-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
mental/emotional
grief
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• An important characteristic of altered states is that many of them cannot be dealt with sufficiently without entering into them. At one end is consciousness and awareness, while at the other there is literally no control. Everyone's psychotic corner can be accessed by touching upon a central, mythical, painful issue. (Mindell, 1988, p. 164)
• Many years ago, Engel pointed out that grief fulfills all the requirements of a disease process. Most studies have concentrated on the psychological results of grief and the dysfunction associated with it; the physiological consequences are considered less. The persistent reports of infection and neoplasia following shortly after a grief experience demand that the relationship, between grief as a stress mechanism and its consequences via the pituitary-adrenal axis for the depression of the immune system, be explored on a physiological level. (Locke, 1983, p. 94)
• "Extreme states are not purely random and meaningless pathological behaviors. Each has a highly ordered, almost mathematical, predictability. One goal of process paradigm has been to demonstrate that the cause-and-effect, illness-and-cure philosophy governing much of psychiatric research and treatment is not the only useful way of either observing or treating the effects of these syndromes. A process paradigm which studies the various channels of human expression and which deals concretely with both individual and collective issues, normal and extreme states, is sorely needed." (Mindell, 1988, p. 162)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216)

Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes; opens into the tongue and controls speech, and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality.
» Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy.
»
Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep.
» Heart Shi (Excess) signs include false or facile laughter; sobbing; agitated spirit; insomnia (Seem, p. 28); frightful dreams; anxiety; tongue feels numb and heavy; heavy chest; hot sweat; and orange-colored urine.
» The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted.
» Mental signs of Heart channel disorders include insomnia, anxiety, and all Shen disturbances. (Seem, p. 27)

Pericardium ~ Xin Bao is the Minister who protects the Heart, the Emperor, and maintains the order of the Heart energy; and as such may be adversely affected by emotional stresses internally or invasion of Heat externally. The Pericardium is said to be the origin of joy and sadness.
» Healthy expressions are joy, happiness, and healthy relationships.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with confusion, delirium, nervousness, and psychosis.
» Mental signs of Pericardium (Heart Protector) channel disorders include depression, sexual perversion, aversions, and phobias. (Seem, p. 28)

Mental signs of Triple Warmer channel disorders include emotional upsets caused by breaking of friendships or family relations; depression; suspicion; anxiety; poor elimination of harmful thoughts. (Seem, p. 28)

Lung ~ Fei governs the Qi; regulates the rhythm of respiration, the pulse, and all bodily processes; is the home of the Po (Corporeal Soul); it relates to strength and sustainability; extends through the skin, controls the pores, and manifests through the body hair.
» Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.
»
Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with excessive grief, sadness, worry, and depression. Worry depletes the Lung Qi.
» Lung Xu (Deficiency)
signs include cold shoulder and back; changing complexion; inability to sleep (Seem, p. 28); shortness of breath; changes in urine color; rumbling in the bowels with loose bowel movements; pallor; malar flush; chills; sniffles; sneezing; light cough; and sensitivity to cold.

Large Intestine ~ Da Chang absorbs water; governs transformation and conveyance of waste from food to form stool; relates to strength and sustainability as the Yang aspect of Metal.
»
Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with sadness, grief, and worry. Worry depletes the Lung Qi which fails to descend and assist the Large Intestine in its functions.
» Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.

Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; governs Water to regulate body fluids; and displays the effects of extreme stress.
» Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Mental signs of Kidney channel disorders include anxiety; fear in the pit of the stomach; sadness; mental and physical fatigue; antisocial tendencies; and laziness. (Seem, p. 28)


therapies

imagery:
• Taueret journey: rebirth (Scully)
• Mut and crone journey (Scully)
• parting love (Chavez)

theotherapy: Demeter, Erigone, Niobe, Orpheus, Tyro; through childbirth: Atreus (Lemesurier, p. 89, 98)

hypnotherapy:
• 'affect bridge': 'Go back in time to when you last experienced that emotion.'
When a series of memories is recalled through this affect bridge, one arrives at the forgotten traumatic source of a personality problem that had previously been unavailable to the person. The affect bridge functions as a state-dependent pathway to the endocrine hormone-encoded source of a problem that can now be accessed and reframed therapeutically. (Rossi, 1986, p. 141)

process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: psycho/neurological system)

see also:
the shadow and physical symptoms
imagery for anxiety and depression
state-dependent learning
subjective inquiry approach
converting a symptom to a signal
imagery for anxiety and depression
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
theotherapy
hypnotherapy
process paradigm


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.