What is the Relationship between the Body and the Mind

To get started culture created the distortions and distinctions for there is a connection between the body and the mind. There is a 'dualism' where the mind and body are two distinct entities. The Early Greeks thought that they were separate, but most contemporaries views do not agree with this. There is also 'monism' a physicalism where we are all but one substance that is very reductionistic. Our physiology determines us with variations. Warren Brown a non-reductive physician recognized the biological nature, but does not ignore the consciousness for we make conscious decisions from the top to the bottom and causal influences.

What is 'irreducible intrinsic interdependence' an interdependent connectedness to think, remember, see, feel behaviors expressed with the biological function of the brain and integrated. Meyers-Cheves say "People think, feel not brains." feelings are embodied in the brain. The mind and body are different levels of one. It is a unified system of mind and brain and biology is part but necessarily be part of every treatment depends upon the difference each theorist views.

Theoretical Perspectives

To start there is the 'psychodynamic theory' or in a broader sense the 'psychoanalytic theory' from Freud that everyone is pathological to a degree. We all have conflicts and fixations that are inevitable that developed in our formative years when our personality really started to form, but what determines the severity or the intensity of the conflicts we endure in our lives. Is there more psychopathology to us then we want to believe? Conflict is intrinsic from the core of our being like aggressive and erotic drives that will not be key drives and will conflict not complement, but stress will occur.

Core anxieties are identified like neurotic, realistic, or even moralistic but anxiety will avoided at all costs if we can keep ourselves in balance. What is repression? Bad feelings pushed out of awareness largely at the unconscious level. When anxiety at the conscious level is present then panic strikes. Where did those problems really start?

There are four phases that we all have to work through and these are the oral, anal, phallic and latency phases development, which are fixations and conflicts that occur with various intensities as well as different defense mechanisms and will be used by the ego to take care of a problem and it will distort and/or deny or even destroy reality of the human condition. There are control issues and conflicts to consider for the ID DOES and the EGO DEALS with these problems in their ways. There is a reaction reflex defense.

The use of psychotherapy or psychoanalysis with a total reconstruction of the basic personality. Freud says in the first six years of life and by reliving childhood problems we will have a reaction has having a catharsis as working through your problems and issues. Making the unconscious conscious. The ego is strengthened but also a mediator and the contact with reality. The id is our basic impulses or our unconscious. The superego which is our moralistic conscious that is kind of perfectionistic and keeping our instincts in reality.

There is a way of thinking known as 'free association' that helps us to minimize our consciousness control by saying anything that comes to our mind that will hopefully help us to see what is important in order to help solve what is in our minds and leading to a solution of sorts. What is resistance? Resistance builds up closer to what is significant with the issues we are about to let out, and we analyze and interpret these disruptions using free association and to understand the real issue.

What is transference? This is the relationship the occurs between the therapist and the client in dealing with various issues. The client and clinical therapist could have positive and negative issues when dealing with one another and the various issues presented. This could also bring about a 'countertransference' for the therapist and client where hidden conflicts are projected towards and the client becomes angry at the therapist that leads to hurt the client and various issues to life problems trying to be overcome. A healing therapy when working with transference is trying to make interpretations to understand the problems.

Moving on to Dream analysis where the unconscious material that is uncovered and to be interpreted that is with current or long-term problems as the source of information. There are a variety of methods that the unconscious and the conscious mind tries to work through while in context with the therapeutic relationship. "Conflicts and fixations of your formative years must be addressed." Not all of what occurred in our childhood will need therapies to make ourselves feel better back then or now.

Next lesson will be on Humanistic theories.

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