Combining psychotherapy with acupuncture

Combining psychotherapy with acupuncture is a holistic approach to improving mental and emotional health. The two therapies work together in a complementary way to get to the root of mental problems and promote overall well-being.

Psychotherapy focuses on uncovering and resolving deep-seated emotional and behavioral patterns, often stemming from past traumas. Psychotherapeutic techniques help patients increase awareness of their own body sensations, emotional states and thinking patterns, enabling them to process and heal past experiences.

On the other hand, acupuncture works on a physical and energetic level by releasing tensions in the body. It helps regulate the body's internal balance, which can alleviate symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Acupuncture not only provides immediate relief by reducing inflammation and promoting relaxation, but also supports long-term healing by maintaining physical and emotional balance.

Using these therapies together increases their effectiveness. Psychotherapy helps patients understand the emotional and mental patterns that contribute to their suffering, while acupuncture offers a way to release physical tension and promote a state of inner peace. This integrated approach addresses both mind and body, leading to a more lasting and comprehensive healing.

This combination is particularly beneficial for those struggling with chronic ailments such as depression and anxiety, as it allows for healing on multiple levels - emotional, mental and physical.

Mind-Body Connection: How are Mind, Emotion and Body Connected?

Severe experiences can lead to difficult emotional states, such as anxiety, depression, anxiety, sadness, fear, anger, paranoia and confusion. These emotional states in turn seep into the body. When the body becomes overwhelmed by a given emotional state, it reacts by manifesting physical symptoms. Physical reactions to emotional states can include:

• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Pain and tension in the neck, shoulders and back
• Digestive problems
• Insomnia
• Low libido and sexual problems
• Other health problems

Likewise, if the physical state of the body is disrupted, this can have ripple effects on the emotional and mental levels. This is why people often experience greater emotional and mental well-being after physical movement, breathing exercises and healthy eating.

This interrelated matrix of mental-emotional-physical reactions is responsible for most of the chronic illnesses and mental health problems people face.

Emotions Hide in the Body

It is well known in the field of holistic medicine that emotions hide in the body. When we are overwhelmed by an emotional state that we cannot adequately process, we push it outside of our consciousness. It then hides in the body in the form of deep physical tension and vague, free-floating feelings of anxiety, imbalance and a sense that something is wrong. Caroline Myss, a well-known medical intuitionist, refers to this phenomenon, saying that "our biography becomes our biology."

To achieve lasting, long-term healing, it is necessary to resolve these hidden emotions.

More and more people are becoming aware of this phenomenon and how it affects the quality of their lives. This increased awareness makes many people want to heal and completely release these embodied negative emotional states. The combination of acupuncture and psychotherapy is perfect for those interested in working on themselves and healing.

Acupuncture and Psychotherapy: How They Work Together

Acupuncture's main effects involve releasing tension deep within the body. Deep tension in muscles, fascia and organs is almost always directly caused by mental and emotional factors. 

However, acupuncture alone is often not enough to create lasting, long-term healing. If a person does not put in the effort to work out the mental, emotional and behavioral patterns that caused the health problem in the first place, the body will reaccumulate the deep-level tension that was released during acupuncture treatment, and the problems will return.

Psychotherapy uses a variety of approaches to directly work out these mental, emotional and behavioral patterns, making psychotherapy and acupuncture excellent partners in the healing process.