What do Symptoms Mean

To introduce concepts involving what your symptoms mean & what may be further needed to heal yourself. This is an option for patients to consider, if they choose so. So many times we don’t always have the ‘why’ of what we are going through. This information provides deeper insight so that you can clarify the conflicts in your life that have manifested in your body & spine that are trying to ‘offer’ you the message of ‘how’ to heal.

Below are some examples of what is meant by body symptoms and what they could mean.

We strive to teach you how to teach yourself.

 

 

Chronic illness is always an attempt at communication. The body or mind willcontinue to be sick as long as illness is the only way to communicate with the conscious personality.

 

Chronic symptoms whether physical or emotional in nature are communicating an interpersonal message to someone in the clients past or present. This is often an intra-personal communication to themself as well. Until these issues are uncovered and healed, and the underlying needs met, the body will not heal. The message the symptoms are screaming is almost always one of the following:

 

1. A need to set a boundary. A need to say “no” to someone or something, past or present.

 

 

For example, every time Mary’s extremely critical mother-inlaw came over to her house to “advise” her on every aspect of her homemaking, Mary became nauseated and threw up. This forced the mother-in-law to leave. Mary cannot “stomach” her mother-in-law’s “help”. As a dutiful daughter-in-law within her culture, she can’t say “no”, so her body does it for her. As with many symptoms this became generalized to whenever Mary felt criticized or stressed. After resolving the original trauma, and setting conscious limits on her mother-in-law’s “helpful” suggestions, Mary’s symptoms went away.

 

2. A cry for a need to be met.

 

Andrea developed “MS” in her mid 30s. Upon a psychological interview at her neurologist’s request, one of the authors noticed the phenomenal degree of attentiveness her engineering husband had to her every need and whim. He commented to Andrea that he had never seen an engineer so compassionate and attentive to others. Andrea replied “Oh, it wasn’t that way for years, I had to beg for anything and it still didn’t matter! I thought I would die for lack of love and affection!” When asked when her husband’s behavior changed, she replied, “When I developed MS.” Andrea truly wanted to get well. She was able to release her symptoms as her conscious mind was able to dialogue with her husband to get her needs met even if she was healthy. Her body no longer had to produce symptoms to get her needs met.

 

3. A cry to go back and heal an old trauma in the person’s life. Often symptoms are actual body memories of a past trauma.

 

 

Steve had suffered from intense migraines for years. He had a number of significant head and neck injuries that weakened that area of his body. Healing did not occur until all of the internal parts carrying multiple childhood, adulthood and in utero trauma, came forward for healing. After many layers of parts were healed, there was a significant change in his migraines. Chronic headaches are the most common symptom and signal that the conscious mind is trying to block emerging traumatic memories from coming into the person’s awareness.

 

4. A demand that the person addresses and resolve a conscious conflict in their life.

 

 

Marylyn’s mother died of breast cancer. Marylyn developed breast cancer at age 41. It became abundantly clear that she was living in a conscious conflict. She had a 19 year old drug addicted son living in the home. He was stealing from the family and being emotionally and physically abusive to Marylyn and his siblings. Because a good mom would never kick out her son, she refused to tell him to leave. The emotional suffering of being abused by him and watching him hurt others was unbearable: it was “eating her up”. Marylyn’s cancer became terminal and provided the solution to the “unsolvable” dilemma that her conscious mind was unwilling to address. Being willing to address and resolve a conscious conflict had quite different results for Scott and Amy. They were caretakers for Scott’s elderly and ailing parents in a home owned by both Scott and his parents. Scott developed cancer in his pancreas and colon. However, the key to Scott’s recovery was in dealing with an unforgiveness issue with a family member and resolving the conscious conflict in their home. Scott and Amy spent their days taking care of his parents and left no time for themselves. The day after learning of the cancer, Scott and Amy addressed that they were willing to put his parents into a care facility if needed. They made plans for an extended vacation and hired care providers during the day time. Today, Scott has no evidence of cancer and has used no other forms of treatment.

 

5. A symbolic representation of an internal part’s belief that is blocking healing. Some examples of these beliefs would be:

 

a. Pain - I must be punished for being a bad person

b. Blindness - I must turn a blind eye to mom’s behavior and

manipulation

c. Hearing loss - I can’t stand to hear criticism or someone’s screams.

d. Vaginal discomfort/infections - I am not safe in sexual relationships. I cannot trust

myself to choose healthy sexual relationships.

 

 

 

It is important to understand that the same symptom serves different needs for different parts. It may be serving one or all of the above needs. Always look at the metaphorical meaning in the particular symptom or organ affected in the illness. Is there a chronic bladder problem because you are “pissed off” at someone in your life? Are you carrying so much old pain you have a broken heart? Is terminal cancer a solution to an unsolvable dilemma in a person’s life? Is your spinal instability (i.e. inability to hold chiropractic adjustments) due to the instability and lack of support you feel in a relationship? Often the attempt at communication is meant for someone in the past. Remember, the internal parts live in a time warp and may not have any current information available to them. For internal parts there are no memories, everything for them is a current event. You will find many cases where the symptom is no longer needed once the body realizes the person is safe and not a small helpless child anymore.

 

An example of a communication to someone in the past is the following:

 

Alice developed blindness in one eye and many other “MS” type of symptoms. The neurologist could not make a clear diagnosis. Her mom had been cruel to Alice as a child and felt ashamed that her daughter had become a psychologist. Alice , being a dutiful daughter tried to turn a “blind eye” to her mother’s verbal attacks at her chosen profession. When Alice came to therapy with QT, she had been blind in one eye for three years. Her mother had died two years ago. When we asked what would change if she fully recovered, she replied getting back into her chosen profession. Known scientific protocols were individualized to treat the blocking beliefs, shame, trauma, and various physical components of her “illness”. Alice also completed a grieving ritual releasing her mom. Alice called back three months later after a single session and reported that her neurologist had given her a clean bill of health. She no longer needed the symptoms to protect her and send her mother a message.

 

• Chronic symptoms are always communicating a message. These messages include:

a. Expressing a conscious conflict.

b. A need to set a boundary.

c. A cry for a need to be met.

d. A cry to heal an earlier trauma.

e. A symbolic representation of a blocking belief.