It’s 1975.I’m in a seminar in Berkely,California given by the highly respected bioenergetic therapist Stanley Keleman,one of the most creative people in the field and a direct student of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen.I’ve been studying and practicing”humanistic psychothertapy”(Gestalt,Bioenegetics ,encounter groups,sensitivity training ) for over four years and have become comfortable with intense emotional expression.

“We’ve got it wrong” says Keleman.
“Emotional Expression doesn’t work.The more anger you express,the more comes up- like a well that is unlimited”

“So what do we do?” asks the audiece.

“Just watch and observe.Then things will change”.It’s the beginnings of the Mindfulness movement-at least in psychotherapy.

Now,fast forward more than fourty years.We now have the  secret formula to human happiness and equanimity-Mindfulness,Non-Violent Communication,Yoga,Chigong.And then a situation confronts you where this is not working at all and what seems to be more helpful is emotional self-expression.Back to Perls and Reich and catharsis and authenticity..Anyone who has worked with that approach has seen spectacular results -at times.And there’s the rub.It doesn’t work all the time.It doesn’t even work predictably.But there are times when the result is impressive.I remember an Ulcerative Colitis case where the man in question was furious with his domineering  girlfriend.A few wops on the specially designed mattress cover and some appropriate statements and the Ulcerative Colitis cleared up to such an extent that his gastro-enterologist called me up after his last colonoscopy to ask me what I had done! But it doesn’t always work.

To go back to the issue of Mindfulness vs. cathartsis.,Fritz Perls and Wilhelm Reich believed that the entire Eastern culture was one mass collective neurosis.Interestingly Mao Tse Tung believed the same.That’s why he used more Marx and Lenin in his approach than Lao Tsu.To be clear that is NOT my belief.But there may be some truth in it nevertheless.

So what is the answer.The answer is in the uniqueness and specificity of every situation-whether clinical or personal.”Break your principles on The Rock of Reality”, Pir Vilayat Khan used to repeat.”Don’t get too attached to your belief system” taught Thich Nhat Khan.And most gloriously Jellalludin Rumi said”Anyone who doesn’t understand that Reality is replete with contradictions is not truly Enlightened'” May Allah protect us from the overly coherent lol