The Primal Institute - Primal Therapy Clinic

"For the suffering neurotic who may think that Primal Therapy
is too overwhelming or too difficult to go through,
I would only say that the Herculean task is to be what we're not.
The easiest thing to be is yourself."
The Primal Scream (1970)

10379 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, California, 90064, (310) 785-9456

	ANNOUNCEMENTS:
	Please visit our MySpace at www.myspace.com/463560181 ****************************************** The Primal Institute Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary By Dr. Barry M. Bernfeld and Gretchen Castle Bernfeld The Primal Institute celebrates its 40th anniversary! The publication of The Primal Scream in 1970 was a watershed moment for millions of readers who were touched deeply by its simple, elegant truth. This was an international best seller translated into almost every language. People from widely divergent cultures responded to the books revolutionary content and compassionate tone. Absolutely revolutionary in 1970, but perhaps even more so now as we approach 2010. An idea is revolutionary if it challenges the status quo. An idea is revolutionary if it is not compatible with the current state of knowledge in a given discipline. If Primal Theory is correct, then many other non-compatible theories may be incorrect. If reliving the pain of childhood trauma is necessary for lasting change, then cognitive approaches where deep feeling does not occur must be contraindicated. If after 40 years of opening up patients psyches and finding only memories, sad and painful memories, then the Freudian legacy of defenses as necessary is incorrect. The unconscious is knowable and what we find is often painfully sad memories and feelings. Reconnecting to those memories and feelings is the key to getting well and restoring the capacity for real intimacy. Arthur and Vivian Janov intuitively understand that neurosis is a disease of feeling. To treat the infinite varieties and faces of neurosis is to be led astray. The Janovs understood that the underlying cause of emotional problems and symptoms is childhood pain, and that this pain is imprinted in our nervous system and throughout our bodies. Most importantly, the Janovs trusted their patients, trusted in their patients sufferings and memories of childhood longing. Allowing their patients to feel without the need to direct or interpret revealed the enormous power of feelings in restoring emotional and physical health. In the four decades since the publication of The Primal Scream, advances in scientific research have served to corroborate Primal Theory. The discovery of endorphins the brains internal opiate system can there be a more profound proof that we are in pain? Research on human tears and their important role in regulating stress hormones speak to the Primal hypothesis. Proper therapy will often involve crying, deep weeping and the reliving of past experiences that lead to profound insight. Ongoing research on our brains, plasticity confirms our Primal experience. Scientists now confirm that emotional trauma changes brain structure, which simply means a painful childhood really does hurt us in every way, and at every level. The good news is that this plasticity, the brains ability to rewire and recreate itself, can truly heal itself under optimal conditions such as re-experiencing childhood trauma. The Primal revolution has come a long way, changing the practice of psychotherapy in many ways. Access to deep feeling often needs more time than the standard 50-minute hour so prevalent in the field today. Primal Therapy broke tradition with the structure and format of conventional psychotherapy. The 3-week intensive program, which consists of open-ended sessions, which facilitate access to deep feeling and their expression. Access to feelings is discouraged in conventional therapy in every way, including the room where therapy takes place. Primal Therapy recognizes that only an environment free from distractions of expensive furnishings, harsh lighting, sitting face to face in chairs can help transport us to our past. Primal Therapy takes place in distraction free rooms, sitting or lying down as appropriate with variable lighting that promotes access to ones past. Perhaps the most important component of Primal Therapy is faith in human nature. Faith in what is natural. Primal Therapy believes that what the patient feels is real. Primal Theory believes that the pain and symptoms each patient brings has a real basis, the result of real deficits rooted in his childhood. Every symptom, every self-destructive behavior or act-out is an attempt at regulating overwhelming pain. The Primal Institute has been helping patients for 40 years based on this simple truth. Unfelt pain makes us sick. Feeling the pain makes us healthier. The Primal Institute A Unique Community There is a unique bond between and among Primal patients. This connection has absolutely nothing to do with common background or common interests. Our patient population is so diverse it resembles a meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Almost every country and culture is represented, cutting across socio-economic, religious and political affiliation. Our patients are truly heterogeneous. Theirs is a deeper kinship, uniquely human. Those who come to The Primal Institute have some access to their pain, an awareness of suffering. They hurt and they know it. For those who have made the journey back to childhoods filled with unmet need, there is a special affinity. They know the courage it takes and have felt its rewards. They have experienced how feeling their sadness made them whole again. After so much suffering and sadness, they seek others who are comfortable with feelings where they can be themselves. This bond among Primal patients is nowhere more evident than at our residential retreats, where twice yearly we invite our current and former patients to spend a week in the Santa Barbara mountains. The intensity of the retreat experience and the insight and honesty that comes from it is like no other therapeutic experience we have ever encountered. Lastly, we have to acknowledge the people who have made Primal what it is today. Most importantly the genius and tenacity of both Arthur and Vivian Janov. We want to acknowledge the contributions of the various therapists we have worked with and learned from over our many years. We particularly want to mention the contributions of Nick Barton, Mark Grieshaber, Dr. Leslie Pam and Ann Petersen and of course Atty Castle, who organizes all of our lives. All of these people have given so much to make the Institute what it is today. Most of all we thank our patients for all of their courage and insight.