Page 23 - NAMAH Oct 2015

Namah Notes on counselling

Notes on counselling

A journey through pain — a personal therapeutic saga

Dr. Soumitra Basu

Abstract
A psychiatrist traces a journey of pain-management through adjuncts selected to simulate the
benefits of trance states and voluntary control over physiological parameters and discovers the
importance of tapping the body-consciousness and working through the impasse created by the
Inconscience.

Pain is an enigma, a reality and a dilemma. psychological pain in the realms of emotions,
It is an enigma because knowingly or Freudian complexes or ethical conflicts
unknowingly it overawes us; a reality would be a psychotherapeutic delight and
because, as the Buddha realised, it was there were no dearth of psychotherapists,
inescapable and a dilemma because it can practitioners, counsellors and even shamans
not only stimulate one to surpass oneself but and gurus. But there was this more difficult
can also be consciously turned into pleasure. area of psychological factors manifesting as
physical pain; the nagging hypochondriac
As a psychiatrist, my initial interest in pain pain, the atypical facial pain, the intractable
was that not only one had physical pain, one chest pain, the unbearable headache, the
also suffered psychological pain. To this, the colicky abdominal pain — all of which
nihilist added that pain arose from being increased with piles of unfruitful invest-
bound to the cycles of life and death and igations and endless doctor-shopping until
ostensibly the relief lay in not being reborn one got some relief from a dose of anti-
again. However, as Sri Aurobindo professed depressants. However, unless such pain was
a transformation of life instead of liberation a symptom of depression, it also responded
from life, a consideration of such pain was to anti-depressants but not so satisfactorily
vetoed out of my therapeutic considerations. and without complete remission. Moreover,
there were also the pains of a neuropathic
The concept of psychological pain proved to nature, usually cervical and lumbar radiculo-
be more enigmatic than I had thought. A pure pathies, typically presented in women past

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