor. Since these accumulations continue
throughout life, the "camel's back" is eventually broken or collapsed, as is the case with insidious
intoxications. Then, there are functional somatic disorders - be it the well-known back pain, or the
result of tissue damage or reduced blood circulation.
The second hypothesis concerns outward energy. It is regulated by muscle tension, with the
diaphragm in particular, either spontaneously pumping up the Id-energy, or blocking its expansion.
Like the intestines, the musculature has a dual psychological function, on the one hand through its
proximity to sensorimotor functions and voluntary expressions; on the other hand, it has the ability
to literally regulate Id energies, vegetative charges and impulses through tension. These appear as
common characteristics of the "motoric ego".
"The breath is the gateway to the unconscious" 652 is a quintessence of practical,
vegetotherapeutic experience. When the diaphragm relaxes and brings up (or allows) vegetative
impulses, aspects of the experience held by muscle tension tend to push upward. In a trusting and
understanding atmosphere, traumatic scenes can unfold with all their emotional properties and the
associated and cognitive images and words. In such a dynamic moment, the therapist, like the
parents of newborns, must intuitively take on a moderating role to the impulses at hand. The
sometimes very early childhood character of the moods and drives of the vegetative milieu is met
with loving sensitivity in Biodynamics, whereas its sometimes archaic intensity requires maternal
steadfastness.
I consider the cultivation of these qualities to be Gerda Boyesen's greatest contribution to
Biodynamic practice. It is essential and central to Biodynamic training. On the other hand, I find it
courageous and also ingenious to publicly continue to think about these sensual experiences of
bodily double functions, even in the face of the danger of being ridiculed, and to formulate a
uniform theory of the bios that trigger dynamis. In practice, Biodynamic understanding and human
qualities together form the basis of character-transforming, Biodynamic Psychotherapy, with its
techniques of Vegeto-therapy and massage.
These methods attempt to melt the muscular and tissue armor. They then aim at an encounter
with the sometimes highly charged, explosive content and the immense neediness that usually
underlies it. In these labor pains, lie the roots and destiny of the primal personality. She is invited
to trust her own resources, to go through the healing crisis and to let the dimensions of nurturing
contact and the resulting, basic sense of self grow. On the one hand, new solutions and an
understanding of the underlying conflicts should be found, on the other hand, it is about defusing
the sources of stress, dissipating their energy and stimulating their "digestion". Above all, this
combination of treatments is intended to enable spontaneous unconscious restructuring, which
experience has shown is often announced through dreams.
In the late 1970s, Clover Southwell, a colleague of Gerda Boyesen, summarized the
relationships between dynamic-expansive and structuring forces in the model of the Biodynamic
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A common phrase of Gerda Boyesen's.
Cross (Fig. 2). Accordingly, in therapy, as in massage, it must be taken into account how strong
the feminine emotional "updrift", the vegetative vitality, is in comparison to the supporting,
regulating muscular structures. An over-armored musculature that prevents vitality (Fig. 2.A) is
loosened with exercises and massage in the Reichian tradition and then 'melted' Biodynamically,
thus making it permeable for sensitivity and spontaneous impulses (Fig. 2.B). However, this
approach, which reduces the defence, is not permitted in the case of an under-structured, overloaded constitution (Fig. 2.C). When clients are easily overwhelmed by feelings and impulses,
further weakening of supporting structures threatens their stability and personal integrity. The
basic considerations of the indication of Biodynamic methods aim at a balance of these forces.
Excessive emotional expression requires contouring, muscular structure-strengthening procedures
and, at the same time, the inner charges need digesting, laxative, understanding work.
Figure 2. Functional Diagnostic
In addition to the hypothesis of vegetative self-regulation in the sense of a self-healing
mechanism, the Biodynamic theory is based on an energetic-hydraulic regulation model of
expansive and regulating forces, as well as on the description of concrete transitions of energetic
phenomena into mental functions (ES channel, motoric Ego). I consider the embryonic germ layer
model of David Boadella,653 who worked with Gerda Boyesen in the London therapy scene in the
1970s and early 1980s and accompanied her for years, to be another milestone in the theoretical
consideration of the body-soul connections. (Fig. 3).
Figure 3. The Germ Layer Model
After implantation of the fertilized egg cell, the initially undifferentiated cell cluster divides into
two layers of different cell types. The outer one divides again after a while, so that three germ
layers can be seen. We call it the endoderm, mesoderm, and the ectoderm (Greek entero-inner,
meso-middle, ecto-outer; dermis-skin, layer). As a preliminary stage of the embryonic intestinal
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This is explained well in his book, Lifestreams: An Introduction to Biosynthesis. (Routledge, 1987, Cpt. 3)
tube, the inner (endodermic) germ layer typically forms the digestive organs, lung tissue and
internal organs. It roughly encompasses the organs and functions influenced by the autonomic
nervous system, including the immunological level, the eternal jungle of biological conflicts. The
middle (mesodermic) germ layer forms bone tissue, the skeletal muscles and vessels, in a broader
sense the musculoskeletal system. The skin, the neural tube and finally the entire nervous tissue
with the sensors and the brain develop from the outer (ectodermic) germ layer. All working
together, they form the bassic embodiment of psychodynamics and Body Psychotherapy.
A Biodynamic Development Model
With the help of the germ layer model, the organism can be described cross-organically, i.e.
simplified; and - with the help of the Biodynamic double-functions - include the parallel
morphologies of body-soul-mind interactions. The mesodermal structure that forms musculature in
the Biodynamic cross diagram, builds the motoric Ego as described above. The charges of the
vegetative inner Id (endoderm) are bordered by the mesoderm regulating and postural muscles.
The ectoderm, on the other hand, as the outer skin and developing the nervous system with its
sensory organs, forms the boundary to the environment. It is connected to the environment with its
senses, via sensorimotor nerves with skeletal muscles and tendons, and via the autonomic nervous
system with the endodermal state of metabolism. By virtue of its enormous neuronal complexity,
the human psychic characteristics appear to be generated in the ectodermal brain.
Skin and brain are very closely linked. The skin forms the physical boundary to the outside
world. It is interspersed with nerve endings and sensory organs that project the environment into
topologically ordered cortical spaces. Semantized neuronal oscillation patterns of the brain enable
a psychic double membrane, with a surface facing the characteristics of the environment, with an
inner surface facing the psychic self.
Figure 4: Complete Functional Diagram
This dual-boundary function of the ectoderm fits well into the Biodynamic regulation-cross. I do
this by sketching a circle around the cross of the expansive endodermal and regulatory
mesodermal force arrows which, by its line quality, thick, thin or openwork, indicates the
constitution of the mind (Fig. 4). Are the psychic boundaries realistic, flexible, and permeable to
internal and external signals, or are they characterized by rigid dogma and insensibility, or even
riddled with projections and introjects, and tend to crumble under contradictions and criticism? On
the other hand, what is the situation in terms of body diagnostics with regard to vitality, the
formation of symptoms and the observable patterns of tension, charge and regulation?
Figure 5. The Developmental Model
allows displaying the bio-psycho-social characteristics, influences and changes over time:
Left of time axis: endo-, meso-, ectoderm with their biographical imprints from insemination to today.
Right of time axis: the psychological projections of endo-, meso-, ectoderm (instinct, emotion,
cognition) and their development. Outside the organism at the left environmental physical
conditions influencing; at the right side the social environment and its influence and impact on the
individual, both along time.
In order to be able to describe narcissism in its full scope, I use a developmental model that
integrates the spatial-interpersonal constellations and the temporal developmental dimension
(Fig.5). Thus, in the physical world of matter, anything in regard to growth and development
(time) of an organism (according to the germ-layer systematic) can be mapped in the left side of
the model; like the maturation of the brain structures in the first months, the formation of the
muscular shell in the various development phases, as well as the dispositions of the vegetative
system. The right side of the model refers to the corresponding qualities and functions of the
psychic worlds according to the morphological dual-function principle:
1. The endoderm with its smooth muscles and fluid-based information exchange is the seat of
the metabolism, a meeting with the physical environment as air in the lungs and food in the guts,
which is closest to the origins of life. The physiological states it creates and genetically
implemented drives and instincts are experienced consciously as moods and vague urges. This
endoderm-state appears like a "weather situation" in the background. It changes rather slowly,
although it can react to events like a sudden thunderstorm. It forms a specific resonance for
cortical associations as well as for the evaluative framework of current events.
In this way, the endoderm state influences secondary thought processes by creating a certain
readiness for the selection of scenic memories, images, words, and feelings. Thus, the body, with
its biographically acquired dispositions shapes implicit arousal patterns, and underlines memory,
appraisal and cognitive judgment.
2. The mesodermal musculoskeletal system, the motor system, which lies morphologically
between the other two germ layers, gives physical stability to the entire organism by its bones and
tendons, and by their motility and the muscles makes an executive organ with the ability to act in
the world. Usually it is seen as a volitional organ steered by motor neurons of the brain under
control of the free will of the person. Nevertheless, the mesoderm also carries out the emotion,
ranging from subtle resonance with endodermal moods to violent outbursts of affect in response to
pain, fear, or existential threat. Emotions occur as physical events, such as involuntary facial
expressions and gestures, and as readiness to act, expressed in subtle muscular tension patterns.
The more clearly the fine movement is perceived, the more differentiated sensations and feelings
can be experienced.
3. The ectoderm was introduced as the layer forming the boundary to the outside: first, as skin,
later in evolution building nerves and sensory organs. In conjunction with the mesoderm, it forms
the senso-motoric animal that acts in the world on the base of its perception. Nevertheless, a
fundamentally new quality arises from the thrust of the human cortex. Its extremely grown
complexity of neuronal circuitry enables symbolic representations of real experiences. Already in
the higher animal species, an "inner stage of appearance" forms, the phantasia, as Aristotle called
this phenomenon.
In human the cultural development, especially language, leads to stable symbolic objects of
even higher order. They evolve to a quality and dynamic able of logic and self-reflection, which
differ substantially from "soul-affective" representations of the motoric ego alone. The tension
between these two contrasting qualities let me to a core understanding of the narcissistic
problematic in a Biodynamic perspective, which I will come to immediately.
4. On the side of the environment, physical influences can be distinguished, such as light,
oxygen, food and sheltering quality, as well as social situations. All contact persons act and react
with one another based on similar psychological processes. They form an interacting interpersonal
continuum based on partner- and group-dynamical laws. Act on the interactions of a core group
both social and historical influences of a mental and spiritual-conscious nature.
Considering time, the history and development of phenomena is a very important factor in
general. All life is in pulsating energetic movement. Only by considering its historicity, its growth,
becoming and character biological processes can be understood at all. The Biodynamic
development model (Fig. 5), perhaps sketched somewhat briefly, unfolds an order grid to represent
parallel development processes, such as Freudian primarily affective psycho-sexual development
model, Piaget's model of cognitive development, as well as the effects of social interactions on the
mental and physical constitution. 654
For Boyesen, the mesoderm maintains interfaces with its neighboring layers (Boyesen, 1985): in
cooperation with the ectoderm (the brain), it forms the motoric ego, which is controlled by the ego
will and acts on the physical world. From a visceral perspective, the activity and state of the
mesoderm form the immediate environment of the endoderm. While the activities of the ectoderm,
such as thinking and perceiving the external world, are beyond the reach of the innermost layer,
the endoderm is influenced only by the response of the muscle systems to mental processingwhether they tense or relax, which is a kind of indirect and filtered information from the world.
The influence in the direction from the endoderm to the ectoderm is much more precise and,
although implicit, strong: physiological states are directly linked to the release of brain
transmitters, which in turn trigger the 'atmosphere' within the entire cortex and thus directly
influences the selection of psychological associations, memories, scenic images, or readiness for
emotions and actions.
I will now characterize and highlight the fundamental differences between the biologically
based soul and the reflexive mental consciousness to illustrate the narcissistic dilemma in the
encounter of these two different psychic worlds.
Characteristics of the Soul-Self
I would like to describe the unity of the living interplay of the three germ layers as the soul area
of all feeling and experience. As a psychic "tissue" it touches people in their deepest layer of
being. -and the evolutionary selection pressure to bring about an optimal management of the social
system the individual is part of and is the garant for its genetic spreading. The soul "is in a certain
sense the principle of the living world," opined Aristotle, the philosophical biologist and
presumably first psychologist around 350 BC (Aristotle, 1996, p. 3). It is to distinguish the
inanimate material world from the living one.
I am trying to understand this ancient concept of the soul quite realistically. In his theory of
human medicine, Thure von Uexkül applied the original linguistic-semiotic theories to understand
life at its roots, and then to understand the meaning of medical symptoms (Uexküll et al., 1988).
Semiotics studies sign systems. In contrast to transpersonal positions, I understand the emergence
of the first spirit-like qualities closely linked to the beginning of life. It is in the first selfduplicating molecules, most probably in high-energy watery environments that the first spark of
spirit655 appears as conferral of significance, in the message to itself: "Gather enough energy and
material then duplicate yourself for expansion into all habitats". In the subsequent evolution, these
precursors of life develop into amoeba-like subjects that are able to isolate themselves from the
surrounding entropy, the chaos of inanimate nature (Uexkül et al., 1988). Expending energy, they
maintain a stable, pleasurable milieu that pulsates around states of tension and relaxation. I suggest
654
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Apart from that, the model can also be applied to developmental and cultural contexts.
'Spirit' is used here in the German meaning of 'Geist' in the sense of a cognitive principle.
to name such a uniform individual constitution on the cellular level a soul atom656, the smallest
unit of life with an affective state of being. So, right at the beginning of life, we see an
entanglement of semiotically based 'spirit' and affective 'soul': the cognitive principle allows the
formation of homeostatically regulated inner worlds with individual states-of-being quality that
strive for pleasure and expansion.
In the later formation of polymorphic organisms, complex neuronal structures allow to
synergistically link the soul atoms of cells to organs and organ systems. After billions of years and
endless generations, in the higher species, the combination of 'spirit' and 'soul' lead to a critical
mass of mental symbolizations. Even in the communicative understanding between animals in a
pack, effective behaviour can assert itself against less good solutions and, through learning to
imitate, outlast the life-span of a mortal living being. Cultural evolution beyond genes' chemistry
of species arise, which lead to extremely well-coordinated caring and communicative social
cultures. They are said to live quite happily together in general. Was this also the case in primeval
human times, or is the archetype, the paradise of a uniform mental state, a genetic illusion that
encourages people to search for happiness?
The Neuronal Representations of the Interplay of the Germ Layers
The entire history of development is repeated in every growing human embryo. Starting with
the cell clusters organized in the germ layers, the embryo goes through all stages of evolution. In
this way, the interplay of inner physiology and external stimuli form stable neuronal oscillation
patterns. Not only does the maturation of neuronal networks repeat themselves physiologically in
every embryo, the neuronal hardware begins to recognize patterns and to develop the central
secrets, to register and remember them, anew each time.
Constantly recurring experiences are imprinted in the brain as situation-specific, generalizing
oscillation patterns. The American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, Daniel Norman
Stern, presented the characteristics of storing scenic events at the stage of object formation.
It is important to keep in mind that RIGs [generalized interaction representatives] are flexible
structures that take the average of several actual events and form a prototype that stands for all
events as a whole. A RIG is something that has never happened exactly like this before, but is
not affected by anything that hasn't actually happened.
(Stern, 1985, p. 110)
Such a learned anticipation of an impending situation can also be described with the concept of
opinion or belief. The principle of "believing that...", which Stern describes on the level of
sensorimotor intelligence, already applies to the sensory intelligence of the embryo. They produce
expanding sensory prototypes of beliefs throughout life. They form solid cores of key topics that
every human comes across: the maturing senses of the embryo, the awakening of specific needs or
drives after birth, everyday situations like 'meeting mum' and feeding later in life. This quality of
individual historicity, which nevertheless belongs to the basic experiences of all humanity, refers
to the archetypes in Carl Gustav Jung's typology (Jung, 1921). To model the neuronal activities of
Biodynamic germ layers in recurrent experiences, I use a general complex model (Fig. 6).
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Unlike the pre-stages, which spread their self-duplication program in an energy-rich environment, every
self-contained, psychic life form is interlocked with its environment in a functional circuit (according to
Jakob v. Uexküll). A unified state of soul thus presupposes the cognitive abilities of recognition, in the
sense of noticing surrounding features and a directed reaction, a granting of meaning. I see these
elementary mental and soul aspects as directly linked to the conditions of life itself.
Whatever recurring basic situation is experienced individually, they all develop their complex
around its archetypal-core that is inherent in all people throughout life. Every child brings with it a
certain expectation of life. According to German psychosomatics expert Gerd Rudolf, it is a
question of fit, to what extent the environment, generally the parents, can adjust to the changing
needs or misunderstand them (Rudolf, 1993, p. 27). The fit of early childhood communication
decisively shapes the formation of the child's soul. I would like to explain the anatomy of their
complex building blocks close to the body using the following example.
Hunger and thirst arise again and again as a physiological need tension, which spreads as
affect charge in the limbic system. The child becomes restless reports. Their further fate now
depends on the parents: will the signal be recognized correctly and responded to adequately, or
are the parents perhaps convinced that infants need a fixed rhythm from an early age, practical
constraints or variations such as: weekends, yes; On weekdays, no. The possibilities are
manifold. Ideally, familiar impressions occur to the hunger-feeding complex, mother's hand, her
breast, with specific smells and tactile experiences. Genetically influenced, the searching
movements of the mouth then find the nipple. The tension of needs discharges with pleasure
through the activity of sucking and gradually the tension gives way and pleasant feelings of
release and saturation spread.
If, as in the example of the hungry infant above, there is no fit the affective pressure of the
feeling of hunger increases and the frustration complex of not getting an answer, of being alone, is
added. The motoric discharge attempts and expression signals become stronger, change their
quality, act out until they are answered, or finally exhaustion sets in. In the worst case, there is an
inner sensory overload with the emergency program of separation and disintegration. The complex
then learns to flip from a hyperadrenaline state into the old parasympathetic freeze reflex. In this
case, the parents will find an apathetic-autistic infant who hardly reacts to their offers. Such an
imprint runs deep: "... in the first months of life ... in the symbiotic relationship, vegetative
processes can obviously be influenced with far-reaching consequences, ie can also be
conditioned." (Muller-Braunschweig, 1996, p. 475)
Figure 6. Complex Model, sketch of a time-stable compound of holistic responses growing by
repeated experience to recurring events.
"S": Complex-specific Stimulus pattern (input-configuration) "E": Complex-specific Expression
(out-response) "+/-": Evaluation (pleasant, unpleasant; "ab": anticipation, belief; "Y":
interface between domains
In model (Fig. 6), the complexes are set in motion by constant repetition of actual events at all
levels. They create a prototype of the situation and form specific expectations, evaluations,
association interfaces and behavioral sequences. Drastic new experiences generate new thematic
cores that fit into the complex network. Mental complexes learn on the level of Pavlovian
conditioning, which has particularly fatal effects in relation to strongly aversive stimuli. For
example, if a rat receives a clear signal in a certain situation followed by a strongly aversive
stimulus, it jumps in haste and has learned this stimulus constellation immediately. If the signal is
given again in the same situation, it jumps again and again. If the pain is sufficiently strong, the
event "situation plus signal" creates its own complex core, which is more deeply imprinted with
each call, without ever testing again whether the horrible event will occur again. With the strength
of the fear at its core, the complex will avoid having to experience the pain again.
I suspect that all complexes are active simultaneously and in parallel. The entire complex
continuum forms a delicate mental organism that originally strives for compassionate
communicative exchange and feels it as a unit. Like the biological primordial cells, the soul also
tries to maintain a pleasurable inner milieu and to avoid unpleasant tensions, so that the complexes
organize themselves in a polarity of pleasure and displeasure. Depending on their expectations,
the child turns to a situation happily and starts playing, or withdraws and tries to avoid it. The
semantic polarity of "good and bad" arises.
The child can identify with the good states. The joyful anticipation of turning to a situation
charges the corresponding complex. Analysts would say: the pleasurable experience corresponds
to a libidinal cathexis. Both attention and intentional motor skills are practiced in playful
interactions with the environment. Identification with pleasure is what constructs the basic Self.
Unpleasant, painful, or frightening experiences become symbols of evil. In the extreme, separation
under sensory overload are perceived as devastating or as wiping out existence. In the encounter
with the symbols of evil, it is all about survival, to be or not to be. They must be avoided at all
costs and signs of their existence combated.
Basic Features of Reflective Consciousness
Consciousness cannot be derived solely from a single individual subject, let alone from the
observation of brain-physiological processes, it arises on a cultural background, in the
interpersonal space of human communities. Even during the development of emotions, which are
initially functionless "accompanying phenomena of appetitive behavior", the "semantization of
expressive behavior" entails communicative understanding between the animals in a pack, since
the drive management of a group brings considerable selection advantages. That is why the
feelings, the soul's signals, are always part of a social relationship. On the mental side, imagination
forms stable images from sensorimotor experiences with the world, in which trial treatments can
be imagined and, after successful completion, converted into actions. But what is the difference
between the activities of the complexes close to the soul and the images and reflections of higher
consciousness?
Eugen Gendlin described bodily mood as felt-sense (Gendlin, 1978). The complexes that he
selects by their charge in the focusing process typically evoke simple "singular" images or words
that still fit - no animated scenes, sequences, or complex thoughts. In contrast to the higher animal
species, which already have an imagination, humans have immensely expanded fields of
association and a time marker function. He is able to merge mental images into concepts and to put
them together intentionally and to combine them at the speed of thought. What is new is that
"convictions become considerations" (Aristotle, 1996, p. 97), and thoughts turn into a new quality,
abstract derived knowledge.657 The new knowledge does not grow from perception alone, but from
the combination of conceptual connections.
The singular symbols melted into concepts combine to form semantically abstract objects with
similar RIG dynamics (see above), as the complexes already form in the uterus around their
invariant archetypal cores of meaning. However, the prototype genesis of mental objects is on a
higher psychological level. 658 Conceptual thoughts, in their distance from affects in conceptual
memory ("the thought"), can be recalled in large numbers and instantaneously and linked
intentionally through attention. Similar to the eye, which only sees a small section sharply and still
gives us the illusion of visual continuity, the state of conceptual knowledge creates both a
continuity of the world and of one's own identity. Consciousness ("being the subject of all in the
state of knowing") matures throughout life with the growth of its underlying objects in daily use,
much like the soul and its endo-meso-ectodermal complexes. However, the objects form systems
with far greater complexity and mobility than sensual complexes ever could, just as the structures
and mobility of plants and animals differ profoundly.
Short-term memory enables logical operations on learned representations that can be stored
stably in explicit long-term memory. This extensive accumulation of symbolic inner objects creates
a completely new quality. On the one hand, a cognitive inner world emerges. This cognitive world
allows realistic inner rehearsal of action and reaction, generating the same implicit affective
evaluations and inner images as real events. On the other hand, this self-constructed world of inner
objects naturally also contains a stable representation of one's own feelings and the willful Self; it
constructs a cognitive Self, an Identity based on object-relations.
Back from the philosophical considerations to the development model: many mothers notice
that their baby is increasingly turning to the world after the first teething starts (between the 5th and
7th month of life). In the orally symbiotic phase, sensory and motor maturation overlap. The child
enjoys sitting for the first time and increasingly orients itself outwards. In the later crawling,
running, playing, and through the child's relationship experiences, the mental complexes unfold
and the neural network grows. Sensorimotor maturation ends around the age of 1.5 years, with the
willing control of the anal sphincter. Around this time, intelligence and the burgeoning conceptual
consciousness with its symbolic objects and new memory properties enable the acquisition of
language and thus the development of cognitive thinking. And we cannot be surprised when the
pioneer of Constructivism, the Swiss psychologiest, Jean Piaget, finds symbolic-magical thinking
at the anally mastering time (Piaget, 1974) as the imagination is not yet properly distinguished
from reality. Also, the volitional functions of the basic Self no longer refer only to the
sensorimotor activities. The focus of attention can now turn to concepts and symbols of
imagination at will and learns to move them freely.
In this way, complex-images can be given any number of attributes in the form of now mental
objects in scenes of the imagination. That is total freedom: nagging needs can be voluptuously
fulfilled, inner scenes created as desired. Even the most bizarre excesses of one's own power and
size in the service of ultimate gain in pleasure and security can be designed. The fantasized scenes
have an effect on the mental experience. They are perceived as real situations, with clear emotional
657
658
A knower is someone "when he can operate from himself". (Aristotle 1996, p. 101)
The elaborate transient operations of abstract mental processes require a relaxed mental state. As long as
affects remain at a certain level of urgency, a temporal model of the environment can be maintained. This
[affective] attenuation is the essential characteristic of what Sigmund Freud called the 'secondary
process'." (Bischof, 1989, p. 202)
reactions, real moments of happiness, shuddering excitement, demonic fears, realizing joy, deep
sadness or waves of anger. In trial and error, this chaos of fantasy arranges itself, on the one hand
according to criteria of reality, on the other hand according to the regulative requirements of the
gradually emerging identity, the criteria of the conscious self.
Everything that can be seen, heard, smelled and touched on the psychological outer skin outside
of the body borders obviously belongs to the environment. The early, island-like complex-images,
such as the mother's face, her breast, her hand, are subj ect to the pleasure-displeasure dynamic of
good and evil and lie separately in the forms of good and evil mother complexes. But now, under
the pressure of the reality principle, consciousness demands that seperate images of good and bad
complexes be linked together. "Mother, who are you now? That evil mean scolding dragon or the
accommodating understanding fairy godmother?" If the dragon can be tamed without actually
having to kill it, it turns into a golden dragon of wisdom, as Michael Ende explained in the story of
Jim Button. 659
Great gains beckon: the polarization of the good and the bad mother, which has arisen from
different experiences, can grow together into a unified mental object that is able to dampen even
strong affects of bad parts, and thus to soften the sharp polarization. All relationships to persons
and institutions are linked to primary events of one's own history, on the basis of which the
associated complexes have grown. Depending on the importance and intimacy of the relationship,
they can be designed to be realistic or attached to the evil, undifferentiated affective matrix. This is
part of the reason why satisfying partner relationships are one of life's greatest challenges. 660
The special ability of consciousness lies in the ability to abstract higher orders. I understand
them in such a way that combinations of complex object shapes can be linked and remembered
anew into concepts. Semantic networks are formed on ever new levels, which do not always check
the consistency of their roots when they enter into new meaningful connections with their
branches. With the constant use of the same knowledge and under the influence of the mood
background, the beliefs of the complex roots coupled with the knowledge, both psychic qualities
are channeled into attitudes. These are just as robust, precise and fast as instinctive reactions due
to genetic design; they can compete with them. Above all, however, they are much more flexible
and able to act and perceive in a targeted manner based on experience, as well as to provide and
use complex knowledge about an issue without having to reconsider. Attitudes form a permanent
illusion of reality and the identity that we both experience as conscious beings.
The primary narcissism - the so-called defiance phase
I call the beginning of the development of thought at about 1.5 years primary narcissism,
because it is only at this time that the 'magic water of the muses appears on the helicon'. The mere
reference of the libido to the basic self, as the term has been used in analytical literature since
Freud, describes the lustful egocentricity on an animal level, which has nothing in common with
the specific drama of Narcissus, the encounter with consciousness661. As I have discussed above,
659
Michael Ende (1960) Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer [Jim Button and Luke the Engine
Driver]. Stuttgart: Thienemann Verlag.
660
The other systemic reason for the failure of many partnerships is the constant accumulation of recurring
deep disappointments at various levels. These often recur and accumulate despite all attempts at
relationship clarification and good intentions, as long as the underlying circular complex dynamics are not
resolved. At some point it is simply enough to be hit again and again in the most sensitive place.
661
Clearly, my "primary narcissism" has nothing to do with Freud's "primary narcissism", which he
attributes to the symbiosis between the child and its environment, including the mother, around birth.
the basic self-experience, which has hitherto been uniform in the here and now, gets into a serious
crisis, since it is confronted with the gain of conscious constancy with previously kept separate
contradictions in the kernels of separate complexes. The genesis of self-representation turns out to
be even more difficult than the formation of the reality-oriented world-object networks.
Identifications with the "inner skin" of the secondary psyche initially proceed via the libidinally
charged complexes of the 'complex-Selfs' polarized according to pleasure and displeasure. The
number of good states of mind depends directly on the course of the fit and the fate of the ego, the
scope for autonomous expressions of will in the previous life. It determines the set of conscious
connections between the soul and the growing self-object. The new, self-aware, cognitive Self
always has to integrate forms of approaching "evil" complexes that are actually appearing, or at
least keep them in check. If the affects, the vibrations of the soul, become too great, it can no
longer maintain the state of knowing about itself. Consciousness is then set back, reduced to the
extent of the activated complex-symbol, ie to a helpless acting out of a response learned in this
way. In this state, a child then appears arrested and no longer accessible, which can lead to
dramatic social conflicts.
Figure 7a. Transition from complexes to mental objects with enough positive, identifiable complexes.
The child's early experiences are decisive for the roots of self-confidence. Under favorable
circumstances (Figure 7a) in primary narcissism there are sufficiently many identifiable sensory
self-nuclei of sensorimotor maturation. The initially natural narcissistic exaggerations of the
fantasies of greatness and omnipotence can then be put into perspective in encounters with social
reality and enable halfway realistic self-images and object images and relationship expectations.
There always remains a remnant of free forms of dream and fantasy experience. Normal
development encourages the integration of basic drives: the natural needs for contact and closeness
shape relationships; curiosity and the urge to play practice dealing with the world; the aggression
serves to demarcate and assert vital interests. Together, this constellation enables a constant natural
further differentiation of the psyche due to interest and curiosity.
Under extremely adverse circumstances (Figure 7b), when there were hardly any stable islands
of positive experience in the early period, the first cores of the self and objects are only poorly
connected to mental reality. A fragile self-representation inflates with primary narcissism and can
hardly be revised because of the immediate collapse in confrontations with social reality and its
stressful consequences. The idealizations of nagging need, the frustrations and fears are projected
onto the object representations, which are also fragile, and lead to unrealistic expectations of
relationships. Such an unstable picture is produces symptoms we find in the a borderline structure.
Objects and the self are poorly integrated, and archaic complexes repeatedly break through. Due to
the constant internal and social stress level, such a structure can hardly differentiate itself
qualitatively further in later life. The primary drives are unintegrated and create internal tensions
that oscillate between anxious clinging to unrealistic images and expectations and bitter
disappointments and breakdowns.
Figure 7b. Transition from complexes to mental objects with little identifiable complexes.
In narcissism (Figure 7c) is a hybrid of the above states. The existing amount of evil complexes
leads to more or less large, thematically bound blind spots. While conflict-free, pleasant situations
in the early period lead to appropriate self-nuclei, in areas of conflict they are similar to the
malignant borderline structure and remain there at a low differentiated level. The primitive areas
always remain controversial for self-experience and cannot be integrated due to their charge. This
creates internal and social permanent stress in the affected areas, because the underlying organic
needs in the relationships can hardly be satisfied, but they are constantly coming up. This is
exactly where the threefold crux of narcissistic self-deception lies: on the one hand, the drives and
needs repeatedly stimulate their associated complexes, along with their frustrations and refusals,
on the other hand, the environment reacts with hurtful criticism that is perceived as a threat, but
not unjustified criticism of the permanent egocentricity and specific destructive aggression in the
face of imminent narcissistic breakdowns. The third factor is the ominous momentum of the
identity, which is constantly threatened from two directions, inside and outside, and which flees
from both in self-illusion.
Figure 7c. Transition from complexes to mental objects with little identifiable complexes.
The first identifications with the conscious mental self thus take place through the available
positive self-cores and ideas. With a lack of fit and the corresponding magnitude of the depressive
basic conflict (Rudolf, 1993, p. 122), the good cores are rare and the objects of the Self that
compensate for their lack are particularly bizarre. I see the central problem of this time in the
principle of the epic height: the further compensating Self-idealizations and World-idealizations
distance themselves from reality, the deeper the fall when profane reality refutes them. An
example should make this clear.
"While I just had a pleasant feeling of happiness imagining that my beloved dad would give me
that promising sweet lollipop that would relieve all residual tension, I am now at the mercy of
violent frustration, waves of anger, disappointment, impotent rage. Since the secondary
consciousness can no longer be maintained, I threaten to sink into a chaos that threatens the
continuity of my psychic existence and activates all of the ancient annihilation complexes. I
helplessly cling to the swollen lollipop object that has become the symbol of survival and is the
only stable, one-dimensional image that sucks all awareness."
The narcissistic drama lies less in the painful loss of a good idea (wanting a lollipop) than in the
impending abrupt loss of identity, which is felt like dying. A return to the bosom of positive selfcomplexes is not possible because of the threat of annihilation. Collisions of fantasy and reality
can be highly dramatic. If the early, fragile mental Self is not understood from the outside and
protected from overwhelming feelings, it loses its continuity again and again and above all learns a
constant fear for its existence. If dad happens to be narcissist who senses sheer psychological
terror in the lollipop drama that undermines his sovereignty, he himself will react offended and
authoritarian with all the hardness of his narcissistic anger. Maybe he will leave me to my fate in
passive aggression:
"He'll calm down again, I won't let his screaming blackmail me!" or answer in a laissez-faire
style: Let's allow the little one his lollipop, it can't be that bad, and besides, he won't rest
anyway. "
In both variants, the child's distress remains unrecognized. The not insignificant primary
narcissistic aggression of an imminent fall, which braces itself against reality with tooth and nail,
is misunderstood as mere defiance, as if it were all about the autarkic will that wants to measure
itself again. Sometimes, I even hear from children who even as babies had a strong "own mind"; I
can imagine this alone as a great mental helplessness, namely having to remain in a single complex
because all around it there are abysses. Most people only react to the disturbing complex of defeat
and despair, which is so undesirable and therefore keeps coming back - until it gets broken.
It is not my intention here to discuss the need for boundaries in education; they are
indispensable in order to be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality. The problem is not in
the boundaries. As in therapy, it is more about understanding the frightening feelings of frustration
and disintegration, making contact with them, learning to hold on to them, living through them,
regardless of the need for immediate reactions or even answers. Only when the charge can be
reduced to such an extent that the breadth of the secondary mental consciousness reappears, the
cognitive space is once again carrying. Only then are further negotiations on the situation possible
and fantasies of omnipotence can be corrected.
Such supportive, frustration-dampening behavior is by no means easy; it costs space, time, real
attention and in depth understanding. The latter shows itself most successfully through discipline
towards an inner authority, which not only acts out one's own power towards the hurtful,
"impossible" behavior of the child in an authoritarian or humiliating manner, but also seeks a
solution in a fair negotiation of mutual interests.662 Such an effort increases the child's reality and
self-gain and the quality of relationships over the years.
662
In a power imbalance, true authority is characterised by the fact that it seeks a compromise in conflicts of
interest in which the interests of both parties are present, and that it does not abuse its factual superiority
Secondary narcissism - puberty
After the physiological and sensorimotor maturation of the first 1.5 years, magical thinking
(Piaget, 1974) of the anal period leads to the first conscious self-constructs and thus to the primary
narcissistic crisis. It determines the extent, the number and the qualities of the connections
between the soul and consciousness. Around the age of 4, things stabilize. In most cases, the
objects can now be reliably reproduced. They enable vivid thinking (Piaget, 1974), the
understanding of gender identity and lead to triangulation in the nuclear family, the understanding
of one's own child's role between the female mother and the male father. The first tender
secondary self is mostly aflame with idealized love for one of the parents and is equally extremely
vulnerable to rejection. In Reichian body therapy, this is where the rigid character armor meant to
protect the heart and the hysterical character structure come into being; the analytic tradition
speaks of the Oedipal phase.
Up to about 7 years, when the first teeth of the adult dentition appear with the loss of the milk
teeth, a gradual maturing of the relationship takes place. The strong feelings between love, hate
and pain regulate themselves, the object relationships also differentiate further outside the family,
the secondary mental Self learns to understand its social role. This is the time of school readiness
and entry into school, which significantly changes the social space. If stable attitudes, bridges
between mental complexes and networked objects were able to form, these are now able to
develop situation-specific, flexible defense patterns663 against inner dynamics and social demands.
During the Freudian latency period between 7 and 12 years, the mental conditions gradually
consolidate into acceptable compromises and develop a solid affective matrix , the object
connections mature rapidly through learning concrete operations and through the subsequent
formal thinking (Piaget, 1974). At the beginning of the emerging puberty with its final maturation
of the brain - the neural pathways of the prefrontal cortex get their myelin layer - complex object
contexts can already be differentiated and integrated into independent views. This ability leads to
one of the utmost complexities of consciousness; it allows the first quasi-independent
identification. But before this is entirely successful, the body reaches out for its last major
maturation spurt. The now youthful person is flooded with growth and sex hormones, which
abruptly shake the mental conditions that are just stabilizing. I call this second dramatic crisis, a
time triggered by wild physical and mental changes in a concluding double maturation of the
body-soul and consciousness, secondary narcissism.
"Little kids little worries, big kids big worries. " This common experience of many parents
characterizes above all the accuracy with which pubescents know how to hit the most sensitive
areas of their educators. They are mentally programmed in their affective matrix in such a way that
the stumbling blocks lie precisely in these sensitivities. In my presentation (Fig. 7c), narcissism
stands out as having situation-specific disorders, while other areas are better developed. In the
myth, Narcissus, a beautiful youth, can hunt and seek pleasure, but cannot empathize with Echo's
love. He rejects her because he doesn't understand her advances. As he is not in contact with his
to enforce its advantage! With regard to children, this means taking their situation into account through an
"inner advocate" and negotiating fairly.
663
In contrast to schizoid detachment and depression, which directly affect vital functions, and bland anal
denial of primary narcissism, the self can learn, for example, in projection to shift its own aggression onto
a person-object. It can also activate resigned moods to curb aggressive charge; hyperactivity, on the other
hand, can mobilise a series of harmless complexes to repress a dull mood of unease - or worse. According
to this concept, defence is not centrally controlled, but its various formations are rooted in concrete
attitudes and complexes (decentralised).
love feelings due to his trauma, he simply cannot perceive her longings. However, strong driving
forces such as sexuality, curiosity, aggression, the striving for communication, rank and territory
demand their "living space". If they are not accessible to reason and do not find satisfaction in
forming relationships, they repeatedly break through vehemently, sometimes even pervertedly, or
are compensated physiologically, which leads to psychosomatic symptoms. They always remain
urgent and conflictual.
However, if the mind cannot distance itself from the conflict areas, self-awareness gets blind
spots in these areas. It loses contact with the senses and feelings and must also cover up its blind
spots so that they do not arouse contradictions in the conscious, unified Self. If too many mental
areas remain in their unconsciously regulated dynamics, the narcissistic trap closes: because the
more the soul-Self is shaken by the release of sex hormones from conflicts and frustrations, the
more the mental Self has to protect itself from the affected constellations. Soul and consciousness
drift apart, become opponents; the healthy, connected parts, like the relationships to fellow human
beings, only serve to preserve the self-wedged in from all sides.
Together with the compensating blind spots, secondary images and fantasy becomes the sole
bearer of identity. In doing so, it must both compensate for the lack of self-confidence and secure
the constantly threatened loss of existence. In his imagination, he can endow his self-image with
great power and impressive status, and seek to manipulate his environment in order to gain
validation. Sometimes the most vital narcissist is king among narcissists and can even successfully
achieve status and power. But the archaic, because uncultivated, activities of the blind spots mean
that the organism cannot come to rest and, despite all external successes, repeatedly puts pressure
on the self from within.
Narcissistic Fixation or Human Awareness?
The vicious circle closes with the triple crux of narcissistic dynamics (see above). Instead of
being able to use their consciousness abilities for their own bodily well-being and selfactualization, the narcissist is doomed to perpetually revolve around the preservation of their
heightened self-image due to the constant internal and social conflicts. Even the slightest
contradiction or the slightest criticism can be experienced as a serious threat and insult. In puberty,
the pitch of the parental voice, a false look, a gesture, is enough to attack the big child in adult
bodies in the center of their identity, the guarantor of existence itself, and thus activate the evervigilant protective settings. Outside the usually narrow self-understanding lurks the chaos of
immature feelings, the appetence of drives, such as sexuality. The readiness for existential panic
before self-loss, which resembles the fear of death, as in primary narcissism, is in need of constant
control. After all, the narcissistic dynamic is permanently concerned with securing a reasonably
tolerable stability and an acceptable self-esteem.
Since primary narcissism, securing continuity and self-worth have belonged to a new class of
urgent self-needs that do not occur on the biological motoric-ego level with its unified psychic
constitution. An identifiable self-image becomes an ultimate urgency, especially in people with
only a few "good" core cores of self that can compete with even strong biological drives and needs
for the focus of attention. An exam question from the University of Saarbrücken in the subject of
clinical psychology illustrated this clearly for me: an exhibitionist first goes to the park; opens his
long coat; frightens some females with his bare genitals; goes home and only then masturbates.
How does this complicated behavior come about? One possible answer is: diffuse arousal
generalized by sexual urges destabilizes self-experience; it threatens to lose its contours. Only after
the exhibitionist has assured himself of his sexual self-image: "My genitals cause fright!" can he
devote himself to sexual satisfaction.
Under the pressure of intense, incomprehensible feelings, the pubescent seeks protection in clear
role models that express their tendencies towards autonomy, freedom, sometimes also hatred and
violence, or in simple recognition or status symbols such as the Nike shoe, a bald man or the
Rollex on the arm. The awakening Self of primary narcissism stabilizes into an affective matrix in
the latency phase. After this structure breaks up again during puberty, the new relationship
experiences are consolidated at the adult level and this time coagulate into a firmly assembled
matrix of attitudes that often shape the personality profile well into old age and unfold their effects
in the world.
In both, the primary around the 'birth of the Self and the secondary coming with puberty
narcissistic crises, the human being stands alone, without the supportive endowment of genetic
optimizations for dealing with consciousness. Genes are learned through mutation and selection
over many generations. It models the soul, but not the dynamics of becoming mentally conscious.
Due to suppressed emotional regulation of intuition, compassion and a lack of compensating
knowledge, such as the conditions for digesting664 to incisive trauma and permanent atmospheric
tension. The thus poor endowment with basic self-nuclei, as I have tried to show, inscribes the
narcissistic dynamic in clinging to identity and drifting away from the soul. Consciousness can
then no longer evaluate facts intuitively, it must deal with the things of life intellectually alone.
The life potential brought in loses its thread and withers, while the attempts at compensation
without compassion spread further misery and suffering.
Only on the social and historical level does the cycle of narcissism, and thus its understanding,
close. If anything, it can probably only be contained permanently from there through a reflective
understanding of its meaning. The karma laws of cause and effect, which are often assigned to the
supernatural, really apply to me in our existence on this earth. Every social behavior - and so every
inaction - has a consequence that is perpetuated in the souls and consciousness of later generations
and in their effect on the whole natural context. A coupling of all life is actually present; we don't
need to transfer it to the supernatural. In this temporally holistic human dimension, the narcissistic
dynamic is the central, often very tiresome and not infrequently cruel problem. The birth pangs of
consciousness are so real and incomprehensibly powerful that apparently nobody really wants to
endure and look at them.
In view of their urgency, I plead not to indulge in metaphysical speculations about God and
death, but instead to seek solutions to these delicate psychological questions about meaning, being
safe and encountering existential fears. I understand the task of being human as self-actualization,
is the effort for a conscious, responsible and enjoyable incarnation, with which I personally have
good things to do. If I should finally find myself as a supernatural being, then there will certainly
be enough time and opportunities to deal with the supernatural in a "super-rational" way. After all,
what else could even a personal God expect of me than trying to become a conscious and
responsible human being? He certainly doesn't expect me to practice as an angel while I'm still on
earth. A worthwhile task on this side would be to overcome the deep fear of death without having
to resort to speculation about an aftermath. Learning to live also means learning to die.
664
"Space, time and Geborgenheit" (Geborgenheit german, for "being part of a state of comfort with a sense
of security - it reminds on the classical Boyesen exercise: "imagine, you are lying in a comfortably warm
water..." leading to sensual phantasy of being in the womb, growing with no time and without
disturbance, endlessly.
I find long-winded theoretical occupations regarding religious feeling to be a tiresome waste of
resources just as tiresome as academic attempts to provide a basis for a uniform human ethics by
means of logical deductions. I see in this the same dilemma that M. Ghandi describes in relation to
armed conflicts. In essence he says: War will remain unavoidable until man learns to fight evil in
his own breast instead of in the enemy from outside. The decisive factor is therefore the direction
of the conscious confrontation. Consciousness seems confused and overwhelmed by the
unpredictability and affective density of the soul and shies away from looking inward, "like the
devil shuns holy water". Until a society learns to look for the foundations of its ethics in its own
living soul instead of in universal non-commitments, its consciousness will continue to revolve
around narcissistic self-constructs and shamefully avoid a public, reasonable look inside the
circumstances and their history.
The preferred direction of scientific thinking665 is similar to the way of thinking of the "crazy"
people, who like to be ridiculed by the latter, that are looking for the fulfillment of the urge to be
part of a larger reality, which they really do feel, as that is what the soul is longing for strongest.
Healing and release from material attachments are also assumed to be contrary to one's own inner
being, be it in cosmic symbiosis, pure spiritualization or in entrusting to beings and forces existing
outside of the human being. Everywhere, trust in people falls by the wayside. The archetypal
content of the soul has regulated human communication in myths and rituals since the beginning of
history. In our adolescent-narcissistic age, the natural Biodynamic regulators appear to be pushed
aside by pluralistic knowledge and practical constraints, and are at best acted out unconsciously.
From a philosophically wise distance, a return to these roots and an understanding of the dynamics
of consciousness that go beyond them can help to confront the narcissistic drama we all live in.
Therapeutic perspectives
The drifting apart of the soul and consciousness through the dynamics of the mental-Self
appears to be the core of narcissism. The Biodynamic perspective basically suggests a double-Selftheory that enables to understand the symptoms of structural personality disorders by the conflict
of the psychodynamic quest for identity with the underlying strive and pain of the 'motoric ego",
which is determined by genetically ripened archetypal complexes modulated by the fate of early
upbringing.
The gulf between the two psychic parts has a distinct individual character in every human being.
It can be deeper or flatter, broader or narrower, like the transition from a soul landscape to the
mountain heights of consciousness. A borderline world may appear in such a way that deep
canyons and desert areas, which do not contain any objects such as superego structures, directly
adjoin a jungle of souls. That's not to say they can't have beautiful spots too, a primeval firebreathing volcano with a herd of brontosaurs has aesthetic appeal too. Likewise, narcissism has a
personal, evolved psychological structure that is difficult to recognize in physical or Body
Psychotherapeutic terms. Its symptoms are as diverse and complex as life itself. It can appear
extremely extroverted or introverted, as successful, very suffering or almost symptom-free but "her
partner sent her" structure. Reliable indications of the extent of narcissistic disturbances are
provided by examining which soul areas are accessible to consciousness, especially feelings and
impulses, and how they are experienced in the here and now. Further clues are provided by the
665
I prefer to remain silent about the role of ecclesiastical and political institutions in the narcissistic
carousel. Original sin is really no small matter and I assume that some people would do differently if they
knew better and learned to face their shadows.
relationship style revealed by a client, for whose assessment a secure countertransference is
helpful, which registers whether I am being meant or manipulated - and if so, by which personality
complex?
In the context of this work, I can now hardly go into Biodynamic practice at length. In the
congress workshop, I gave an outlook on a self-regulation concept, based on my development
model (SR-program). Due to its pedagogical orientation, its approach avoids social transference
stress and instead practices basic bio-psycho-social functions in practical instruction. This
includes, for example, practical training of ego functions, such as body awareness - simply
learning to feel - and coordination, but also the development of a tolerance for larger energetic
charges. The trick of the program is to work with affective charges without thematic meanings
first, and build up through working with the body, the motoric ego. As in Biodynamic Vegetotherapy, I often work directly on the diaphragm, the "key to the soul", only in the opposite
direction as we do in process work. This means that I don't want to loosen the diaphragm in order
to allow unconscious dynamic to spread, but make its muscle flexible, strong and permeable.
To conclude this long theoretical discussion, I would like to invite you to a simple exercise
where each reader can try out a simple example of the structure-reinforcing approach of
Biodynamic theory. All he needs is a door frame in which one stands with one's back to the frame.
In the first phase, an attempt is made to push away the opposite frame with your hands. Against
the resistance of the frame you can develop your muscle power that you can clearly sense it. The
power should be consciously dosed so strongly that it's going towards a maximum effort, but still
kept constant on a level to allow for three to four good breaths. In the next step, the emphasis is on
noticing how the effort is compressing the width of the breath. The task is then to consciously
breathe in against that resistance - be aware you need to breathe fully out before you can breathe
in.
After that you gradually relax the muscles, and I recommend giving in to impulses for countermovements, like stretching out and possibly shaking the strained muscles gently, until the body
feels at ease again.
The last part of the exercise is giving the time for at least another three to four spontaneous
breath-cycles, whilst the attention is invited to sense into the relaxed body, just being aware of any
reactions from the inside that can be noticed.
The purposes of this simple sequence, which can be adapted for any other pressure direction to
train the muscles of the legs, arms, shoulders or back, are very varied: In addition to an isometric
training effect on the muscle substance, they first train the coordination of the muscles and the
dosage of strength on a psychological level. Central to the improvement of the ego structure is the
direct strengthening of the diaphragm and thus both better control and containment of affective
charges. This is achieved by inhaling against resistance. The most important aim of the exercise is
the perception of fine elementary bodily movements. All multi-layered sensations are built from
such basic body perceptions, which over time also allow the perception of emotional movements.
In my experience, most ego functions can be taught and exercised. As soon as strength and
coordination increase, I turn to relearning vegetative self-regulation, which lies at the core of
Biodynamic Psychotherapy needing the tolerance of pleasurable timelessness. The training of
mental functions begins with strengthening the focus of attention and the ability to control the
focus at will. This then allows for a turn towards guided affective exploration of physical
symptoms or conflictual social situations - The whole effort is aimed at a targeted and coordinated
way of encountering the inner affective complexes. In the landscape picture mentioned above, I
offer to explore the psychic terrain together and create transitions between the bodily soul and the
'heights of Helicon'.
Because of the often desolate ego-structure of narcissistic disorders, I use the pedagogically
oriented approach and, in particular, first the ego-strengthening methods to assure stability. If both
is achieved, stability and, vegetative self-regulation for the digestion of emotional remnants, is
secured, one can try a deeper encounter with the difficult complexes through Biodynamic
Vegetotherapy. If the relationship feels secure, then after deep relaxation and the stimulation of
vegetative impulses, the most active complexes in each case show themselves with great precision.
The resulting work sometimes involves building bridges over abysses or putting up clear warning
signs against the pull of black holes, walking through a foggy swamp together; or to tame wild
animals, learn to enjoy a gentle swell, or to meet real people. Sometimes, parts of a client remain
fearfully or shamefully hidden without us being able to get to them, even if they need help.
Sometimes, he would rather get lost in rough terrain than overcome a dangerous obstacle together,
or abruptly fend off any cooperation with a relationship-destroying bomb. Kenneth Lee Speyer,
one of the earliest trainer of Biodynamic Psychotherapy who founded the German school of
Integrative Biodynamic in the early 1980's put it this way:
"At its root, therapeutic work is an ongoing adventure in which the therapist must fully engage
as a human being in order to truly encounter and be successful in therapy"
(oral statement).
Despite all holistic orientation, courageous and compassionate encounters and medium-term
success, therapies often fail for narcissistic reasons if the underlying traumas are experienced too
severely and all resources are not sufficient to hold them. I don't want to delude myself that you
can always have everything under control. Nevertheless, I would like to contribute to the
understanding of the Biodynamic program "Heal the soul through the body" (Gerda Boyesen,
1987), and as well as draw attention to the social reach of the narcissism problem. I found a ray of
hope for the promotion of Biodynamic approaches in Thure von Uexkull's new edition of the book,
"Psychosomatic Medicine". In this sense, I hope that with my development model "shows a
possibility of holistic psychotherapy is shown in the body-oriented methods, the further
development of which seems worthwhile" (Muller-Braunschweig, 1997).
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