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Basic Theory
The following is taken from Why You Get Sick – How You Get Well by Dr. Arthur Janov and reviews some of the basic theory behind Primal Therapy.
![Why You Get Sick - How You Get Well by Dr. Arthur Janov](https://primaltherapy.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/51D5D001J3L._AC_UL900_SR615900_.jpg)
“There is one neurosis, many manifestations and one cure ‘feeling.’”
Repressed pain divides the self in two, and each side wars with the other. One is the real self, loaded with needs and pain that are submerged; the other is the unreal self that attempts to deal with the outside world by trying to fulfill unmet needs with neurotic habits or behaviors such as obsessions or addictions. The split of the self is the essence of neurosis, and neurosis can kill.
That pain is the result of needs and feelings that have gone unfulfilled in early life. Those early unmet needs create what I call Primal Pain. Coming close to death at birth or feeling unloved as a child are examples of such Pain. The Pain goes unfelt at the time because the body is not equipped to experience it fully and deal with it. When the Pain is too much, it is repressed and stored away. When enough unresolved Pain has occurred, we lose access to our feelings and become neurotic.
“The number one killer in the world today is not cancer or heart disease, it is repression.”
Primal Therapy is important in the field of psychology, for it means, ultimately, the end to so much suffering in human beings. Discovering a way to treat Pain means there is a way to stop the misery in which so many of us are mired every day of our lives. After two decades of research, after dealing with thousands of patients with every imaginable psychological and physical affliction, we have arrived at a precise, predictable therapy that reduces the amount of time one spends in treatment and eliminates all the wasted motion. It is a therapy that has been investigated by independent scientists, and the findings are consistent. Primal Therapy is able to reduce or eliminate a host of physical and psychic ailments in a relatively short period of time with lasting results.
“Feeling Pain is the end of suffering.”
We have found ways to measure the ongoing presence and chronic effects of early trauma. We have observed time and again that even though it is not felt, the force of the memory remains in the system, reverberating on lower brain levels and moving against the body wherever it happens to be vulnerable. It shapes our interests, values, motivations and ideas. By reliving these traumas, patients can return back to early events and know with certainty how they formed adult behavior and symptoms.
The Primal Legacy Program
THE FULL PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE!
The Primal Legacy Program includes five years of clinical therapy review, shot during training at THE PRIMAL CENTER. In this program, every therapeutic intervention is discussed and grounded in theory. It is organized in 7 parts. Each part contains both Theoretical and Clinical evenings.
The Theoretical Aspect (in blue in the list below) is part psychology and part neurology and includes an up-to-date survey of all current research in those fields. Subjects as diverse as “What Is Pain?” to “The Evolution of the Brain and Feelings” are included. Here we find what feelings are, where they are located in the brain, how repression holds them in check, how they are released and integrated etc.
Clinical Reviews are videotaped therapy sessions reviewed and discussed on a clinical level with our trainees. Every clinical review is backed up by the theory, which provides a frame of reference for its scientific aspects. At THE PRIMAL CENTER, Ken Seman supervises and controls the therapy. This is particularly true of the first few weeks of intensive therapy because it involves a diagnostic process where guidelines are set down for the future of the patient’s therapy. To ensure the best possible treatment, the tapes of the sessions are routinely supervised as we constantly incorporate new refinements in techniques and understanding of the therapy.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST OF TITLES AND SUBTITLES OF THE PRIMAL LEGACY PROGRAM
IMPORTANT: The Primal Legacy is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to license nor approve of any practice whatsoever. Neither Ken Seman’s Primal Center, nor Dr. Arthur Janov or Dr. France Janov shall be held responsible or liable for any claim(s) whatsoever arising from any use of the educational material found herein.
It is not valid for any continuing education credits and cannot be used as an endorsement to practice Primal Therapy.
LIST OF THE PRIMAL LEGACY PROGRAM VIDEOS TITLES
CLINICAL & THEORY
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST OF TITLES AND SUBTITLES OF THE PRIMAL LEGACY PROGRAM
CLINICAL BASICS (A) | |
---|---|
1 | 10-09-07 - WHAT IS PRIMAL THERAPY |
2 | 02-05-08 - WHAT IS PRIMAL HEALING |
3 | 10-08-07 - THE UNIFIED THEORY OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY |
4 | 11-12-07 - THE PRACTICE OF PRIMAL THERAPY |
5 | 03-31-09 - CLASSICAL STEPS IN PRIMAL THERAPY |
6 | 02-29-12 - AN EXAMPLE OF CLASSIC THERAPY |
7 | 03-31-08 - LET THE PAIN LEAD THE WAY |
8 | 09-26-11 - BASIC THERAPY WITH A NEW PATIENT |
9 | 09-28-11 - IDENTIFYING THE FEELING |
10 | 01-24-08 - THE TREE OF FEELING |
11 | 02-18-10 - GOING UP AND DOWN TOWARD THE FEELING |
12 | 08-08-11 - THE FEAR OF FEELING |
13 | 11-07-07 - TRIGGERING THE IMPRINT |
14 | 07-20-11 - FROM THE GENERAL TO THE MORE SPECIFIC |
15 | 11-25-09 - ANCHORING THE FEELING PART 1 |
16 | 11-25-09 - ANCHORING THE FEELING PART 2 |
17 | 04-16-09 - GIVING TIME AND SPACE |
18 | 05-28-08 - FEELING SAFE |
19 | 10-30-09 - STAYING ON TRACK |
20 | 07-27-11 - CLASSIC WAYS TO DEAL WITH A PAST SCENE |
21 | 08-31-11 - THE PRIMAL PROBE: SHINING A LIGHT ON REPRESSED FEELINGS |
22 | 08-10-11 - GETTING BENEATH DEFENSES TO BREAK THROUGH LIFELONG FEELINGS OF BEING BAD/SAD |
23 | 02-11-10 - ALL FEELINGS ARE CONNECTED |
24 | 04-28-10 - WHAT HURTS MOST |
25 | 09-07-11 - HELPING A NEW PATIENT STAY ON TRACK |
26 | 02-18-08 - THE DUAL ROLE OF PAIN AND SURVIVAL |
27 | 08-07-08 - THINKING YOUR WAY TO HEALTH PART 1 |
28 | 08-14-08 - THINKING YOUR WAY TO HEALTH PART 2 |
29 | 09-21-11 - VARIOUS CLINICAL STRATEGIES |
30 | 01-30-08 - INSIGHTS IN PRIMAL THERAPY |
31 | 09-14-11 - STEP BY STEP: ANALYSIS OF A THERAPY SESSION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF POST-SESSION |
32 | 02-06-08 - WIDE-RANGING CLINICAL DISCUSSION |
33 | 05-28-08 - A PRIMAL PRIMER |
SPECIFIC CLINICAL ASPECTS (B) | |
34 | 08-11-10 - PRIMAL DIAGNOSIS AND THE URGENT INTERVENTION |
35 | 05-24-10 - ESTABLISHING DIAGNOSES |
36 | 04-26-10 - THE CONSEQUENCES OF MISSING OPENING FEELINGS |
37 | 08-08-11 - BREAKING THROUGH A PATIENT'S RIGID DEFENSES |
38 | 09-19-11 - OPENING A 3-2-1 PATHWAY WHEN THE 2ND LINE IS MISSING |
39 | 09-28-11 - VERTICAL INTEGRATION: THE DANGERS OF BYPASSING THE SECOND LINE AND GOING DIRECTLY TO BIRTH FEELINGS AS A DEFENSE |
40 | 11-06-08 - NEGATIVE PAIN: DEFINITION AND TREATMENT |
41 | 04-16-09 - UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF RESONANCE |
42 | 02-17-10 - DIFFERENT BUNDLES OF FEELING |
43 | 11-14-07 REGAINING FREEDOM THROUGH PRIMAL |
44 | 12-17-08 - MELANGE DURING CHILDHOOD |
45 | 06-20-12 - WHEN THE PATIENT FEELS, THE THERAPIST IS SILENT |
46 | 05-05-09 - TAKE THE THERAPY OUT OF THE ROOM |
47 | 08-22-11 - DEALING WITH A NEW PATIENT'S EVASIVENESS |
48 | 03-03-08 - MISSING THE MARK: INTERVENTIONS DON'T HELP A DESPERATE PATIENT |
49 | 08-08-11 - THE POWER OF FEELING: A SESSION GOES OFF COURSE, BUT THE PATIENT GETS BACK ON TRACK TO BREAK THROUGH LIFELONG FEELINGS OF BEING BAD |
50 | 10-03-11 - HELPING A NEW PATIENT MOVE FROM FEELING UNSAFE ON THE THIRD LINE TO A VIOLENT TRAUMA ON THE SECOND LINE |
51 | 02-25-10 - ASSESSING THE VALIDITY OF AN UNUSUAL FEELING |
52 | 05-30-08 - RELIVING PAST SITUATIONS TO FULFILL A NEED |
53 | 04-27-10 - AN OVERWHELMING DISCHARGE OF TERROR |
54 | 07-24-08 - SELF-ANALYSIS: A HEAVILY REPRESSED PATIENT HELPS DECIPHER HIS OWN DEFENSES. |
55 | 05-24-10 - THE FEELING NEEDS TO BE CONNECTED |
56 | 01-06-09 IT'S ME, NOT THEM. IT'S THEM, NOT ME |
57 | 12-15-10 - ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER |
58 | 05-27-10 - HOW DO YOU MEASURE PRIMAL |
ABOUT BIRTH (C) | |
59 | 12-03-07 - LIFELONG EFFECTS OF BIRTH |
60 | 10-13-08 - PRENATAL LIFE AND ITS LATER EFFECTS |
61 | 10-28-09 - BIRTH SEQUENCE |
62 | 04-19-10 - TREATING BIRTH TRAUMA: Trauma, Resonance and Fuel |
CLINICAL CHALLENGES (D) | |
Abreaction - (D-1) | |
63 | 10-03-11 - ASSESSING ABREACTION IN A SELF-PRIMALING PATIENT |
64 | 12-17-09 - DEALING WITH AN ACQUIRED GROOVE |
65 | 02-22-12 - DEALING WITH A PATIENTS ABREACTIVE GROOVE |
66 | 03-29-12 - DEALING WITH A HEAVILY GROOVED ABREACTIVE PATIENT |
67 | 05-23-12 - STRATEGY FOR CORRECTING A PATIENTS ABREACTIVE GROOVE |
68 | 07-06-11 - PROBING, SCENES AND MOCK PRIMAL THERAPY |
Overload (D-2) | |
69 | 08-24-11 - THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY TO HELP AN OVERLOADED PATIENT (EXCERPTS) |
70 | 06-13-12 - I'M BAD: OVERLOAD AND REPRESSION IN A SUICIDAL PATIENT |
71 | 10-12-11 - FIRST LINE: PANIC-DRIVEN OVERLOAD |
72 | 11-06-07 - TRUST AND OVERLOAD |
Hopelessness (D-3) | |
73 | 12-16-09 - THERAPY OF HOPELESSNESS |
74 | 05-07-09 - HOPELESSNESS PART 1 |
75 | 05-11-09 - HOPELESSNESS PART 2: DON'T DENY THE GOOD |
76 | 08-21-08 - HOPELESSNESS TURNS INTO HOPE |
VARIOUS CLINICAL CASES (E) | |
77 | 04-05-12 - A DIFFICULT PATIENT POSES MULTIPLE CHALLENGES |
78 | 03-29-12 - TREATING A RESISTING PATIENT |
79 | 06-06-12 - SEPARATING REAL FEELINGS FROM IMAGINED MEMORIES |
80 | 09-21-11 - WORKING WITH A PATIENT WITH FAULTY ACCESS |
81 | 03-12-08 - ON ANGER |
82 | 08-22-11 - DEALING WITH ANGER |
83 | 08-03-11 - DEALING WITH A PATIENT'S ANGER IN A THERAPEUTIC WAY |
84 | 09-05-12 - PATIENT WITH AN AGENDA |
85 | 08-31-11 - PATIENT TERRORISM: KEEPING A SESSION ON TRACK WHEN A PATIENT TRIES TO TAKE CONTROL |
86 | 09-21-11 - THERAPY WITH A RETURNING PATIENT |
87 | 08-08-11 - A PATIENT PUTS HIS LIFE INTO CONTEXT |
88 | 04-25-12 - TRACKING A PATIENT'S PROGRESS |
ADDRESSING SPECIFIC SYMPTOMS (F) | |
89 | 08-01-11 - NARCOLEPSY AND COMMON THERAPEUTIC ERRORS OF OMISSION |
THERAPEUTIC CHALLENGES (G) | |
90 | 02-27-08 - THE FEAR OF MAKING A MISTAKE |
91 | 05-23-12 - EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF A THERAPIST BEING TRIGGERED BY A PATIENT |
92 | 08-15-11 - TWO CASES REVEAL PITFALLS WHEN FEELINGS ENGULF A THERAPIST |
93 | 06-06-12 - A THERAPIST'S FEARS SABOTAGE A SESSION |
94 | EPIGENETICS AND PRIMAL THERAPY |
95 | ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABREACTION AND FEELING |