Is the analyst squirting in the oil with a bit of vehemence? Is he banging on the armor a bit too hard? It is, of course, helpful that there are other people around to ensure that this aggressive act doesn’t’ go too far. The Tin Man had Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Toto (and later the Lion) to counter the countertransference. An analyst will hopefully have a supervisor to help him address his own transference.

Feldenkrais: Promoting Movement

I reintroduce Moshe Feldenkrais, a member of our diagnostic team and now our treatment team (Bergquist, 2023a, Bergquist, 2023b). I also return to the Tin Man and recount his fateful story. Plenty of time is available for the retelling of the story—since Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and Toto are waiting for the arrival of both Reich and Feldenkrais. An accurate rendering of the story might also be important, given that both Reich and Feldenkrais are looking for causes on the way to the prescription of treatments. The story goes something like this: the Tin Man is standing, frozen in place on the grasses knoll by the yellow brick road. A sudden rainstorm left him rusted in place. After hearing a muffled cry and instructions from the rusted Tin Man, Dorothy found a container of oil sitting beside the Tin Man.

Apparently, the Tin Man had previously been faced with the challenge of potential rusting and had an oilcan nearby to prevent getting frozen in place. The Tin Man asked Dorothy (and the Scarecrow) to squirt some oil into his mouth. He could then talk and immediately asked Dorothy and the Scarecrow to squirt oil in his joints so that he could begin to move—and could tell them how he got into this predicament. Apparently, the Tin Man was caught off guard when the rain suddenly poured down. He immediately rusted in place and couldn’t grab the oilcan and lubricate his joints.

We might anticipate some of the questions that Reich or Feldenkrais could ask. How did the Tin Man got rusted so fast? We might also notice that no rust was apparent on the shiny armor worn by the Tin Man. What actually kept the Tin Man from moving?  While we are pondering this question regarding the real cause, we can follow the Tin Man’s narrative. The Tin Man not only told Dorothy and the Scarecrow about how he got frozen in place—he also told them about his very sad condition of having no heart. He confirmed this condition by banging on his own empty chest. Dorothy then convinced the Tin Man that he should join her (along with the Scarecrow and Toto) on their journey to Oz—so that he could get a Heart from the mighty Wizard.

I am sharing this story (and accompanying critique) regarding the Tin Man because it is more aligned with the sequences of treatment focus offered by Feldenkrais than it is with the focus offered by Reich. For Feldenkrais, the treatment always begins with movement and freeing up the physical constraints—just as is the case with the Tin Man. First the musculature around the mouth of the Tin Man is lubricated, so that the Tin Man can not only tell the story about why he was standing there but also offer directions about the oiling of other joints in his armored body so that he can move. Only then can the Tin Man articulate his wish for a Heart. Similarly for Feldenkrais, the mouth is itself a muscle and movement of the mouth is required before there can be any articulation of personal hopes, fears and wounds.  It all begins with movement—even verbal articulation. While Reich begins with the Heart, Feldenkrais (like Dorothy) begins with oiling the joints.