Dr Alexander Lowen in "Century of the Self", a BBC film by Adam Curtis

These rare clips are from the BBC archives, parts of which are featured in Adam Curtis' film Century of the Self.

Alexander Lowen (December 23, 1910 – October 28, 2008) was an American physician and psychotherapist. A student of Wilhelm Reich in the 1940s and early 1950s in New York, he developed bioenergetic analysis, a form of mind-body psychotherapy, with his then-colleague, John Pierrakos (February 8, 1921 – February 1, 2001). Lowen was the founder and former executive director of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis in New York City.

Born in New York City, Lowen received a bachelor's degree in science and business from City College of New York, an LL.B and a J.S.D (a doctorate in law) from Brooklyn Law School. His interest in the link between the mind and the body developed during this time. He enrolled in a class on character analysis with Wilhelm Reich. After training to be a therapist himself, Lowen moved to Switzerland to attend the University of Geneva and received his Doctorate in Medicine (MD) in 1951.

Alexander Lowen met Wilhelm Reich in New York in 1940, and trained  with him until 1952. He studied Reich's energy principles and character analysis. He also had personal therapy with Reich from 1942 to 1945 before becoming a Reichian therapist himself. In 1953, he split from Reich and his research on the "orgone". Lowen then developed "Bioenergetic Analysis" as his own creative contribution to help people clarify the complexity of the mind-body split.

Lowen lived and practiced for the majority of his life in New Canaan, Connecticut. He suffered a stroke in July 2006. The Alexander Lowen Foundation was founded in April 2007 to continue his legacy. Lowen died on October 28, 2008 at the age of 97.

Books authored by Dr Alexander Lowen:

• The Language of the Body (1958)
• Love and Orgasm (1965)
• The Betrayal of the Body (1967)
• Pleasure (1970)
• Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality (1972)
• Bioenergetics (1975)
• The Way to Vibrant Health: A Manual of Bioenergetic Exercises, co-author Leslie Lowen (1977)
• Fear of Life (1980)
• Narcissism: Denial of the True Self (1984)
• Love, Sex and Your Heart (1988)
• The Spirituality of the Body (1990)
• Joy (1995)
• Honoring the Body: The Autobiography of Alexander Lowen, M.D. (2004)
• The Voice of the Body (2005)