Handling Abreaction

The most disturbing feature of deep abreaction for an idealist is the realisation that for every noble aspect of our character, we also possess the complementary bad aspect. When I first began feeling the bad aspects of my character through abreaction, it upset all my views of good and evil. I had to readjust my views on morality. It was as if an earthquake opened up the ground under my feet, and my cosy view of myself fell apart.

A procedure that I use for handling the unpleasant stages of abreaction is one that I learned at a seminar on Buddhism. When I get uptight over something, I wait till I am alone at home. Then I try and let all the unpleasant feelings churning around my abdomen rise up. I imagine that they are rising up from the abdomen and out of my head. This procedure, which can take from minutes to hours, allows the feelings to express themselves and so they do not end up getting repressed again. This procedure is not much use when abreaction is very strong, but can be used as the intensity begins to lessen. Otherwise there is not much that can be done about such feelings apart from persevering with normal routine and slowing down till they are over.

Why is the abdomen churning over with emotions?  The stomach area is affected by the solar plexus, which is the chief physical organ associated with the manipura chakra. It is the centre which strongly influences will power, and the major emotion associated with it is fear. When anything deflates my will power through fear, I experience a sinking feeling in the stomach area. Rather like having an energy hole there.

Abreaction is not merely negative. It can be used positively, by clarifying thinking. Abreactive hate can cut through confusion and self-deception. So to make the best use of such moods it is best to keep a journal and write down your ideas as they occur. Write what you feel, no matter how bleak it is ; don't edit it, just let it flow. The ideas will have a sharpness which will be lost if you wait till afterwards and write down the ideas from memory.

Can Abreaction be Directed ?

It is not possible to target an abreaction to a specific problem. Any particular problem may be covered up by numerous smaller problems. The method used in analysis is to concentrate on whatever problem is current in your mind. The way into the subconscious mind is to follow your anxiety, and so you have to use the current problem. Problems connect together in the subconscious mind in ways that are unique to each person, and therefore it is not feasible to try and foresee short-cuts.

By concentrating on the problem at hand, this will eventually lead to other problems, which in turn lead to still more problems. Eventually, if you persevere over a sufficient length of time, you will come to the cause of the psychological problem that is causing you concern.

However, the time factor may take years. The reason for this is that you have to develop a deeper level of self-awareness, and this cannot be hurried. The deeper the change that is needed, the longer any significant abreaction will take to complete. An important abreaction may last a few days, or even a few weeks. But the effects may take many months to work their changes in your consciousness. The process involves changing your belief systems, and this needs to be a slow process in order for you to change without experiencing too much distress.

Basically, you have to begin learning about yourself. It is not much exaggeration to say that most people have no idea about themselves, or what makes them tick, what motivates them, what they most want from life. Nearly everybody lives in a cocoon of superficiality, self-deception and rationalisation.

Emotional Maturity

As a person begins to mature in the course of human evolution (within a perspective of reincarnation), a serious problem is likely to emerge. The person finds himself over-reacting to emotional problems.

When something unpleasant happens to a sensitive child, the child over-reacts and makes a big drama of it (even if the incident is very serious, the child will remember it as being very much more serious than it was). If the adult voyages into psycho-therapy and abreacts the emotions attached to the incident, he will still think of it as a big drama. But after many years, he will be able to realise that it was, after all, only a small drama.

This is the effect of attaining emotional maturity with regard to any problem. Over-reaction is a negative aspect of having sensitivity. A positive use of over-reaction is that we can dream visions that are beyond the imagination of the less sensitive person.

Copyright @2003  Ian Heath
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