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DrewMartin
USA
14 Posts |
 Posted - 04/18/2009 : 10:05:28
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Has anyone else noticed the tension between two concepts that are deemed key in recovering from TMS? Namely the need to 1)think deeply about the causes of emotional pain and 2)the need to focus conscious thought on positive states and outcomes.
On the one hand, Sarno tells you to dig deep into your psyche, to find every yucky thing that may cause sadness, rage, and to write about it. This means spending a lot of conscious energy on going over painful experiences, fears, and other negative emotional and behavioral patterns.
On the other hand, the thinking around utilizing your subconscious to heal (Mindpower, The Secret, etc) speak about positive visualization, affirmations of health, happiness, etc. The central idea behind many of these theories is that your subconscious takes it orders from the conscious mind, and the patterns of your conscious thought will sink into your subconscious and become core to your personality and how you actualize your future.
Can you do both at the same time? I am not sure, but one metaphor my wife suggested is that it is like creating a garden. First, you have to pull out the weeds - in this case the old, negative patterns that have been ensconced in your psyche. This is where the writing, the talk therapy, and the Sarno program comes in. Then, you need to sow new seeds and plant the new growth. This is where the work on the subconscious comes, creating new positive patterns that help create a healthy mindbody that replaces the old.
Thanks,
Drew |
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HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 09:27:51
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I love that garden metaphor your wife suggested!
Hilary N |
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Northerner
62 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2009 : 21:28:09
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I like the garden metaphor as well.
However, I don't think there is one answer to your question. The answer will vary person-to-person, just as the type of psychological treatment necessary for any two people with the same (non-pain) disorder will vary. I'm sure some people can be cured of TMS with some cognition of the disorder, combined with some positive self-talk and cognitive therapy. Simple cognition and understanding will change the subconscious mind for them (people who have cures after reading the books fall into this category, as do many others, I'm sure).
Others may need psychoananalyis, or could benefit from many other therapeutic approaches.
The book, Rapid Recovery From Back and Neck Pain, highlights one virtually disabled young guy's quick recovery (after acceting Sarno's theory) by using positive visualization, and by simply telling his body he wasn't going to put up with it any more. I'm oversimplyfying the book, but that's the gist of his technique.
For me, I think I need to work on removing weeds by any technique possible, and at the same time, ignoring symptoms and continuing normal activity.
I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.
- Mark Twain |
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Positive Visualization versus Emotional Excavation
