A New Lease on Life

The acceleration of our life rhythms, social pressure, lack of sleep, poor lifestyle, or stress caused by a major event can trigger a deep imbalance within the body, which will eventually manifest as skin diseases. Psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema, shingles, herpes, and warts are all signals to take into consideration. The body has a memory.

Groddeck, the father of psychosomatic medicine, said: "What is suppressed, repressed, expresses itself in the body, which is charged with bearing all these silences."

When our deep desires are stifled, psychological imbalance affects the endocrine and vegetative systems, and we risk falling ill.

Our psychic traumas would be inscribed throughout our lives in our bodies, sometimes creating disturbances. "Our repressed emotions, our suppressed anger or sadness, would lodge in our muscles, leading to contradictions that result in a specific posture." They would, at the somatic level, be the expression and memory of our defense mechanisms.

It's not just our posture, but all our diseases that are psychosomatic, considered as the body's response to an emotional shock too strong to resolve quickly. Their severity and location are respectively related to the intensity and nature of the emotion felt.

"For example, a chronic back pain is often the body's way of saying that it is carrying a psychological or emotional burden that is too heavy. Those who suffer from it must learn to lighten this load."

"A frequent headache can occur in people who have to deal with many thoughts."

People suffering from psoriasis are generally hypersensitive, with a great need for love and affection that is rarely or never fulfilled.

Our figurative language doesn't deceive us: don’t we say about such people that they "have a lot on their shoulders" or that "it’s all in their head," and of course that they "have their nerves on edge"?

Why is the skin one of the best indicators of psychological distress?

It is often the skin that is affected first because, as children, we have a great need for physical contact with anyone we love or feel close to.

There may also be an internal conflict, an ambivalence between the desire to get closer and the fear of contact, which keeps people at a distance.

Human beings have the ability to bounce back. And if our bodies were endowed with resources that we just need to activate? Reconnecting with oneself, rediscovering one's inner garden, could preserve inner peace and, thus, a good balance.

Before rushing to the medicine cabinet, it's worth remembering that there are simple ways to relieve ourselves without resorting to medication; a holistic approach proves to be effective in this case.

Holos, meaning "whole" in Greek, refers to all life approaches and therapeutic techniques that consider the entirety of a being.

The holistic view of a human being takes into account its physical, mental, emotional, family, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions.

The practice I use is based on complementary therapeutic techniques to health through touch. This practice is recognized by the ASCA Foundation and covered by some supplementary insurance policies.

When I receive a patient suffering from, for example, a skin disease, the first session is devoted to an anamnesis that lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes.

« This holistic view of the human being takes into account its physical, mental, emotional, family, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. »

This analysis allows me to identify the probable causes of the disease, especially those that fall under the unconscious. Starting from the second session, the sessions are deliberately spaced three weeks apart to facilitate the corrective work on the unconscious.

Skin diseases can be treated using several techniques, sometimes cumulative: health through touch, hypnosis, and, of course, better nutrition.

Health through touch is inspired by both traditional Chinese medicine and a deep knowledge of anatomy. It relies on the principle of the five elements (fire, earth, metal, water, wood), on observing vital energy (Yin and Yang) that circulates through the different meridians. The working tool is muscle testing.

As for nutrition, an appropriate diet can effectively relieve certain skin diseases. We often forget this, yet food plays a predominant role in our lives.

Hippocrate said : « Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.»

Hypnosis is not, as often misunderstood, a divinatory or paranormal practice, nor is it witchcraft! Hypnosis is a technique that allows a patient to enter a modified state of consciousness, or an expanded state of awareness.

We all know natural hypnotic states. These states are necessary to unload the cerebral cortex of an overload of information that saturates its capacity. The external reality is present, but most of our attention is elsewhere. In these cases, we focus on something and completely ignore our environment.

We all occasionally experience these natural hypnotic states. For instance, when watching a captivating film or reading a novel, we can be spoken to without hearing anything. This hypnotic state, also called a modified state of consciousness or an expanded state of awareness, is achieved through focus, induction, and sensory saturation. This technique gives excellent results in treating skin diseases.

Julie Marcombes

Therapist, certified in hypnosis and self-hypnosis.

Touch for Health, ASCA certified. Behavioral kinesiology.

Born in 1974, having grown up near the largest oak grove in Europe, in Tronçais, I have always appreciated the beauty and richness of nature.

My mother, aware of the power of plants, taught me their benefits and showed me that listening to the body and its sensations can reconnect us with ourselves and help us find balance.

After studying and working in France in the health field (Thalassotherapy), passionate about alternative medicines, I decided to study them and share them with as many people as possible. I have been practicing in my office in Préverenges for 3 years.

Article published in LA PEAU SURTOUT,

the magazine of the Swiss Psoriasis and Vitiligo Society (SSPV).