06 Aug Diseases: When our bodies speak to us
Canadian therapist Lise Bourbeau is the author of bestsellers on the subject (“Ecoute ton corps”, “Ton corps dit, aime-toi” and “Ecoute ton corps, encore”), as is Michel Odoul and his famous “Dis-moi où tu as mal, je te dirai pourquoi”, and Jacques Martel and “Le grand dictionnaire des malaises et des maladies”. It’s well known that emotions can trigger physical symptoms, such as a sore throat if we can’t verbalize what we’re feeling, an ear infection if we don’t want to hear things, knee problems if we don’t want to submit, back pain if we can’t project ourselves into the future, liver disease if we hold back anger, thyroid problems if we feel injustice…. The list goes on, for every organ can be affected by illnesses of varying degrees of severity. In fact, it’s all the emotions we’re unable to externalize in one way or another that crystallize in specific parts of our body. These symptoms may, of course, reflect a serious illness requiring medical attention. However, we often realize that if we analyze the situation and recognize that we feel a certain emotion, we can do something about it. With the help of a professional such as a psychotherapist or hypnotherapist, we can put words to them, better apprehend them and thus free ourselves to feel better.