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crushing doubt


Aug 25, 2021

In this episode of our Mind Body Connection Series, I consider how viewing mind body symptoms through a developmental lens can reduce doubt, shed light on the nature of the symptoms, and allow us to receive the communication within the symptoms more fully. This video came from my observation that many people who become less difficult over time (through therapy) tend to develop mind body pain right around that time, which suggested a very real connection. As it turns out, there is a major connection, and this can help us understand the meaning and function of mind body symptoms all the more.

I describe how we can see development in three phases: 1) The part of life in which we are learning to manage the conflicts between external demands and our internal needs; 2) When our internal setups won’t function well enough anymore, and we begin to get more in touch with certain dissatisfactions, leading to the emergence of symptoms; and 3) The stage in which we receive the message of the symptoms and can now live without chronic symptoms, but with a more fully developed and adaptive sense of self.

Even though it is very hard to have symptoms, it becomes a lot easier to see them as temporary when you understand their developmental nature. No matter what the symptoms, they are an intermediary step between who you had to be to get by and who you want to be to thrive.