Alternative POIS Forum

ground than at flowing, for example, because of an emphasis on the 'holding' position, or wemay be better at looking after than at being looked after because of unresolved oral feelings.At other, more stressful, moments we may get stuck in the less creative versions of these samecharacter positions: compelled to try and hold our feelings in, perhaps, or feeling totally weak and unable to function independently.All of this should become clearer as we go along. The main point is that each of us containswithin us the potential for
each
character position, because they take their being from lifeexperiences we have all had. The specific events of our individual lives, however, determinewhich one or two or three positions are strongest in us, because we have had the mostdifficulty crossing those particular developmental thresholds.In each segment we can see two different kinds of block, one based on
 yearning
and the otheron
denial
of that yearning. To use an example from the last chapter, someone may beeternally looking for nourishment ('are you my Mummy?'), or, in a further act of repressionthey may be eternally pretending that there is no such need, and closing down their energyflow so as to numb their feelings. These repressed feelings will come out indirectly in oneway or another, however, perhaps in the end as a physical symptom. In order to dissolve this'denying block', it must turn back into a yearning' one; that is, the individual must becomeaware of the need they are repressing as the first stage towards letting go of it In this example,the hard clenched jaw must become a soft sucking one.Character positions fall easily into two groups: those organised around armouring in the head,and those organised around armouring in the pelvis. Head segment characters tend to be
under-grounded
in their attitudes - 'up in the air' in one way or another - while pelvic segmentcharacters tend to be
over-grounded
, rigid and immobile. The heart segment stands betweenthese two extremes, and is concerned with
 facing
.The terms used for the character positions are mainly our own, rather than those used byReich or by other schools of psychotherapy describing essentially similar ways of seeingcharacter. We have developed new names because we see the orthodox ones either as abusive('Masochistic', 'Passive Feminine'), confusing, or over-technical