During many years as a psychotherapist, I discovered fascinating insights into the emotional causes of disease and accidents. I have also developed powerful processes that have helped people heal themselves and maintain their health and safety.

For example, Sunny, a young man in his early twenties, was diabetic from the time he was twelve years old. When he came to see me he was almost daily going into diabetic shock. I have a favorite saying, ?Close your eyes and see clearly.? So I said, ?Sunny, close your eyes and imagine that you are really small and traveling inside your body to the place where you store all your tension.? It was no surprise to either one of us when Sunny ended up in front of his pancreas. He said, ?My God, what a mess. There's a lot of junk in there.?

In the course of his counseling sessions, Sunny became aware of and overcame all the negative emotional issues that were ?stored? in his pancreas. By the eighth and final session, Sunny reported that he was feeling great and his pancreas looked very healthy. He said, ?It's amazing, Helene, I'm taking less than one-half of the amount of insulin I needed when I first came to see you. I realize that I almost killed myself by way of diabetic shock because I couldn't cope with all the emotional pain with my family and a broken relationship.?

Another example of the connection between the mind, the emotions, and the body is thirty-five-year-old Cindy. She had no relief from her constant vaginal yeast infections no matter how much she treated the condition with the medication from her doctor. In her counseling process, Cindy found out that her yeast infections were actually serving her by preventing her from being sexual. When confronted with the idea, Cindy admitted to herself that she was afraid to be in another sexual relationship because she always got too emotionally involved, and then felt deeply hurt if it ended. Cindy's infection cleared up when she trusted herself to avoid another relationship until she was confident that she would not be devastated if it did not last.

Tom, a forty-three-year-old businessman, finally came into the office when his wife threatened to leave him. However, he was still resistant and insisted that he was fine, he had no problems. Meeting him on his level and at his comfort zone, I said, ?Tom, let's be logical. You are telling me that your childhood was fine, and that you have no issues to resolve. The reality is that you are struggling with your career, having serious problems with your wife and daughters, and you have been warned about the beginnings of heart problems.?

?Let's take the analogy of an automobile. If your car isn't running properly do you believe that nothing is wrong or do you open up the hood and fix it? Obviously, Tom, your life is not running well, which means you have to deal with the issues in your unconscious that are causing you problems. In a sense you need to pick up your hood.?

Tom realized that I had a point. He finally loosened his tie, and was willing to regress back to his childhood. To his surprise, he uncovered an incredible amount of pain. Tom had succeeded in blocking his painful childhood; but because of his denial, he was heading for disaster. It was amazing to see this logical, machine-like person transform into a feeling human being as he expressed his fears, his deep hurts, shame, anger, and grief. As a result, Tom began to feel so good about himself that he began to watch his diet, exercise more and improve his relationships with his family. I will never forget when he happily told me about the wonderful report he had received from his doctor.

The case of Sarah is another example of how important it is to listen to your body and constructively express your feelings. Sarah, a forty-seven-year-old woman, was suffering from recurring cancer. Previously, the doctors had succeeded in removing a malignant tumor from her throat and Sarah seemed to be doing well. However, six months ago they discovered a growth in her back.

During the first counseling session, Sarah was able to express her anger, shame, and fears?something she never did. She was a people pleaser, someone who always had a smile on her face. Sarah always tried to make everyone happy, even if she hurt herself in the process. When Sarah returned the following week, she told me that she was able to cut her pain medication in half. After another session, in which she released intensive emotional pain, she was totally free of physical pain.

Needless to say, Sarah was very optimistic about her recovery. However, Sarah called me one day very upset. She was feeling pain in her throat where the first tumor was removed. I reassured her that the doctors succeeded in removing the growth, the symptom, but the emotional cause was still not resolved. In the next session, after Sarah released her issues about being afraid to speak up, about communicating how she really felt, the pain in her throat disappeared.

I have noticed that certain emotions will be blocked in specific areas of the body. For example, clients often realize that they are angry when they have upper or lower back pain, headaches, tightness in the base of the skull, or jaw pain. I often find fear blocked in the abdominal areas, sadness stuffed in the sinuses, or the sides of the back of the neck. The feeling of responsibility causes tension in the shoulders. Hurt and deep sadness often explains the tightness in the center of the chest or in the heart.

I have also found the body to be very literal. Some examples are: tension in the throat deals with the fear of speaking; problems in the eyes relate to not wanting to see something; hearing problems often correspond to the desire not to hear.

It may be hard to believe, but I have discovered that our unresolved emotions can also cause our accidents. In fact, every time a client had an injury, they were always able to uncover the reason it happened. For example, Tonya, a very attractive twenty-one-year-old, had a scar on her forehead from a serious car accident.

I said, ?Tonya, imagine that you are up in the sky and looking down at the collision. Now tell the Tonya in the car why she had that accident.? She replied, ?Tonya, you had that accident because you felt guilty about having so much more than your family members and your friends. You are prettier, smarter, and more successful, and you don't appreciate all that you have.?

We are all very powerful beings. We have the ability to create our illness or accidents as well as our health and safety. In order to be healthy and full of vibrant energy, we need to understand that our physical bodies are expressing our thoughts and feelings. When we listen to what our bodies are telling us, when we constructively express our emotions and resolve our issues, we can take an active part in healing ourselves and experience optimum safety, health, and happiness.

Copyright (c) 2006 Helene Rothschild