Psychotherapy: Stripping Body & Mind

PSYCHOTHERAPY Stripping Body & Mind Group-psychotherapy marathons lasting 24 to 48 hours are being staged by many psychologists in the Los Angeles area. At the end of these, noticed Psychotherapist Paul Bindrim, when the sessions had gone well, group members tended to shed some of their clothes.

Could it be, Bindrim wondered, that what he calls a man’s “tower of clothes” is not only a safeguard for his privacy, but also a self-imposed constraint to keep out people he fears? If sp, a man who disrobed physically might be bet ter able to disrobe emotionally.

While Bindrim was mulling this over, Dr. Abraham Maslow, this year’s pres ident of the American Psychological Association, described psychologists’ training groups as “a kind of psychologi cal nudism under careful direction.”

Maslow speculated that if physical nudity were added, “people would go away more spontaneous, less guarded, less defensive, not only about the shape of their behinds, but freer and more in nocent about their minds as well.” That clinched it for Bindrim. If some patients respond better in groups than to individual therapy, he reasoned, then nude groups might be even more effective.

Nothing Overt. Those invited included a nucleus of people already in some sort of group therapy. The ten men and ten women who signed up for Bindrim’s experiment included singletons as well as married and about-to-be-married couples. Among their problems, Bindrim believes, were sexual difficulties resulting from puritan teachings that nudity is shameful.

The ground rules: no liquor or psychedelic drugs during the session, no cameras, no leaving the group in pairs. Also: “Participants agree not to engage in overt sexual expression . . . denned as any activity which would be socially inappropriate in a similar group wearing clothing.”

The locale was a nudist camp that had just closed its season, so the participants had privacy in 400 acres complete with cabanas and a Jacuzzi whirlpool bath big enough to hold all of them at once. Heated to 102°, the bath proved to be important therapeutically. As newly arrived members met, fully clothed, they were asked to discuss any anxieties or fantasies that they had about their imminent nudity. Many were apprehensive—surprisingly, more about seeing others nude than about being seen—but just talking it out helped. Though they had the choice of bathing nude or wearing a suit, all but one undressed around the bath and slipped into the swirling waters. After that, most of the group spent most of the time unselfconsciously nude.

To achieve what Bindrim called “sensory saturation with peak stimuli,” the members picked the most congenial partner of the opposite sex by looking into one another’s eyes to find the one whose gaze was most comfortable. Then, eyes closed, the partners touched, tasted and smelled pleasurable objects, such as roses and velvet. Next, they touched fingertips and gazed steadily into each other’s eyes. They tried to recall whatever moment in life had given them utmost pleasure. After 20 minutes, all the participants sat in a circle and shared experiences, ridding themselves of some repressions and problems in the process.

Self-Evaluation. Bindrim and his colleagues have since conducted eight more nude marathons, some of which have been videotaped. Five-minute tapes were made of each member walking, standing and sitting. Watching themselves, most participants concentrated at first on what they considered their undesirable features, such as overweight, poor proportions or aging. But after they had seen the video tapes, most were able to see themselves less critically. The consensus: “Each body seems to fit nicely with each face.” While none of the group reported an instant cure of an old, severe neurosis, many found that soon after they shed their clothes they also shed inferiority feelings about their own bodies. As a result, they were less tense and embarrassed about some aspects of sex.

All the professionals who have participated agree that nude marathons are worth further trials, provided they are conducted by a trained leader. Nude psychotherapy has achieved enough respectability to be the subject of a two-hour program at a recent meeting of the California State Psychological Association. Last weekend Bindrim started a new series of 16 sessions at a desert motel near Palm Springs.