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No patient ever fully resolves all his conflicts or releases all his tensions in therapy. There are two reasons for this fact. The first is that the psychological and physical mechanisms of suppression are so deeply structured in the personality that they cannot be completely eliminated. I have on more than one occasion demonstrated to a patient that one cannot totally erase a pencil line from a paper. There is always some trace. Our experiences are similarly etched into our bodies. The second reason is that the traumatic experiences of an individual are part of his being and cannot be discarded or ignored. They can, however, be either repressed or accepted. If they are repressed, the person is in trouble. If they are accepted and understood, they can serve to broaden his outlook and deepen his sensitivity. And they can become the raw material for the creative process
-- Alexander Lowen, Pleasure
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