Radix · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: contemporary Radix body-centred psychotherapy as taught by the Radix Institute and its Australian training centre (Narelle McKenzie, Melissa Lindsay), which includes Renan Suhl's 1980s shift toward containment, plus Charles R. Kelley's original "Education in Feeling and Purpose" programme (1971 description). Kelley's own books (The Radix, Education in Feeling and Purpose) and Radix Institute training manuals were not available to open; their specific exercise protocols are therefore marked [uncertain] where relevant.

Radix is a neo-Reichian, body-centred approach developed in the early 1970s by Charles R. Kelley (1922–2005), an experimental psychologist and vision researcher who had attended Wilhelm Reich's seminars. He founded it with Erica Kelley. Kelley preferred to call it "Education in Feeling and Purpose" rather than therapy, and it is better understood as a growth framework with a training tradition than as a manualised treatment [source: SAGE Encyclopedia, Radix; E. Kelley 2008]. "Radix" means root or source. The school uses the word for the life force it holds pulses through each person; this is Radix's own theory, taken from Reich's orgonomy, not physiological fact [source: SAGE; McKenzie 2005].

Core idea of change: the school holds that people block their own pulsation (breath, emotion, movement, contact) through chronic muscular holding ("armour"). Practitioners work with talk, breath, movement, sound, vision and touch to help clients do three things: restore an inward stroke (contact with self) and an outward stroke (contact with others); discharge long-held anger, fear, pain and longing; and build the grounding, centring, boundaries and containment needed to hold feeling. Kelley's second, equally important strand trains purpose: self-chosen goals pursued through stocktaking, planning and homework [source: McKenzie 2005; Lindsay, USABP workshop pages; GoodTherapy Australia Radix page (citing Radix Institute 2003); Kelley 1971].

2. Framework

Radix has no published fixed session count or phase manual. The structure below combines what the sources describe with my own organisation of it [synthesis where marked].

Formats [source: Kelley 1971; Dillon c.1975; McKenzie 2005; PESI speaker page]

Individual sessions on a mat or mattress, with talk, breath and expressive movement (case in McKenzie 2005).
Experiential workshops and groups. In Kelley-era workshops there was "very little talking" until a closing feedback round, much of the work was done in pairs, and individuals also worked alone (Dillon).
The purpose programme: a weekend workshop every three months for stocktaking and planning, plus weekly confrontation groups that monitor homework (Kelley 1971).
Practitioner training: a three-year programme in Radix Body Centred Psychotherapy (Radix Institute / Australian Radix Body Centered Training Centre).

Phases (ordering is [synthesis], built from the McKenzie training outline, Lindsay workshops and Suhl's containment shift reported in SAGE)

Contact and assessment (first 1–3 sessions [synthesis]). Goals: build the relationship and get informed consent for body work. Read pulsation patterns, breath, posture, segmental holding, arousal level and signs of dissociation [source: McKenzie course outline sessions 1–3]. Screen for contraindications to intensive work (see §5).
Stabilisation: grounding, centring, boundaries, containment. Goals: presence in the body, a widened window of tolerance, the capacity to keep out and invite in, and holding feeling without rigidity [source: McKenzie course sessions 3, 5, 6; Lindsay]. Clients with "too little armour" (Suhl), trauma or dissociation may stay here for a long time [source: SAGE] [synthesis on duration].
Functional and segmental feeling work. Goals: free pulsation in blocked segments, with special weight on the ocular segment (the eyes), and allow charge and discharge of fear, anger, pain and longing through breath, sound and movement [source: McKenzie course session 4; SAGE; McKenzie 2005; GoodTherapy AU].
Integration and purpose. Goals: carry what was felt into relationships, intimacy, pleasure and self-directed action. Kelley's purpose work (stocktaking, planning, homework, confrontation group) is a parallel, separately practised track, not a final add-on [source: Kelley 1971; GoodTherapy AU].

Criteria for moving between phases [synthesis; sources name the concepts, not explicit criteria]

From 1 to 2: consent to body work is given, a working alliance is in place, and contraindications are cleared.
From 2 to 3: the client can ground and re-centre on cue, can notice rising arousal and bring it down, can say no or stop, and comes back to the window of tolerance within the session.
Back from 3 to 2 at any time if the client shows hypo- or hyper-arousal, "spinning out", fragmentation or dissociation [source: McKenzie 2005 shows the therapist switching to grounding when the client spun out].
Purpose work: start when the client can set and keep a self-chosen goal. Kelley 1971 warns that mixing emotional release work with purpose work in the same process can break the thread of either, so give each its own focused practice.

3. Guiding principles

Whole person, three levels. Mind, feelings and body each need attention, and "each kind of blockage must be dealt with on its own level". Practically: don't expect insight alone to shift a somatic block, or body work alone to change a belief [source: GoodTherapy AU / Radix Institute 2003].
Education and growth, not pathology. People sit on a spectrum of growth, not "sick" versus "healthy" (Kelley's "education" framing). Practically: frame sessions as learning, and avoid diagnosing the body [source: SAGE; GoodTherapy AU].
Pulsation has two strokes. The in-stroke is contact with inner experience; the out-stroke is engagement with the world. Practically: notice which stroke is restricted and work that direction [source: Lindsay; McKenzie 2005].
Containment matters as much as discharge. Suhl argued many people have too little protective armour, so the work moved from catharsis toward restoring flow both ways. Practically: build boundaries and containment before opening intense expression [source: SAGE].
The eyes are central. Kelley held that pulsation in the eyes (Reich's ocular segment) is essential for integrating emotional experience, and the training stresses the ocular segment in developmental trauma. Practically: include eye contact and visual grounding in most work [source: SAGE; McKenzie course].
Work with "what is". Observe the body as it is, not as it "should be", and let "the protagonist write the script". Practically: offer observations without judgement and follow the client's emerging process [source: McKenzie 2005].
Resistance is autonomy. Following Olney, resistance is "the client's best thrust towards autonomy". Practically: explore and even enjoy the holding rather than push through it [source: McKenzie 2005].
Track arousal and the window of tolerance. Practically: titrate intensity, and recognise high, low and hypo-arousal and dissociation early [source: McKenzie course session 3].
Functional and structural work differ. Practically: choose between working with what is happening in the moment (function) and working with chronic segmental holding (structure); the training teaches both [source: McKenzie course session 4] [uncertain: the exact Radix definitions].
Adapt grounding to character structure. Practically: modify Lowen-derived grounding for each person rather than applying one standard exercise [source: Lindsay].
Consent and a caring stance. A Kelley-trained practitioner stressed client consent and working from a "healing… loving… caring" space. Asking "what's wrong with this person?" was called "anti-healing" [source: Dillon c.1975].
Feeling and purpose are complementary but practised separately. Feelingfulness (spontaneity, tenderness, contact) and purposefulness (sustained, independent action, toughness) must eventually "work hand in hand". Practically: run purpose work as its own structured track [source: Kelley 1971].
Self-chosen goals and non-imposition. Goals must be the client's own. Kelley's guiding values were the worth of each person's life to themselves and each person's right to freedom; a leader who promotes their own goals or values undermines autonomy. Practically: never set the client's goals [source: Kelley 1971].
The leader does the work too. In Kelley's programme the group leader does their own stocktaking, planning and homework. Practically: keep your own personal process and supervision going [source: Kelley 1971].
Energy language is the school's theory. "Charge", "discharge", "segments" and "life force" are Reichian concepts [synthesis]. Practically: present them to clients as metaphors, and never as claims about physiology or physical disease.

4. Intervention inventory

Coverage note: the sources name the interventions below but rarely give step-by-step protocols. Steps are written in my own words. Where a source describes a step, it is cited. Where I have filled in standard body-psychotherapy procedure, it is marked [synthesis]. Kelley's own vision and eye exercises (developed from his Bates-method research) and any written Radix Institute exercise sequences are not drawn on [uncertain]. Use the training programme for those details.

Touch, licence and training (applies to every item that uses touch). Hands-on work requires specific body-psychotherapy training and supervision. Before using it, check what your licence, professional code and jurisdiction allow. Never use sexual or genital touch. Standard consent protocol: (1) explain what you would do, where your hands would go and why; (2) ask, and accept a no without pressure; (3) offer a no-touch alternative, such as the client placing their own hands or using a cushion or wall; (4) agree a stop signal, verbal and non-verbal; (5) check in during the touch; (6) debrief afterwards and record consent. The sources show the practitioner stressing consent (Dillon) but do not give this sequence, so steps 1–6 are [synthesis].

A. Assessment and tracking

4.1 Body reading of pulsation and holding

Purpose / when: At intake and continuously. Identify where breath, movement and contact are restricted and which pulsation stroke (in or out) is limited [source: McKenzie course sessions 2, 4; McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Observe while the client talks, then standing and lying: breath (where it moves, whether the exhale is held), jaw and throat, neck, eyes (open, closed, avoiding, staring), hands, feet and toes [source: McKenzie 2005 notes locked jaw and throat, held breath, curled toes, tense neck, eyes kept closed]. (2) Note the rhythm of charge and discharge: does energy build and release, or stay flat, or rise without release [synthesis]? (3) Map holding loosely onto Reich's segments, which run from the eyes downward; the training teaches the segmental approach [source: McKenzie course] [uncertain: no Radix segment list]. (4) Share observations as invitations, not verdicts.
Example language (illustrative): "I notice your breath seems to stop after you breathe out. Would you be curious to stay with that for a moment?"
Watch for: your own normative ideas of how a body "should" look [source: McKenzie 2005]. It is working if the client becomes curious about their own patterns.

4.2 Arousal and window-of-tolerance tracking

Purpose / when: Throughout every session, to decide when to deepen and when to contain [source: McKenzie course session 3].
Steps: (1) Teach the client the idea of an optimal arousal zone [synthesis]. (2) Track signs of high arousal (rapid breath, agitation, flooding), low arousal (flatness, collapse) and hypo-arousal or dissociation (glazed eyes, vagueness, numbness, losing contact) [source: McKenzie course names the categories; the signs listed are synthesis]. (3) Ask the client to rate or describe their state at intervals [synthesis]. (4) Above the zone, switch to grounding and containment (4.3–4.7); below it, use gentle activation, such as breath, eye contact or small movement [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Where are you right now: too much, too little, or about right?"
Watch for: the client's tolerance widening across sessions.

B. Stabilisation: grounding, centring, boundaries, containment

4.3 Grounding through feet and legs

Purpose / when: Early and throughout, especially with anxiety, dissociation or "contactlessness" (Reich's term, used in Radix teaching). Grounding links to pulsation and is taught as Lowen's original method, modified for different character structures [source: Lindsay USABP 2024; McKenzie course session 5].
Steps (concrete posture details [synthesis], Lowen-derived; the Radix modifications are not drawn on [uncertain]): (1) Standing, feet about hip-width and parallel, knees soft, not locked. (2) Bring attention to the soles of the feet and the contact with the floor. (3) Let the breath drop toward the belly and let weight settle down through the legs; small knee bends can increase leg sensation. Trembling in the legs may come and can be allowed if tolerable. (4) Hold for about 1–3 minutes [synthesis]. (5) Close by standing quietly and naming what changed. Adapt by character: a collapsed client may need more push from the legs, a rigid one more softening [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let the floor hold you. What do you notice in your legs now?"
Watch for: dizziness, locking the knees, or holding the breath. It is working if the client reports more presence, steadier breath and less anxiety.

4.4 Grounding through the eyes and head

Purpose / when: For clients who leave contact through the eyes or "go into their head", or who dissociate. Radix teaches grounding in various body parts, including the eyes and head [source: Lindsay USABP 2024; McKenzie course session 4 on the ocular segment].
Steps [synthesis; the specific Radix eye-grounding exercises are not drawn on, uncertain]: (1) With eyes open, let the client look around the room slowly and name a few objects. (2) Invite soft, receptive looking ("let things come to the eyes") rather than grasping. (3) Offer brief eye contact with you that the client chooses and can stop at any time. (4) Pair this with feeling the feet. (5) Debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your eyes rest on something in the room. Take it in, then come back to me when you're ready."
Watch for: staring, glazing or flooding with eye contact; reduce intensity. Working: clearer, more present eyes and quicker return from dissociation.

4.5 Hands-on grounding of head and neck (touch)

Purpose / when: When a client "spins out" or fragments during work and "needed more than cognitive reassurance" [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Apply the consent protocol above (explain, ask, offer the client's own hands as an alternative, agree a stop signal). (2) Client lying or sitting. The therapist places one hand on the forehead and one at the back of the neck, which is the placement McKenzie reports [source: McKenzie 2005]. (3) Still, steady contact; invite slow breathing and feeling the support [synthesis]. (4) Check in verbally during the hold. (5) Withdraw slowly, then debrief. No-touch alternative: the client places their own hands in the same positions [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "I'd like to put one hand on your forehead and one behind your neck to help you settle. Is that OK? Just say stop at any time."
Watch for: startle or freeze responses to touch, and trauma history involving the head or neck. Working: breath slows, eyes refocus, the client reports feeling held together.

4.6 Centring

Purpose / when: To help the client find an inner reference point, their "authentic self", distinct from simply being aware. Radix teaches centring alongside grounding and names factors that cause "scattering" [source: McKenzie course session 5; GoodTherapy AU].
Steps [synthesis; Radix definitions not drawn on, uncertain]: (1) Seated or standing, grounded first. (2) Bring attention to the body's midline and centre, for example the belly or solar plexus area (a 1970s practitioner called the solar plexus "the power centre") [source: Dillon]. (3) Breathe into that area and notice the sense of "me here". (4) After a disturbance (an emotion, a memory, a challenge from the therapist), practise returning to centre. (5) Debrief what scatters the client and what brings them back.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your attention gather in your middle. From there, what do you want right now?"
Watch for: confusing centring with self-monitoring. Working: the client can act from inner preference rather than reacting.

4.7 Boundaries and emotional containment

Purpose / when: For absent or porous physical and energetic boundaries, emotional flooding, or under-armoured clients (Suhl). The training teaches the link between boundaries and peripheral arousal, between physical boundaries and containment, between boundaries and surrender, and the difference between containment and rigidity [source: McKenzie course session 6; SAGE; GoodTherapy AU].
Steps [synthesis; Radix exercise sequences not drawn on]: (1) Boundary sensing: the client feels the skin and periphery, for example by pressing their palms over their arms and legs. (2) Distance work: the therapist slowly approaches and the client says or signals "stop" when they feel the edge of their space; repeat to practise both keeping out and inviting in. (3) Pushing: the client pushes against a wall, a cushion or the therapist's palms (with consent) while feeling their own strength. (4) Containment: when feeling rises, the client slows the breath, feels the edges of the body and lets the feeling be held inside before choosing whether and how to express it [source for the aim: GoodTherapy AU, "contain overwhelming feelings until they can be expressed appropriately"]. (5) Debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "You don't have to let this out right now. Can you feel it, and feel the edges of you holding it?"
Watch for: containment turning into rigid suppression [source: McKenzie course]. Working: the client can feel strongly without being overwhelmed, and can say no clearly.

C. Breath and pulsation

Screening before any breath intensification or cathartic discharge (4.9–4.14) [synthesis; no Radix contraindication list is given]: do not use, or use only gently and with medical clearance, if any of these apply: pregnancy; cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure; asthma or other respiratory illness; epilepsy; recent injury or surgery, or neck, back or joint problems (for kicking, hitting, head rolling); glaucoma or recent eye surgery (for intensive eye work); psychosis or bipolar mania; severe dissociation; active suicidality; recent trauma without stabilisation; current substance intoxication. Hyperventilation can cause tingling, cramping of the hands and dizziness. If this happens, slow the breath and lengthen the exhale.

4.8 Breath awareness: in-stroke and out-stroke

Purpose / when: Basic pulsation work, used early and often. Radix teaches the in-stroke of the breath as contact with inner experience and the out-stroke as engagement with the world, and links pulsation to the autonomic nervous system [source: Lindsay USABP; McKenzie course session 2].
Steps [details synthesis]: (1) The client lies on a mat, knees bent and feet flat, or sits. (2) The client simply notices the breath without changing it: where it moves, and where it stops. (3) Draw attention to the inbreath as a movement inward ("taking in, contacting yourself") and the outbreath as a movement outward ("giving out, reaching the world"). (4) Notice which stroke is held, shortened or effortful. (5) Allow a slightly fuller breath only within tolerance, for a few minutes. (6) Return to normal breathing and talk it through.
Example language (illustrative): "As you breathe in, let it be a coming home. As you breathe out, a going out to meet the room."
Watch for: forcing or overbreathing. Working: a freer, wave-like breath and more spontaneous feeling.

4.9 Sound on the exhale

Purpose / when: When the client holds on to the exhale [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Lying or sitting, breathing naturally. (2) On each outbreath, the client lets a sound out, such as a sigh, "ahh" or a hum, letting the sound carry the breath all the way out [source: McKenzie 2005 reports sound used to help the client breathe out; the specific sounds are synthesis]. (3) Sound may grow in volume or emotional tone; follow it. (4) After several minutes, return to quiet breathing and debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "Let a sound ride out on the breath, whatever sound comes."
Watch for: the throat tightening or the voice catching, which can be emotion arriving; slow down if arousal climbs. Working: a fuller exhale and the client "finding his voice" [source: McKenzie 2005].

4.10 The curl

Purpose / when: To link breath and spinal movement and soften holding in the back and chest [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Starting position, seated or standing [uncertain: not stated in the source]. (2) On the exhale, the client lets the upper body drop or curl forward. (3) On the inhale, the client lets "his inbreath slowly uncurl his back", rising with the breath [source: McKenzie 2005]. (4) Repeat slowly for several cycles, letting the breath lead the movement [synthesis]. (5) Rest and debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "Let the outbreath fold you forward, and let the inbreath lift you back up, one vertebra at a time."
Watch for: dizziness on rising, and back problems; go slowly. Working: the movement becomes smooth and breath-led.

D. The eyes and head (ocular segment)

4.11 Ocular-segment work and chosen eye contact

Purpose / when: Kelley held that life-force pulsation in the eyes is essential for integrating emotional experience; the ocular segment is stressed in developmental trauma [source: SAGE; McKenzie course session 4].
Steps: What is sourced: the client can keep the eyes closed and open them only when they "really wanted to make eye contact" [source: McKenzie 2005]. (1) Let the client choose eyes open or closed during work. (2) At points of feeling, invite them to open the eyes and make contact with you, by choice. (3) Notice what happens to breath and feeling when the eyes meet [synthesis]. Kelley's specific Bates-derived vision exercises and any Radix eye sequences are not given in the sources [uncertain]; do not improvise intensive eye exercises without training.
Example language (illustrative): "When you're ready, and only if you want, open your eyes and see me."
Watch for: dissociative glazing, or eye contact felt as intrusive. Working: emotion integrates rather than splits off; the eyes look "present".

4.12 Head rolling at varying speeds

Purpose / when: Loosening the neck and head and finding the client's own rhythm and pace [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Lying on the back [uncertain: position not stated]. (2) The client rolls the head slowly side to side. (3) Speed is varied, slower and faster, following what feels right [source: McKenzie 2005]. (4) Stop, rest, feel the after-effects, debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your head roll at whatever pace it wants. Try slower… now try faster."
Watch for: neck problems and dizziness; stop at any discomfort [synthesis]. Working: a sense of the client's own rhythm.

E. Expressive and discharge work

Risk flag: cathartic discharge can retraumatise or flood under-armoured or poorly stabilised clients, which is why Suhl's shift toward containment matters [source: SAGE; synthesis]. Apply the screening above, have stabilisation in place, and keep the stop signal.

4.13 Kicking into mats

Purpose / when: To build leg strength and grounding and to reduce mental intensity; to discharge held anger or protest [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) The client lies on their back on a thick mattress or mats. (2) The client kicks hard into the mats, alternating legs; the source says "kicking hard into mats" [source: McKenzie 2005]. (3) The breath is allowed to deepen with the effort, and sound may join in (4.15) [source: McKenzie 2005 notes deeper breathing followed]. (4) The client sets the duration in short bouts and stops when they choose [synthesis]. (5) Rest; feel the legs; ground (4.3); debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "Kick into the mat. Let your legs say what they want to say. Stop whenever you choose."
Watch for: hip, knee or back strain, mechanical kicking with no feeling, or escalation into flooding. Working: deeper breath, a sense of strength, a quieter mind afterwards.

4.14 Hitting and pushing into a mattress

Purpose / when: Expressing anger safely and building assertive strength [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) The client kneels before a mattress or cushion stack [synthesis on position]. (2) The client hits the mattress with fists or forearms, or pushes against it with the arms; the source reports both "hitting and pushing" [source: McKenzie 2005]. (3) Breath and sound are allowed. (4) The therapist witnesses, keeps the space safe and keeps contact with the client. (5) Close with grounding and a talk-through about what the anger was about and where it belongs.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your arms do what they've been holding back, into the mattress, not at anyone."
Watch for: wrist or shoulder injury, loss of contact with the present, or anger escalating into rage the client cannot contain. Working: the client feels anger "in a safe environment" and afterwards feels more empowered [source: McKenzie 2005].

4.15 Voice: saying "no"

Purpose / when: To recover voice, boundaries and self-assertion [source: McKenzie 2005].
Steps: (1) Often combined with kicking, pushing or hitting. (2) The client says "no", starting at their own level and letting it grow louder, even to shouting, as it becomes real [source: McKenzie 2005 reports loud vocalisation and shouting "no"]. (3) The therapist encourages sincerity over volume [synthesis]. (4) Close by having the client say "no" calmly and grounded, then debrief [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Say no, and mean it. Let your belly say it, not just your throat."
Watch for: vocal strain and shame. Working: the voice comes from lower in the body and feels owned.

4.16 Working with resistance in the body

Purpose / when: Whenever holding, refusal or a block appears. Resistance is treated as a coping role that once served autonomy and can be reclaimed [source: McKenzie 2005, after Olney].
Steps: (1) Name the holding non-judgementally, for example a locked jaw or curled toes. (2) Invite the client to exaggerate or enjoy the resistance rather than overcome it; McKenzie's client was invited "to enjoy the resistance" [source: McKenzie 2005]. (3) Explore what the holding protects, and when it was needed. (4) Let the client choose whether to keep it or let it go.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your jaw hold on even more. Really enjoy holding on. What is it saying?"
Watch for: a therapist agenda of "breaking through". Working: the client feels autonomy and the holding softens by itself.

F. Group and workshop formats

4.17 Experiential workshop with pair work

Purpose / when: Group feeling work. Kelley introduced Reichian principles into group work [source: SAGE].
Steps: (1) Mostly experiential, with "very little talking" during the exercises [source: Dillon c.1975]. (2) Much of the work happens in pairs, with partners taking turns as worker and supporter; individuals also work alone with the leader [source: Dillon]. (3) Close with a feedback and questions round at the end [source: Dillon]. (4) Screen participants beforehand, teach the stop signal, and agree pair rules: no touch without asking, and the supporter's role is to witness, not to fix [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "In your pairs, one of you works and one of you simply stays present. Ask before any touch. Switch when I call time."
Watch for: participants pushing each other past tolerance; the leader must watch every pair. Working: energy, contact and feedback that shows integration. Note: some 1970s Radix-linked workshops borrowed sensory-awareness and chakra exercises from Bernard Gunther; these were one practitioner's additions, not core Radix [source: Dillon] [uncertain].

G. Purpose work (Kelley's "Education in Purpose")

Format: a weekend workshop every three months for stocktaking and planning, plus weekly confrontation groups. Keep this separate from emotional release work [source: Kelley 1971].

4.18 Stocktaking

Purpose / when: A structured review of one's past and present, repeated every three months, to clarify direction [source: Kelley 1971].
Steps [details synthesis; Kelley's stocktaking forms not drawn on, uncertain]: (1) The client reviews life areas (work, relationships, body and health, feeling life, creative life) for the period since the last stocktaking. (2) They note what was achieved, what was avoided, and what they actually want. (3) They write it down. (4) They discuss it in the workshop group, which reflects without judging.
Example language (illustrative): "Looking at these last three months, what did you actually do with your life, and what do you want from the next ones?"
Watch for: goals copied from parents or culture. Kelley saw most purposive behaviour as compulsive pursuit of goals imposed by others [source: Kelley 1971].

4.19 Planning

Purpose / when: After stocktaking. Set short-range goals within a long-range direction [source: Kelley 1971].
Steps: (1) Name a long-range direction in the client's own words. (2) Break it into specific, checkable short-range goals for the coming period [source: Kelley 1971; specificity is synthesis]. (3) Check that each goal is self-chosen; the leader does not suggest values [source: Kelley 1971].
Example language (illustrative): "Whose goal is this, yours or someone else's? What's one step you'd actually check off this week?"
Watch for: overloading the plan. Working: goals feel owned and are being acted on.

4.20 Homework with a weekly record

Purpose / when: Regular, specific work on chosen goals, tracked in a weekly record [source: Kelley 1971].
Steps: (1) Define the weekly actions. (2) The client logs completion weekly. (3) The client brings the record to the confrontation group.
Example language (illustrative): "Keep a simple weekly record of what you did on each goal, and bring it to group."
Watch for: record-keeping becoming self-punishment. Working: steady, self-directed action.

4.21 Confrontation group

Purpose / when: A weekly structured group that monitors homework. Members face themselves and examine "goal infractions" (missed goals) without judgement, then decide whether to retry or amend the plan [source: Kelley 1971].
Steps: (1) Each member reports on their weekly record. (2) For each missed goal, the member, not the group, examines what happened [synthesis on who does what]. (3) The member decides to recommit or revise the plan [source: Kelley 1971]. (4) The leader models non-judgement and also reports on their own goals [source: Kelley 1971].
Example language (illustrative): "You missed this one. No verdict, just look at it. Do you want to try again, or change the plan?"
Watch for: the group shaming people or imposing goals. Working: members take ownership.

H. Closing

4.22 Closing and talking through

Purpose / when: At the end of every exercise and session; this links feeling work to mind and meaning ("each kind of blockage must be dealt with on its own level") [source: GoodTherapy AU; Dillon notes the feedback round at the end of workshops].
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Reduce intensity: slow breath, open eyes, ground the feet (4.3, 4.4). (2) Check arousal (4.2) and make sure the client is back within tolerance before they leave. (3) Talk through what happened, what was felt, and links to current life and history. (4) Agree any between-session practice, such as gentle grounding or breath awareness. (5) Leave at least 10 minutes for this after discharge work.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's land. Feel your feet, look around. What stays with you from that?"
Watch for: clients leaving still activated or spacey.

5. Handling problems

The sources address resistance and "spinning out" directly; most other guidance below is my own synthesis from general body-psychotherapy and trauma-informed practice, marked [synthesis].

Stuck client / nothing happening. Don't push for catharsis. Treat holding as resistance with meaning (4.16); "enjoy the resistance" [source: McKenzie 2005]. Switch from structural to functional work by following what is present now [source: McKenzie course; application synthesis]. Check whether the client is under-aroused (offer activation through breath, eye contact or movement) or simply needs more stabilisation [synthesis].
Resistance. Reframe it as the client's "best thrust towards autonomy" [source: McKenzie 2005, quoting Olney]. Explore it, exaggerate it, and ask what it protected. Never override a refusal of an exercise or of touch [synthesis].
Overwhelm, flooding, spinning out, dissociation. Stop the expressive work at once. Ground through the feet, eyes and head (4.3, 4.4); offer hands-on head and neck holding with consent (4.5) [source: McKenzie 2005]. Slow the breath, lengthen the exhale, orient to the room, use containment (4.7) [synthesis]. Move back to the stabilisation phase for following sessions. Under-armoured clients need containment more than release [source: SAGE on Suhl].
Hyperventilation during breath work. Tingling, dizziness or hand cramping: stop deep breathing; slow breathing with a long exhale; sit up; ground [synthesis]. Medical review if there is chest pain or fainting.
Non-adherence (purpose work). Treat a missed goal as information, not failure: examine it, then retry or amend [source: Kelley 1971]. Check whether the goal was really self-chosen [source: Kelley 1971]. Shrink the goal [synthesis].
Non-adherence (body practice between sessions). Reduce practice to a 1–2 minute grounding or breath check-in linked to an existing routine [synthesis].
Ruptures. Body work and touch can feel intrusive or shaming. Name the moment, take responsibility, ask what the client experienced, and return to talk-only or no-touch work if wanted [synthesis]. Revisit consent explicitly. If the client felt pushed by a goal, acknowledge it; Kelley saw imposing one's own values as undermining autonomy [source: Kelley 1971].
Touch-related problems [synthesis]. Re-traumatisation through touch, transference reactions, or erotic transference: stop the touch, debrief, use no-touch alternatives, take it to supervision. Never use sexual or genital touch. Check what your licence and jurisdiction allow and document consent. Clinicians need specific training and supervision.
Catharsis without integration (the client discharges repeatedly but nothing changes) [synthesis, informed by Suhl's critique reported in SAGE]. Cut back the discharge work, add containment and grounding, connect the feeling to meaning in talk, and add purpose work for action in life.
Energy-language misunderstandings. Clients may take "charge", "life force" or "chakras" literally, or seek Radix for physical illness. Explain that these are the school's metaphors from Reich's theory. Radix is not a treatment for any physical disease; refer for medical care [synthesis].
Suicidality and self-harm [synthesis]. Follow standard risk assessment and safety planning, with lethal-means counselling covering storage and removal. Postpone intensive discharge and breath work while risk is active; work only on grounding and containment, and coordinate care.
Contraindicated conditions emerging mid-course: see the screening list above (section C). Pause intensive work and seek medical or psychiatric input [synthesis].
Group-specific problems [synthesis]. Contagion of distress or partners pushing each other: the leader stops the exercise, grounds the group and reassigns pairs. Screen before admission and have a co-leader for large groups.

Sources

Sources:

Further reading (not drawn on) [uncertain]:

Kelley, C. R. (1974). Education in Feeling and Purpose. Radix Institute.
Kelley, C. R. The Radix (Vol. 1). Radix Institute. (Year not verified.)
Galian, L. Crossing the Forbidden Highway: The Untold Story of Orgone, Body Therapy, and Suppressed Emotion (secondary; seen only as a quotation snippet).
Lowen, A. Bioenergetics (1975), the source of the grounding methods Radix adapts (per Lindsay).

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