Therapeutic Approaches for a Better Life

 

 

 Therapeutic Approaches for a Better Life

Anand was a mere mentee at an estimable and celebrated flautist’s music school. The strapping youngster was bewitched by the prepossessing damsel who too was learning to play the flute under the expertise of the legendary musician.

Anand and Bharaivi were ensnared by craving; they were in a tearing hurry to arrive at the amphitheatre of fame through what they perceived would be mellifluous and soulful renditions especially of the Ananda Bharivi raga.

Exoticism and pizzazz were chimeras they were chasing and shortly they were to ask the Master, “Gurudev how long will it take for us to perform at the stage, on television shows and the tinsel world.”

The respected Master was certainly not impressed at the proffer of his novitiates and admonished them.  He was to further add, “My Guru made me practice for hours, days and years on end. For considerable period of time, I only rehearsed the musical notes and you wish to make a public appearance without mastering the craft.”

 A Zen story

Aeons ago, a greenhorn was learning various nuances of breathing techniques and meditation at an estimable temple of knowledge. After acquiring only some basic skills he approached the lionised and exemplary monk as to how soon could he graduate from the Monastery and begin to spread the knowledge of Zen Buddhism.  The impassionate monk was to say impassively, “It will take you ten more years.”

The fervid stripling remarked, “Master I will practice twice the number of hours, then how long will take me to become a suzerain of the tenets of Buddhism?” “Thirty years,” was the bland reply.

Learning to learn

Forbearance and endurance are paramount keys to success; these which enable an individual to scale the summit or else a person merely clambers the ladder; the journey sometimes leads to anxiety and disquietude in the mind. This perturbation could lead to psychological disorders such as generalised anxiety disorders, panic disorders, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders and post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Minor or major psychological disorders are pestilences which confront the afflicted. These could become chronic contagions and affect the daily existence of individuals or even become life threatening maladies. The disorder is not only a woebegone situation for the patient, but is harrowing for the family too.

Psychotherapy

The singular intent of the therapeutic approach is to upend the pyramid. The intent is to ensure betterment of the victim’s life. The therapy reinforces the client’s resolve for mitigating distress and convalescence, leading to an improved lifestyle. The techniques deployed pave the way to obliterate antipathetic and nugatory thoughts from the mind of the valetudinarian and replace it with an efficacious mindset.

By adopting a holistic line of treatment, the mind is suffused with positivity and becomes aerobicised and robust; the mind develops the ability to eschew unwelcome habits. Over a period of time the patient is able to dispel the grey clouds of doom and simultaneously there is a greater clarity in the thought process.  This consequently leads to enhancement and improvement in interpersonal relationships and communication.

There is an astonishing progress in the victim who undergoes a mental metamorphosis; the thinking pattern undergoes fundamental changes and is now empowered to take mindful decisions as the patient becomes aware of alternatives available in his/her life to reinvigorate the self and embark upon the voyage of healing and self-discovery.

Gifted and trained psychotherapists, combine their clinical insights and their mental GPS to zero-in on suitable psychodynamic therapies. They grapple with the misadventures of the victim by getting engrossed and focusing on certain key questions.

Dynamics of rehabilitation and recuperation

Fundamentally, psychodynamic therapy cogitates that intra psychic conflict is primarily responsible for the psychological malady. The fountainhead of the problem lies within the psyche of the human / individual.

Researches in the field opine that begrudging and querulous desires of childhood and unmitigated childhood fears are essentially responsible for intra psychic disorders.

Keeping in mind the above two factors, psychotherapists deploy the technique of free association and eliciting information through visualisation, dreams, thoughts and feelings to create a data base. This reservoir of material is dissected and analysed to understand the problem confronting the client and also device what could be the methodology of recuperation.

The therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist is such that psychotherapist empathises with the woebegone situation confronting the victim and suggests alternative mechanics to assuage fraught nerves. The therapist virtually gets into the skin of the patient to appreciate his or her mental framework.

The cutting edge of the therapy is provided as the therapist glides and floats from the intellect frame to the emotional plane. Psychodynamic therapy enfranchises the therapist to understand the mind of the patient intellectually and provide emotional succor. An intellectual and emotional umbilical cord gets established between the two which further facilitates in delivery of solutions.

Last and but not the least, duration of treatment is of tremendous significance. The magnitude of the problem is obviously a key determinant to the span of treatment. However, around 15 to 20 vigorous sessions put the patient well on to the road to renascence.

Alternative therapies

Perturbation could trigger alcoholism, bulimia, heavy smoking and substance abuse among others. In such cases alternative therapies such as practicing the unique rhythmic breathing technique of Sudarshan Kriya, Vipassana, sessions of yoga and pranayama, meditation technique of Yoga Nidra, progressive muscular relaxation sessions can provide help the victim. These techniques too must be practiced in a quotidian manner under the guidance of a qualified teacher to arrive at tangible results.

“Mental health needs great deal of attention. It’s the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with,” wrote the English musician Adam Ant.