Mind the Gap
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
As well as being a Psychotherapist and Counsellor, I am a qualified masseuse and have received several years of bodywork therapy. I've always been interested in physical as well as psychological health and the link between the two.
These days we are much more accepting that physical and psychological wellbeing are interlinked. Even so, people often focus more on one or the other. I see people coming for therapy, taking care of the psychological wellbeing, that may be overweight, have a poor diet and not be exercising. I go to the gym and see people taking good care physically but who may be stressed and 'driving' themselves and not considering their psychological wellbeing. Both are important for health and quality of life.
As a masseuse, I invited people to lie down and to be vulnerable while I took care of them. While this should be a joy and relief, for some people there was anxiety in receiving a massage. It invites a certain psychological relationship that practitioners need to be aware of and not abuse.
As a transactional analyst, I am interested in all aspects of a person - thinking, feeling and behaviour, as well as internal physical response to things. One of the first things I see when a client walks through my door is how they hold themselves physically. This can give me all sorts of useful clues about them and the issues that they are bringing.
Imagine a baby who is born into a family in conflict. Some of the very early experiences this baby might have could be of noise and fights - how would a baby react? It is likely to feel scared and to tense its body - this would be a natural response to a perceived or actual threat.
As that child grew it may experience many other examples of feeling threatened and insecure. This child may witness others being shouted at, as well as themselves.
Each time this happened they would feel scared and tense their body. As this child grows and develops much of its time might be spent wary of what is going on around it or anxious that something is about to happen. This will affect the muscle development of this child. As an adult they may be hunched over and appear nervous.
As this person gets older their posture may become more and more affected. This will, of course, affect other parts of the body - they may get bad knees or tension in their shoulders. One thing can lead to another. In later life this person may present for counselling or psychotherapy because of the psychological issues they are left with from growing up in this environment. They are just as likely to present for a massage or some physical treatment for the aches and pains they are suffering physically.
When I am working with people as a psychotherapist I may often be aware of these physical manifestations of the issues they are bringing. Think for yourself of how a depressed person may hold themselves, as opposed to someone who is anxious or another person who is feeling happy and confident.
Sometimes people address either the psychological or the physical problems but may still suffer with the other. Someone may have formerly been depressed and still hold it in their muscles. There are some things we can do in Psychotherapy in this instance but often I refer them for a massage or to an osteopath to help shift the physical remnants of these issues.
Physical and Psychological health is linked. Often we focus on one or the other, but both are important. We can hold our psychological issues at a somatic (physical) level. Sometimes these symptoms are more obvious than others. For example, someone who has eczema that is worse when they are stressed has a clear physical manifestation of their psychological wellbeing. It's a good idea to treat both physical and psychological
health - to deal with the body, mind and its related issues as a whole.
