Working with Body Symptoms
Just as Jungian psychology works with symbols and figures revealed within dreams to support the integration of conscious and unconscious parts of the self, so too can symptoms within the body hold ‘dream’ like material and messages that can help guide you towards a more whole and balanced way of moving in the world.
Whether you experience chronic illness, have an injury, or somatic body work is your preferred path for self-inquiry, almost all representations (*see below for exclusions) within the body can be used as an entry point to symbolic and embodied material and ultimately, deep personal growth.
Not only can working with aches, pains, pressure, itches, stiffness, stings, tenderness, tightness, and discomfort reveal neglected and hidden parts of your self-identity, but it can also contribute to providing a truly holistic solution. As we know, us human beings are more than just one dimension. We are more than just our bodies. So, when working with physical ailments, more than simply one approach is usually needed when pursuing healing and wellness.
Current mainstream allopathic, as well as alternative, medicine have the physical aspect of illness and body symptoms well covered. However, in addition to our physical body, we are also emotional beings. Our experiences of dis-ease and injury also hold a subjective element. To more thoroughly address and treat our symptoms, we also need to work with the emotional layers, such as the pain and feelings that are also encapsulated within in the physical manifestation. Gaining a better understanding of this facet of your personal experience just in itself can be deeply enlightening and healing in more ways than one.
To go even deeper again, and usually where the juiciest work is, there is a third dimension that can be accessed within physical representations. This layer is much harder to articulate and best understood from experience. This is because it houses pre-verbal and pre-cognitive material at an ‘essence’ level. Some say interacting here is like connecting with spirit, god, source, soul, the field, or essentially something bigger or beyond themselves. Working with this movement of energy at the core of physical manifestations provides an amplification tool for where the current work needs to be, leading to uniquely precise and potent medicinal protentional. What is often discovered, is that this energy, or essence, within the symptom reflects an unconscious edge, highlighting an area for growth and expansion.
With the newly revealed unconscious patterning and intelligence, we then cycling back around to the physical and practical realm where we work with the edges, or psychological barriers. With a grounded and tangable approach, the integration of the unconscious and conscious parts is nurtured to assist the embodiment of your expanded identify and ultimately the journey towards wholeness. Depending on the level of integration and support desired, this part of the work may require subsequent therapy sessions.
Working in this multidimensional way, can provide profound and far-reaching healing and transformative possibilities. Connecting with the symbolic meaning and wisdom buried within the body and its unique expression has the potential to not only bring some relief, or even resolution of symptoms at times, but to also uncover poignant individualised resources which is the real elixir.
*Due to the nature of the explorative work and health risks, highly active symptoms such as high blood pressure, asthma, panic attacks, and chest pain are contraindicated for further psychological unfolding, with psychological first aid and/or medical attention indicated as appropriate.