Principles of Healing: A Discussion

[Aion]

Hmm, I agree to an extent with that statement, but not completely. For example, no amount of emotional processing is going to fix a broken bone or a herniated disc, but it may help to ease the process. I think there is a tendency for each different system to focus upon a particular element of the human being and suggest it is the 'main' thing involved, but 'holistic' and wholeness to me always suggests something that takes place across the whole being. Together everything works.

This is actually one of the 'issues' I have with a lot of traditional psychotherapy and techniques is the focus on this 'feel it out' aspect which I think is very important but then you need to start to change the mental patterns. That doesn't always happen automatically, in my experience. Someone very close to me who has experienced a lot of abuse has also had this experiences where they have been given many tools to cope with the emotional waves that come from her traumas, but found they offered few tools to make concrete changes in the mind. I am all for the 'natural healing process', but I think that the mind is similar to the body in that it needs to be 'trained' to follow new patterns. Thus, I don't think it is enough to simply process and purge emotions, but one also has to make the effort to balance one's viewpoint to be more healthy or whole.

I have encountered numerous people who have 'burnt out' their emotions but have become so habituated to their internal thought patterns that even having worked through the emotions they are unable to move forward because of their pre-constructed patterns. They need to do something different besides just 'feel it' at the stage of healing they are at. The emotional stage of healing is very important and usually needs to come 'first' or early on, but by no means do I think it is the sole crux of healing.