Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality (Compass) [Paperback]

Alexander Lowen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | Series: Compass

Paperback. Psychology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Alexander Lowen is the creator of bioenergetics, which he has defined as "a therapeutic technique to help a person get back together with his body and to help him enjoy to the fullest degree possible the life of the body." Incorporating direct work on the body into the psychoanalytic process, Dr. Lowen practices psychiatry in New York and Connecticut and is the executive director of the Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis. He is married and lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife and son.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1 edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140194657
• ISBN-13: 978-0140194654
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly worthwhile read, July 5, 2003

By 

Marilyn Sullivan (Nazareth, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality (Compass) (Paperback)

I am a licensed counselor and have been reading professional literature since the late '70's, had run into Lowen here & there, but never paid him much attention, assuming he would be dry and theoretical. I just picked up Depression and the Body and found it quite helpful.
The bioenergetic theory and treatment remain to be proven. Lowen's explanations make sense on the surface, anyway. But his understanding of depression, while not groundbreaking, is clear, complete, compassionate and adaptable to the counseling situation. While he focuses on early childhood and its traumas (not usually fertile ground for therapy in the real world) he also provides some useful here-and-now insights about the thinking of a depressed person and how it needs to change in order for recovery to occur.
I didn't give the book five stars because some of the book digresses into material about social and cultural issues that have little to do with the problem of depression. But overall I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to read about depression from a HUMAN angle.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Making Sense of Depression, This Book is a Real Guide to Change, December 18, 2010

By 

Passionate Therapist (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality (Compass) (Paperback)

I am a counselor myself, trained in Family Therapy. This is not the first book of Lowen's that I had read, but when I read it, I realized that I must practice from Lowen's point of view. Most depressed people (and I have been one) are told that their depression is a mental mistake and that they need to 'think better' to feel better. But as Lowen shows, thinking is not the problem. Sure, cognitive distortions arise, but they are the mind's best effort to understand very painful feelings that are real and that also are reflected in the state of the body. When a therapist identifies cognitive distortions as the origin of the problem, the depressed person just starts hiding them, because the 'distortions' are compelling, because they do 'make sense' as far as sensation goes.

Lowen's bio-energetic therapy has benefitted me enormously. It is not for dabblers. Lowen's approach to feeling better makes cognitive and family therapy appear very superficial indeed. Lowen does indeed talk about trends in society, but they are very relevant to depression, because depression is not random, it is the consequence of a state of living which is starved for real pleasure and satisfaction. Both some social and some family trends foist a joyless state of living onto children that carried forward, leads to a major depression.

The fix is not an instant or quick one. It is however, a surprisingly commonsense one-- getting back to the wisdom of sensation and emotion (with body work), protecting one's integrity with legitimate anger, and respecting the role that simple pleasures and satisfactions play in health.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Intelligence of the human body, November 4, 2007

By 

Bookworm2 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality (Compass) (Paperback)

Alexander Lowen writes an intelligent piece of literature. He explains in detail how depression is alienation from one's body. A real eye-opener.