The Role of Primitive Reflexes – Character and Structure

The development of the ANS, including proper vagal tone and a healthy fight/flight/freeze response, is dependent on primitive reflexes that are present in the earliest life stages. Primitive reflexes are innate, instinctual, and involuntary movements that initially offer protective movements to sensory stimuli (Pryor). More simply, they are life-saving movements to protect us from harmful sensations. The withdrawal from a hot object wasn’t learned—it is a reflex.

Located in the dorsal part of the spinal cord (hence the intersection with PVT), the reflexes are present in the pre- and perinatal period. Many primitive reflexes help ensure the safe passage of an infant’s head and neck through the birth canal and disappear after birth (McDonald, March 23, 2020). The most primitive of these reflexes are tied to the breath and freeze responses and, over time, ideally lead to coordinated muscle movement and the development of a healthy fight-or-flight response. It is the soothing an infant receives in the formative years that establishes the child’s parasympathetic baseline as it matures through growth, development, and socialization. A peaceful baby learns the world is a safe place, and the body type that develops reflects, in part, the level of safety and comfort they experienced in the first years of life.

In a healthy environment, primitive reflexes integrate into postural reflexes that support balance and coordinated movement through the vestibular system (standing, rotating, seeing, hearing, and timing). The vestibular system is the sensory system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation to coordinate movement (Page, May 2023). It integrates all 5 senses, with visual stimuli accounting for about 70% of neural input (Casale J, 2023). Put more simply, every new movement a baby makes while exploring its new world is overwhelming to a developing nervous system until it can support a sense of orientation and safety (Where, when am I?). From a developing child’s perspective, many sensations overwhelm the nervous system, triggering a freeze response.

In its elegance, the nervous system adjusts for changes to body position in time and space with each millimeter of movement. This is done by incremental changes in vagal tone to preserve just the right amount of tension and relaxation in a muscle group—too much tension, and you cannot turn your head. Too little tension, and your head would flop to the side. It requires ‘just the right amount’ of coordinated flexion-extension-rotation for smooth movement in the body, and this is LEARNED! We don’t come into this world with the ability to grasp or move the way we might like. The clumsy attempts a baby makes to grasp a bottle or toy build myelin in the nervous system, allowing it to coordinate intentional movement. Myelinated nerves are what allow you to grab the cookie or pet the dog.

Introducing the Role of Movement in Emotional Health

As discussed, primitive reflexes evolve into postural reflexes, shaping the myofascial patterns developed through growth and development. These postural reflexes not only dictate movement but also influence patterns of spasticity and blockage that impede the body’s natural flow. The movement patterns of these reflexes also help build the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain. As previously noted, for infants, movement and external stimuli are potentially life-threatening dangers, and each new skill (such as holding the head up) involves exploring the movement, chemically self-soothing, and laying down new vagal pathways that help ensure an internally safe environment for the child.

As children mature and begin school, a higher level of behavior must be integrated to include social interaction, and this is called socialization. Socialization addresses all my primitive reactions to the outside world, including potential conflict. When Tommy takes my ball on the playground, will I take a rock to him, or can I shake this off and find another activity? To a 4-year-old, biting Tommy may seem an obvious solution to the problem. As a 40-year-old, biting Tommy might not be the best choice in terms of reconciling differences (or creating a meaningful connection).

The limbic system receives nerve impulses from emotional experiences, determines the threat level (friend or foe, e.g., triggering primitive reactions), and integrates this into the vestibular system. Your sense of time, space, and safety (hence your musculature) is a learned response to stimuli that you had before you could speak, walk, or think. Ideally, a child who has been properly “socialized” learns to avoid social interactions that could harm self or others, whether through physical or emotional threats.

Enter Character Structure and the Physical Body

Without understanding the role of early reflexes, early psychologists, psychiatrists, and somatic body workers explored the role that the external environment of the child plays on emotional character development. They saw a consistent pattern of body type, musculature, and frame that correlated to certain types of behavior or emotional defenses. Alexander Lowen, MD, called these “muscle defenses.” The premise was that people develop ways of moving and “being” that reflect their early childhood experiences; we never leave them behind, but integrate these experiences into a full personality. This style of body-type psychotherapy never took hold, however, in part due to the negative associations made with the NAMES at certain developmental stages in a child’s life. Perceived as pejorative rather than simply as illustrations of normal developmental stages, the names referenced in Reich and Lowen’s work carried strong negative associations in the culture and were largely dismissed.

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Bridging Developmental Psychology to Therapeutic Models: A

As we delve into the realm of movement and its connection to our overall well-being, it’s important to consider the transition from Moshe Lowen’s work to Moshe Feldenkrais’s. While Lowen’s approach, Bioenergetics, focuses on understanding and releasing chronic muscular tensions and blocked emotions, Feldenkrais’s method concentrates on enhancing our awareness and efficiency in movement. As we delve into the realm of movement and its connection to our overall well-being, it’s important to consider the transition from the work of Reich and Alexander Lowen to that of Moshe Feldenkrais. While Lowen’s approach, Bioenergetics, focuses on understanding and releasing chronic muscular tensions and blocked emotions, Feldenkrais’s method concentrates on enhancing our awareness and efficiency in movement. The Feldenkrais Method serves as a seamless extension of Lowen’s work, helping individuals who have become more aware of their body-mind connection to further refine their movement patterns. By integrating gentle movements and mindfulness, Feldenkrais’s approach empowers us to break free from limiting movement habits developed in response to stress, injury, or learned behaviors.

John C. Pierrakos, MD, was a psychiatrist and co-founder of Bioenergetics along with Alexander Lowen. He later developed his own therapeutic approach called Core Energetics, which integrates elements of Bioenergetics with spiritual and energetic concepts. Pierrakos’ work emphasizes the connection between the body, mind, emotions, and spirit, viewing psychological issues as manifestations of blocked energy and unresolved emotional conflicts. Core Energetics aims to release these blocks and promote holistic healing by addressing the individual’s energetic and spiritual dimensions.

Enter the Developing Personality
Fast-forward 60 years to Dr. Lawrence Heller and his work in developmental psychology. Mirroring the understanding provided by these early pioneers in mental health, the Neuro Affective Relational Model (NARM) offers a clear, cogent breakdown of the development of the child personality and defensive structure in clear, time-dependent levels. With the understanding that 100% of us go through these developmental stages, my internal narcissist represents a 3-year-old aspect of my personality: “ME” “I’M THE BEST.” Learning to recognize, acknowledge, and release these primitive emotional states is part of maturation.

Family Systems and Constellation Work

Later therapeutic models offered a new understanding of how external conditioning, including birth order, creates both positive and negative associations in the psyche of a young child. Family Systems and Constellation Work has emerged as an offshoot of Family-Centered therapy, examining how various members of the family group reflect aspects of our personality structure, some positive and some needing help. Words like “protector,” “martyr,” “controller,” and “nurturer” reflect aspects of the personality that are externalized in childhood (meaning someone represented this aspect of the personality), with an eye to both recognizing those aspects within self and then healing or refining the behavior to include empathy and compassion.

There are many subsets to these types of therapy and many areas where they overlap.
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[1] Schizoid, Oral, Masochist, Rigid, Psychopathic