Released on: October 31, 2007, 8:59 am

Press Release Author: Laura Ward/Strategic Vision

Industry: Consumer Services

Press Release Summary: Reich - A Man Of Vision Before His Time; Only Victim of Book
Burning In The United States
Reich's Influence Has Dedicated Worldwide Following
Conference Will Feature Keynote On "The Decline and Fall of Modern Psychiatry"


Press Release Body: Atlanta, GA/October 31, 2007 - The American College of Orgonomy
will be commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Wilhelm Reich, whose
influence and impact on the world and on psychiatry is still being felt today on
November 4, 2007. The conference will be held at the Lakeside Conference Center &
Hotel at the Princeton Forrestal Center at 900 Scudders Mill Road in Plainsboro, New
Jersey from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Registration will take place from 9:00 AM to 10:00
AM. Dr. Charles Konia will deliver the conference's keynote speech entitled, "The
Decline and Fall of Modern Psychiatry". In addition, the conference will mark the
launch of Dr. Konia's critically acclaimed book, The Emotional Plague.

"Wilhelm Reich was a visionary whose impact is still being felt," said Dr. Peter A.
Crist, President, American College of Orgonomy. "He was a colleague of Sigmund Freud
and expelled from the psychoanalytic movement for his revolutionary ideas. He fled
Nazi Germany but later became a victim of the U.S. government that felt threatened
by new ideas in an age of complacency. Yet his work continues to thrive and be
developed today.."

Reich was the first psychoanalyst to move from behind the couch to sit beside
patients, a practice that is commonplace today. But in 1924 this was considered
revolutionary and forever changed the dynamic between therapists and their patients.
Reich was a forerunner in other ways as well, founding the Socialist Association
for Sex Hygiene and Sexological Research that distributed practical information and
advice on sexual health and contraception, considered by many to be dangerous in the
late 1920's but now is common throughout the world in sex clinics, and public school
sex education. Long before the start of World War II, and at a time when even
Winston Churchill saw positive benefits in Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement, Reich
warned of the dangers of Hitler and the Nazis in his book, The Mass Psychology of
Fascism (one of the first books to expose how a dictator can control the minds and
emotions of an entire nation). Forced to flee from Germany, Reich moved to Denmark
and later Sweden, where he published his well known book, The Sexual Revolution.
This book advocated contraception, sex education, the sexual rights of youth as well
as Reich's belief that no one should be forced to remain in an unhappy marriage,
views that were considered truly revolutionary by some, abhorrent by others, but
again are currently part of modern society.

Departing Europe, just as World War II started, Reich settled in the United States,
where he pursued his most important work in the fields of sociology, biology,
physics, and atmospheric science. Ironically, today's liberal magazine, The New
Republic led to Reich's persecution in the United States during the height of the
Red Scare and the career of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Freelance writer Mildred Edie
Brady wrote a devastating article in the magazine filled with half-truths and lies
about Reich motivated in part because of his revolutionary ideas and the fact that
early in his life he had once flirted with communism. Brady implied that Reich was
running a "sexual racket" which led to an investigation by the Food and Drug
Administration and a federal court complaint against Reich. Reich responded by
stating that courts should support the rights of scientists (a position today
advocated by The New Republic and its staff).

In May 1956, after an assistant, unbeknownst to Reich, sent orgonomic devices across
state lines, Reich was arrested and brought in handcuffs to the U.S. Courthouse in
Portland, Maine where he was charged with contempt of court. Found guilty, Reich
received a two-year sentence. He died on November 3, 1957, in the Lewisburg,
Pennsylvania federal penitentiary, one week before the date of his first parole
hearing. Ironically, Reich was a victim of the practices that today's liberal and
progressive movement abhors against terror suspects.
Reich's influence continues to be felt today in many ways:
. Modern psychoanalysis and psychotherapy have incorporated many of Reich's
innovative concepts -- that patient and therapist should interact face to face;
"that character is the soil in which neurotic symptoms grow;" and that a patient's
social environment is integral to his or her emotional well being.
. His work is the basis of contemporary mind-body therapies such as Gestalt,
Rolfing and Primal Scream.
. His advocacy of universal access to contraception, sex education and no-fault
divorce led to changes in the laws of countries around the world.
. He emphasized the importance of good emotional contact between mother and child
right from the moment of birth and pioneered the view that newborns should not be
separated from their mothers and put into hospital nurseries.
Today, Reich is honored throughout much of the world, particularly in the new
democracies of Eastern Europe. His views of the rights of scientists to pursue
their work are considered cornerstones in democratic debate.
This year's Conference will explore and honor Reich's life and the impact that he
and orgonomy have on society. Orgonomy is the term Reich used to describe the
science of the orgone energy, the cosmic life energy, he discovered and studied in
great detail. Keynote speaker Charles Konia, M.D. will examine current mental health
treatment and contrast it to medical orgone therapy, the mind-body treatment
developed by Wilhelm Reich, M.D. In addition to Dr. Konia\'s keynote address
presentations by medical orgonomists will include case studies illustrating the
effectiveness of this revolutionary method of therapy.
Additionally, Dr. Konia's book, The Emotional Plague will be released at the
conference. The Emotional Plague explores a disease of destructive human behavior
involving people's emotional lives that can be spread from person to person with all
the characteristics of infectious diseases known to medicine. From Hitler to Osama
bin Laden to school shooters to politicians, the emotional plague is a pervasive
illness. Konia's book shows people how it existed throughout history, how to
recognize it, treat it, prevent it, and understand it. Recognition is an essential
first step in eradicating its destructiveness. The Emotional Plague has earned
critical praise from experts in the field and leading publications.
Additional information on the conference and the American College of Orgonomy may be
obtained at www. http://www.orgonomy.org.

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