Biography

John C. Pierrakos, M.D. (Psychiatrist) is a former student and colleague of Wilhelm Reich and co-founder, with Alexander Lowen, M.D. of Bioenergectic therapy. He is the author of Core Energetics, the Dynamics of Joy: Love Eros and Sexuality. Dr. Pierrakos is the founder of Core Energetics Institute in New York City. He conducts a private practice in New York, lectures and gives workshops in USA and Europe.

 

 

Q. What do you observe in the Aura?

A. The history of a person’s whole life as well as the current condition of the organism can be observed in the aura. It can indicate, for instance, a pain as systematic and enduring as a trauma of rejection in infancy, or as localized and transitory as a tooth extraction. In affront of any kind, whether a physical illness or a failed expectation, disrupts the aura. I closely observe the aura of people with whom I work. I use the information it provides to diagnose the illness, locate the skeletomuscular and characterological blocks that need to be dissolved, and guide the person toward internal integration. More than this: the aura communicates, sometimes in considerable detail, the nature of the person’s unique gifts, the special thrust of the cores creativity in this individual life, which leads the therapeutic work into helping him or her integrate with the outside world.

 

Q. How does this occur?

 

A. The core of a person consists of the nucleus of all the energy elements in the organism, from the subcellular components to the tissues, organs, and systems.

 

Q. Is the core part of the aura?

 

A. Yes, in fact as human dysfunctions are defined by the distortions of core energy showing at various locations in the energy field, so the person’s horizon of gifts is defined by the exceptional characteristics of the aura when functioning is restored. The aura discloses the pattern of intensified luminosity and color, deepened layering, heightened pulsatory frequency, expanded responsiveness to outside forces, and other indicators.

 

Q. What is the fundamental cause of human dysfunction?

 

A. It is the denial of the natural energy movement within the organism. The dysfunction is expressed in patterns of denial, which exhibit common characteristics but which are uniquely combined in each individual. During infancy and childhood, each human being seizes upon strategies to fend off pain and suffering and to exert its own will. All of these strategies, however, are counter productive because they fragment the unitory flow of energy within the human organism. When any part of the energy flow is thwarted, the whole current becomes distorted.

 

Therefore when the infant blocks off the movement of primal negative

energy, the surge of positive energy also is distorted, slows down, and

congeals into blocks.

 
  1. Are there classifications of defense patterns in character structures?

 

  1. Different schools of healing accept these classifications, though they may name sickness according to other aspects of them. In bioenergetics, Lowen and I built on Reich’s brilliant analyses of character attitudes and structures to fill in the outlines of five general patterns of defense, and I am uncovering others. I want to reiterate, however, that the defensive pattern does not define the person. The core does. A person in treatment is not a character type or structure or any other label. He or she is a human being whose functioning has gone awry, and whose soul has an inborn brilliance and beauty that the therapy is designed to release.

 

  1. In core energetics, is releasing the core the focus and goal?

 

  1. Yes, the focus of the treatment and final goal of the therapeutic process is to shift to the farthest – reaching plane of the organisms operations, the spirit or the higher self – the core. The work with this power moves directly along two vectors at once, inward and outward, which correspond with the expansive and contrastive phases of the reciprocal energy cycle.

Inwardly, the treatment aims to merge the outer with the inner self, leading the person to identify with the higher self. Outwardly, it aims to enlarge the communion between the self and external reality. The task of the conscious mind here is to shape the positive concepts. The will’s part is to develop positive intentionality, to engage in and to choose life rather than withdrawing from it.

 
  1. Can you further explain how this occurs?

 

  1. The source for these reorientations is the universal life force that makes up the individual’s core and the whole of existence the free flow of reciprocal energy straightens and deepens the person’s inner being along both vectors. To put this in another way, the process generates self-truth subjectively and realism objectively. The outer mind is systematically trained to heed the marvelous energy formations that surge from and to the core. The mind then can unleash the products of creative imagination, make intuitive connections, look for vast opportunities in outside events, and assess all of these movements for their feasibility and value to the self and others.
  2. How is the will involved?

 

  1. The will moves from suspending disbelief to engaging belief. It translates the qualitative potential of the person’s living center into concrete actions. It puts its’ muscle behind plans so these can be carried to completion.

 

  1. Is the core also known as the Soul of a Being?

 

A. Yes, and the most comprehensive aspect of the work with the soul concerns its embrace of what we think as the unknowable. The more people learn about reality and the correspondence between inner and outer life, the clearer it becomes that only existential limitations restrict the choice of paths they are evolving in this life. Beyond that, the person expands the understanding that the yearning for unification with external reality thrusts forward all being in all time, toward infinity. This is the territory for the deepest human fulfillment, but commanding it calls for substantial integration of the organisms physical recourses, emotional commitment, and positive volitional think.

 

Q. How is this integrated?

 

A. The integration process unfolds in four stages: penetrating the mask, releasing the lower self, centering in the higher self, and the final stage of uncovering the life plan.

 

Q. What is the most important facet in healing?

 

A. Truthfulness with the self is paramount in the holistic approach to self

development and growth. The present reality is very important if we are to eliminate the outer defenses and the masking attitudes and pretenses to experience our vulnerability. Blaming the dissatisfaction on forces outside of ourselves merely perpetuates the problem. Only by accepting full responsibility for our lives can we explore the inner territory to find the high ground of the core, from which we can view life in a perspective that yields lasting solutions. This approach is true spirituality, grounded in every-day reality. For true spirituality does not contradict the practical aspects of life nor does it imply self-deprivation. It is the opposite. Sacrifice and deprivation are diametrically opposed to spiritual reality. The universe is abundant with joy.