Vilhelm Reich German-American psychologist, psychoanalytically oriented researcher Date of Birth: 24.03.1897 Country: USA

1. Biography of Wilhelm Reich
2. Early Life
3. Family and Childhood
4. Education and Career
5. Contributions to Psychoanalysis

Biography of Wilhelm Reich

Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) was a German-American psychologist and psychoanalytic researcher. He became the first student of Freud to develop radical social criticism within the framework of classical psychoanalysis. Reich founded left-wing social Freudianism, advocating for sexual revolution and developing a body-oriented psychoanalysis. He also invented the concept of "orgone," a fantastic life energy. Although Freud rejected many aspects of Reich's theories and Frederick Perls called him a victim of disorderly thinking and semantic errors, Reich's influence on the development of psychoanalysis cannot be denied. His theory is highly valuable and diverse, and his ideas have influenced many prominent psychoanalysts such as Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Anna Freud, Theodor Adorno, and Erik Erikson.

Early Life

Psychologists usually deal with the biographies of their patients, focusing on key moments that have shaped their lives and internal world. However, in this case, we have an attempt by a psychologist to describe his own youth and recreate the history of his life. Wilhelm Reich started keeping diaries as a student, and this document presents a unique insight into his life. His description of his life evaluates a specific period as the "passion of youth." While recounting his life, he remains primarily an analyst, a thoughtful interpreter of his own actions, experiences, thoughts, and the influence of his surroundings.

Wilhelm Reich was born in Galicia, Austria, into a wealthy farming family. He lived in a village until he joined the Austrian army in 1915. His close connection to nature and rural life greatly influenced his thinking and led to his extreme naturalism, which permeated his overall philosophy. Reich's teachings were imbued with a belief in the untarnished nature of human beings, influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, and fueled by his aversion to modern civilization.

Family and Childhood

Biographers characterize Reich's father as a despotic and authoritarian man with a quick and irritable temperament, making him the complete opposite of Reich's mother, who was gentle, kind, and completely submissive. She was considered a beautiful woman and a good homemaker. However, Reich's grandmother called her "mute" due to her submission to fate and willingness to bear her sacrificial burden. Undoubtedly, Reich's father loved his wife, but he often suffered from jealousy, which poisoned the young woman's life. In this sense, Reich grew up in an authoritarian atmosphere, experiencing conflicting feelings towards his father. He even believed that he might not be his real son. The book shows that Wilhelm was very attached to his mother, idolizing her. However, he also experienced jealousy not only towards his father but also towards his younger brother, Robert. They were completely different from each other. Wilhelm, apparently, tried to resemble his father, being attracted to his authority and decisiveness. As an analyst, Reich often encountered such traits in his patients. He called this internal impulse the identification with a frustrating personality. Regarding Robert, Wilhelm tried to resemble his mother. He suffered from the perception that his younger brother was more successful in gaining their mother's love. Biographers mention an interesting detail: Wilhelm hoped for a younger sister when he learned that another son was born, he displayed complete indifference, asking his parents to take the newborn away, as he did not feel any affection towards him. However, Robert's birth prompted Wilhelm to engage in involuntary competition, which is evident throughout his life.

Education and Career

Reich received home education and studied with tutors. When he became a teenager, a significant event occurred in his life that left an indelible mark on him. The version presented in Reich's book is also based on the testimony of his personal biographer. The true background of the event was never discussed within the family. However, it can be assumed that at the age of 14, Wilhelm caught his mother in the embrace of one of the tutors. This scene deeply affected the young boy. He told his father about what he saw, which led to the subsequent tragedy. His mother committed suicide, and the family's life began to deteriorate. Unable to bear the loss, Wilhelm's father also attempted suicide. However, fate intervened, and he fell ill with pneumonia, followed by tuberculosis, which took his life three years after his wife's death. It is unnecessary to prove how this nightmarish situation affected the teenager's psyche. It is evident that Reich underwent individual psychoanalysis many times, but he was never able to complete such work. The suffering part of his personality was unable to relive the events of his early youth.

After his father's death, Wilhelm became the de facto owner of the farm. He continued his studies, enlisting in the Austrian army in 1916 and becoming an officer, serving in Italy. In 1918, after returning from the war, he enrolled in the law faculty at the University of Vienna but quickly became disillusioned with this discipline and switched to the medical faculty. As a war veteran, he had the right to complete his studies externally. In 1922, Reich obtained a medical degree and then spent two years studying psychiatry. However, fate did not favor him. The pastoral childhood had become a thing of the past, and the farm was destroyed. The war took away all their savings. While still a first-year student, Reich attended a lecture on psychoanalysis, which determined his future. From 1918, he began practicing psychoanalysis and became a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. At the university, Reich met Annie Pink, first as his patient and later as his wife. It was also during this time that he became interested in politics and Marxist theory. After divorcing his first wife, Reich married Elsie Lindenberg, a ballerina who shared his communist beliefs. However, his active political activities were met with disapproval from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. In 1930, Reich left his position as vice director of the clinic and moved to Berlin, deciding to become a patient of the famous psychoanalyst Sandor Rado. However, the true reason for his move was different. The Vienna Psychoanalytic Society disapproved of his active political activities, which are further discussed below.

In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, and the situation demanded a more decisive self-identification. The Communist Party did not share Reich's radical sexual beliefs, and his relationship with the International Psychoanalytic Association also became strained. Reich found himself isolated and alone. He was forced to engage in a conflict on multiple fronts. In the same year, Reich emigrated to Denmark. After divorcing his second wife, Reich married Ilse Ollendorff, who became his third wife. In New York, he was offered a position as an adjunct professor of medical psychology at the New School for Social Research. His medical practice in America was so successful that in 1934, he purchased a 200-acre plot of land in the forests of Maine. Here, he rebuilt his laboratory and soon established the private research Orgone Institute, which he led until his death.

Contributions to Psychoanalysis

In December 1921, Reich made his first presentation to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, focusing on the psychoanalytic interpretation of hysterical symptoms. From then on, he regularly delivered lectures and published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Reich belonged to a new generation of psychoanalysts. He did not study directly under Freud, but rather entered the field when psychoanalysis was already a well-established theory and social institution. However, he naturally incorporated himself into the new teachings through his collaboration with Freud.

Until 1930, Reich was the director of the Technical Seminar for Psychoanalytic Therapy in Vienna. This seminar functioned as an institute for teaching practical skills to psychoanalysts. The idea of creating such a center belonged to Reich. He first obtained Freud's approval and then tested the effectiveness of this concept by collaborating with American psychoanalysts who visited Vienna. The Technical Seminar not only provided training but also conducted research. Reich felt it was necessary to focus theoretical efforts on the phenomenon of resistance. In December 1926, he presented another lecture on this topic at the Technical Seminar. Reich recalls this experience: "I highlighted the question of whether incestuous tendencies should be interpreted when there is a negative latent attitude from the patient or if we should wait until the patient's distrust disappears. Freud interrupted me: 'Why don't we interpret the material in the order it appears? Of course, we need to analyze and interpret incestuous fantasies (dreams) as soon as they appear.' I did not expect this. I continued to argue my point of view, but the whole idea was entirely alien to Freud. He did not understand why we should analyze resistance rather than the material itself. In private conversations about treatment methods, he seemed to think differently. The atmosphere of the meeting was unpleasant. My opponents at the seminar looked at me maliciously or pitied me. I remained calm."

Reich's main ideas, as seen, developed through critical work in the seminar. While he often refined his views, he never abandoned his main thesis. According to Reich, it is sexuality that becomes the center around which all social and individual life develops. In 1927, Reich developed these views into a comprehensive system. In his book "The Discovery of the Orgone," Reich relied on Freud's fundamental concepts. Seeking to explain the origins of neurosis, Reich focused on the sexual sphere. However, Freud had already emphasized that no neurosis develops without a sexual conflict. Freud interpreted sexuality broadly and focused mainly on early instinctual components of desires.

In the 1920s, Freud divided all neuroses into two groups: psychoneuroses, which originate from repressed desires and early childhood traumas, and actual neuroses. Later, Freud's theory was based on the concept of infantile neuroses. In this aspect, Reich diverged from his mentor. He shifted the focus in clinical work from the patient's past to their present, resurrecting the concept of actual neurosis and shifting attention from the infantile aspects of sexuality to adult sensuality. In other words, he emphasized adult sensuality. This also led to an attempt to replace qualitative mental indicators with quantitative ones.

In his early works, Freud still adhered to a mechanistic conception of psychic energy or libido, believing that it, like other forms of energy, can be measured, transferred, and blocked. However, over time, the metaphorical nature of such representations became clearer. Reich essentially restored Freud's early views, which were already considered outdated remnants of positivism and 19th-century mechanism. By accepting Freud's views, Reich created his so-called sexual economy, which, in his opinion, could synthesize Marx and Freud. One of Reich's researchers, American scientist Paul Robinson, comments on this concept, ironically emphasizing that Reich achieved a peculiar amalgamation of Freud and Adam Smith. Ultimately, sexual energy in Reich's theory takes the form of concrete sexuality.