An Object Relations Perspective on Bioenergetics and Pre-Oedipal Transferences

Authors

  • Garry Cockburn

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30820/0743-4804-2012-22-29

Keywords:

transference, countertransference, projective identification, paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions

Abstract

Alexander Lowen’s views on oedipal transference were formed within the intellectual framework of Freudian and Reichian drive theory and ego psychology. Lowen did not favor analytic work with transference and believed that countertransference indicated that the therapy was «faulted”. This article critically examines his classical approach and offers a re-examination of pre-oedipal transference phenomena in a way that both honors Lowen’s unique insights into the transformative power of Bioenergetic Analysis, and at the same time offers a Kleinian/Bionian object relations understanding of pre-oedipal transference that can be incorporated into modern Bioenergetic Analysis. An extended case example illustrates the effective integration of object relations theory and bioenergetic practice. The concluding discussion provides a rationale for introducing an object relations approach into Bioenergetic Analysis.

Author Biography

Garry Cockburn

Garry Cockburn BSW(Hons), CBT, MNZAP(APC), was born in New Zealand, trained as a Catholic priest in Sydney, Australia in the 1960s, and undertook post-graduate studies in theology in Rome. After leaving the priesthood, he qualified as a social worker and worked in the New Zealand Government child abuse agency for nearly 30 years. He finished his bioenergetic training in 1995 and has worked in private practice as a bioenergetic therapist since 2002. He has published in the Bioenergetic Journal, and in the European J. for Bioenergetics and Psychotherapy. He was a keynote speaker at the Seville IIBA conference. He is a Local Trainer for the New Zealand Society and joined the Board of Trustees of the IIBA in 2011.
029-055 36103

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How to Cite

Cockburn, G. (2022). An Object Relations Perspective on Bioenergetics and Pre-Oedipal Transferences. Bioenergetic Analysis, 22(1), 29–55. https://doi.org/10.30820/0743-4804-2012-22-29

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows private use and unmodified distribution, but prohibits editing and commercial use (further information can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The terms of the Creative Commons licence only apply to the original material. The reuse of material from other sources (marked with a reference) such as charts, illustrations, photos and text extracts may require further permission for use from the respective copyrights holder.