| Fragmented Self, Archetypal Forces and the Embodied Mind |
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Fragmented Self, Archetypal Forces and the Embodied Mind Dissociative and Reassociative Processes © 2012 Sharon G. Mijares Abstract This study concerns the relationship of the mind-body split to trauma, sexual abuse, dissociation and memory recall. The researcher postulates that traumatized psychic elements reside in cellular blocks and non-integrating neural circuits within the body. The qualitative investigation was prompted by two differing life-transforming experiences initiated by memory recall. A small quantitative study was designed to test the hypothesis that the body contains and releases encoded memories. Covert neuromuscular and cardiovascular measurements were taken using EMG, skin temperature and heartrate to monitor mind-body interactive patterns occurring during memory recall. The researcher utilized hypnosis and ideomotor finger responses to induce regression and initiate response. Questions were open-ended. The study sessions were 20 to 35 minutes for each of the eight co-researchers. The physiologic measurements were supportive of psychobiological changes during memory recall and self-report. Responses were elevated when memories were associated with sexual abuse or abuse to the body. The Sign test was positive for all subjects after base-line calibration, giving a probability factor of .035.
Preface
For several years I had been experiencing cellular murmuring and bodily quakes as messenger molecules moved through the neural circuitry of my body-mind. This unfolding learning experience motivated and inspired this research project.
As the project evolved, it was found that memory played a most important role for I soon discovered that fragmented ego·states and archetypal forces could not be discussed without acknowledging how cells and molecules move through the body communicating memory and knowledge. We literally vibrate with memory. I have personally experienced how a single memory-recall can dramatically change the direction of one's life.
The memory debate has become a significant one in the psychotherapeutic community. As we began to address the consequencesof sexual abuse upon innocent children, a backlash against therapists began. Is this memory debate a smoke screen leading us away from the real problem? How can we determine if recollections of childhood sexual abuse are real? The body-mind holds the memory of traumata. But trauma to the psyche occurs in a variety of ways. Understanding and interpretation of the body's memories is a developing science still in its youth.
My own experience of memory -recall provides the foundation for the heuristic element of this project. It led me to gather qualitative data from other researchers of consciousness and to explore the literature appearing as guideposts—illuminating what is known regarding the body-mind.
A review of the available clinical literature on the subject of psychotherapy reveals that minimal attention is given to the body's inherent wisdom as part of the therapeutic process. There is a developing volume of literature discussing recent research findings in the areas of psychobiology and psychoneurology, but these are based upon empirical laboratory studies which seldom address the client as a human being in relationship to life.
Reductionist ideology ignores the soul communicating through the neural pathways. To illustrate this belief l refer to the phone system with its delicate receivers coding and translating messages as they travel through the wires and cables of the telephone communication system. The phone receiver is not unlike the terminal button of a neuron receiving and transmitting cellular messages. But there is a person communicating specific feelings and needs through his or her neurological wiring system. The system itself is meaningless without the intention of the communicator. Neurotransmitters, hormones, and other bodily functions are but reflections of an entire organism with varied expressions, capabilities and experiences. Can we really see all a hand is capable of doing, creating and affecting when we only study its nerves, cells and ligaments.
The separation of mind and body has resulted in serious dissociative problems, both on an individual and collective level. The James-Lange theory of emotion relates feeling as an intimate counterpart of the body (Fadiman & Frager, 1994; Koch, 1986). Psychoneuroimmunologists are empirically validating this reality (Pert, 1984, Rossi, 1993). There is also more than ample evidence of the lack of respect for psyche and soma. The neglect of the body-mind and disrespect for the body have manifested in physical and sexual abuse, and perversion of creative drives.
Our lives are woven with the threads of our genetic and psycho-biological histories. Traditional psychology has been primarily focused on self-limiting problems. It has failed to acknowledge that our lives are stories unfolding. We are heroes and heroines in the making, buffered and formed by a variety of interactions. The psyche travels through the depths of life meeting, becoming entrapped by, and being freed from the inner and outer obstacles blocking the path to the jewel—authenticity of self. These myths are recognized by artists, poets, and practitioners of native spiritualities, but they are rarely acknowledged by the psychotherapeutic community.
We need to remember that mythological stories are moving through the molecular structures of our bodies. Our blessings and our tragedies embody all the elements of the hero and heroine's journey.
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