Speakers - 2027

Title: The role of chinese acupuncture in facilitating verbal expression during psychotherapy

Abstract

Having trained both as a psychoanalyst and an acupuncturist, I have long been interested in the connections between these two disciplines. While I have a strong preference for Traditional Chinese Medicine (Zhongyi), I should clarify that I no longer practice psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, although I continue to study them from a personal and academic perspective.The central metaphor for understanding the relationship between these two fields is that of an hourglass. The upper, widening section represents speech and its counterpart, thought. The lower, widening section represents breath. At the narrow center lies the vocal cords. Thus, speech, expressed through sound, and breath, expressed through silence, are positioned on either side of the muscles responsible for verbal expression. This is natural, as speech originates from breath. Consequently, their functions are closely related. Just as speech carries symbolic meaning, so too does breath.In Western therapeutic traditions, treatment is based on the patient's free association of speech, received within the therapist's silence. Typically, the therapist only meets the patient during scheduled therapy sessions. In contrast, Eastern traditions emphasize the silence of breath, through which the practitioner's inner dialogue is revealed. Nevertheless, outside formal practice sessions, there is still active communication between practitioners and their teacher or guide.From one perspective, Western psychotherapy uses speech to influence the body without physical contact. From another, Eastern medicine acts directly on the body to influence speech, without relying explicitly on verbal communication. Internal energy practices, including acupuncture, operate through qi, commonly translated as breath or vital energy. The aim, therefore, is to explore how these two approaches can be integrated to enhance one another within therapies based on verbal expression.The purpose of this work is to highlight the value of acupuncture in supporting and facilitating psychotherapy in Western clinical practice. I have regularly treated several patients who were simultaneously undergoing psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. All of them reported that acupuncture had a positive influence on their therapeutic process, including improved verbal expression, reduced psychological resistance, and the emergence of previously repressed traumatic experiences that could then be explored more effectively during therapy.It is important to emphasize that acupuncture does not perform the psychotherapeutic work itself; rather, it supports and enhances the process. The true source of transformation remains the patient's commitment to the principle of "free association" in psychotherapy.Three treatment strategies were employed: two general protocols and one individualized protocol based on Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Differentiation (Bian Zheng). In some cases, several treatment sessions were required to determine the most effective combination of acupuncture points for each individual patient.The two general protocols have been widely presented in previous publications, courses, and scientific conferences. They include the harmonization of emotions and the treatment of the Yi (Intention–Thought) aspect of the mind according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.As with treatments directed toward the Shen (Spirit or Mind), the therapeutic effects may require time before becoming fully apparent.Finally, I hope to present, on another occasion, how psychotherapy and Zen meditation can complement one another and produce enhanced therapeutic effects when practiced together. I have also applied this integrative approach with meditation practitioners. However, this relationship remains difficult to articulate because psychotherapy and meditative practice are often viewed as separate disciplines, each with its own distinct methods and perspectives, making them difficult for practitioners of one tradition to fully understand or access from the other.