Primal Healing: Access the Incredible Power of Feelings to Improve Your Health

by Arthur Janov

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK "[Janov's] work is potentially among the most important research in any field over the past century. It could possibly offer more relief from suffering that any other treatment." —Dr. Geoffrey Carr, Professor and Clinical Associate, Simon Fraser University "Dr. Janov is the discoverer of a remarkable feeling therapy that taps into the feeling side of the brain." —Dr. David A Goodman, Director of the Newport Neuroscience Center BOOK DESCRIPTION Neuroscience and psychology—two fields which should complement each other in the treatment of mental health problems—have taken widely divergent paths. While neurologists work to find the answer to the human condition in minuscule neurons, psychologists study behavior to the exclusion of the brain itself. Primal Healing at last bridges the gaps between neuroscience and psychology. Dr. Janov's professional life changed in a single day when he heard an eerie scream welling up from the depths of a young man who was lying on the floor in therapy. In 1970, Dr. Janov published The Primal Scream, a major breakthrough and worldwide bestseller. The culmination of more than 30 years of research in human psychology, Primal Healing clearly explains how, for true healing to occur, you must access the deepest levels of your brain, where imprinted memories and pain lie, and fully relive the primal experiences that drive your behavior. Utilizing compelling case studies, Dr. Janov shows how the brain and nervous system can be imprinted by trauma during birth and early childhood, and how these imprinted memories give rise to all manner of physical and mental dysfunction. When you are able to access these subconscious memories, you can liberate yourself and improve your health.

Genres: Psychology, Health

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2006

About the author

Psychologist, psychotherapist, and the creator of primal therapy, a treatment for mental illness that involves repeatedly descending into, feeling, and expressing long-repressed childhood pain. Janov directed a psychotherapy institute called the Primal Center in Santa Monica, California.

Janov wrote that his professional life changed in a single day in 1967 with the discovery of what he calls Primal Pain.During a therapy session, Janov heard what he describes as, “an eerie scream welling up from the depths of a young man lying on the floor”. He developed primal therapy, in which clients are encouraged to re-live and express repressed feelings.

Janov's patients included John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J...

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had read this book 5 years ago I am fairly certain I would have dismissed it. What Janov describes in this book can seem almost unbelievable. He relates the outcomes of his particular brand of healing which he first proposed in his original book "The Primal Scream" many decades ago. His original book made quite a stir and I recall it being ridiculed although I never looked into the details. Janov had gone on to create a centre for his approach with a rigorous training process and discussed the implications of his work here. Most tellingly Janov records physiological measures in his approach including vital signs and blood cortisol levels and reports consistent normalizations of these values over the course of his therapy. Although Janov does not refer to the work of Stephen Porges in his writing, his results and observations are entirely consistent with Porges' theoretical framework. My recent training in Somatic Experiencing and Somatic Resilience and Regulation indicate to me that Janov's theories are accurate, and this is very inspiring. Essentially Janov refers to the impact of developmental trauma including during fetal development and birth as an "imprint" that drives temperament, behaviour and often physical illness throughout the life cycle. This imprint is "gated" by the later developing higher levels of the nervous system and remains below consciousness until it is accessed by clinical methods when it can be integrated and resolved. Janov's theories help explain the high frequency of fetal and birth adverse events in our most ill psychiatric patients and the results of the ACE studies which reveal a strong correlation between early trauma and neglect and later physical and mental illness. Janov's work is also a compelling rebuttal to much of the current approach to therapy and treatment, while he also appears to make use of medications as an adjunct to method he has developed, more apparently to facilitate the work than as an end in itself. Overall I have found Janov's work to be fascinating, but this book on it's own would probably be frustrating without the other background reading that prepared me for it. This book is not an illustrations of Janov's methods, he describes these only in a cursory fashion in an appendix at the back of the book, he relies on experiential training to deliver his technique. What Janov describes in his book is a powerful theoretical model to understand much of what plagues us medically and psychologically and an approach to undoing these deep influences in our psyche. The implications of this are profound an are slowly gaining credibility as the evidence keeps coming in. We are still far from seeing a shift in our practice that takes these findings into account, mostly because it takes experience to incorporate these techniques (his therapists require years of training) and this is not intellectual learning, but involves direct experience of these imprints within the clinician themselves.

[Graham Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very coherent path to overcoming trauma. This book is well very written and has a lot of interesting information that makes a lot of sense. The case studies are fascinating and compelling. Highly recommended.

[Ypatios Varelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single psychotherapist should read this book and the author's classic "Primal Scream". Also, every person having emotional or psychosomatic issues should read this book, to understand where issues are coming from and why most forms of mental therapy are not actual, deep therapy. Excellent by all means.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur Janov, the founder of Primal Therapy lays out his take on healing mental health and chronic ilness by diving in one's past and relive(systematically and gradually) the traumas of one's past.
He claims that most of us has imprints (non-verbal, implicit painful memories) and in order to became whole again, we need to go back and recreate the historical conditions so that we can feel what has to be felt. So far so good.
He critiques thorought the book the cognitive and insight therapies (psychoanalytic and analysis) stating that no talking cure can heal the unspeakable, or better said the lower scars on the brain.
He uses in primal therapy EEG, checks cortisol levels, heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves etc. So the therapist can get a clearer understanding of the patient activation and body sensations connected to his history and check out through his progress hormonal levels, serotonin etc.

While his approach was criticized for being a type o catharsis therapy and also for a lack of a coesive theory I believe that there are very valuable aspects to his approach and that's because : 1. He emphasised the evolutionary aspect of the brain and created a bottom-up approach for healing trauma which I like. (And for that he so criticized the cogntive theory, pointing that irrational ideas,beliefs are steming from feeling and to heal you must focus on emotion not just on the cognition)
2. He implemented more neuroscience in his therapeutic approach than other therapies, and also medical instruments which in my opinion is a great addition.
3.He spoke about non-verbal traumas, in-utero problems, birth complications etc. Which I think it is great, his direction is close to that of Somatic Experiencing.

But he overemphasised the trauma of birth which is a slippery slope, and the nonverbal traumas. Again, his thinking was good but I Do believe there is Some value in cogntive therapy as well. Himself said that the left brain concerned with cogntion is the one that does the integration of trauma memories when one is ready for that.

He also stressed out that ones feelings in regard to his or her trumatic past has to take place bit by bit in order to not be overwhelmed.

Overall, 4 Stars. He repeated his ideas on and on, and he devalued cognitive and insight therapies a little too much. His views on the power of trauma and affect disregullation are very good, and in line with neuroscience and trauma informed practioners from present. As Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Allan Schore, Bessel van der Kolk...

The author of "The gifted child" by Alice Miller initially was fond of PrimalTherapy and then critized his theory. A.P.A also disregarded his approach for lack of controlled studies.
I am a little surprized by this. But I got some good nuggets from his book.

I recommend it.

[Dianna]

Very hard book to digest.

[Georgios Tadalos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janov's approach really blew my mind. Many of my past experiences have been explained regards how a trauma of birth can effect the development of a human's psychological aspects. It is really recommended for all who want to know more about primal therapy and it's theory.

[Tom]

Godd resource for psychotherapy