Clinical Holistic Medicine (Mindful,Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Complemented with Bodywork) in the Treatment of Experienced Mental Illness

Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) complemented with bodywork improved 31 of 54 patients (57.4%, 95% CI: 43.21–70.77%) who rated themselves mentally ill before treatment. Calculated from this we find 1.41 500. Of the 54 patients, 40% had already had traditional treatment that did not help them. Bodywork helped the patients to confront repressed painful feelings from childhood and this seemingly accelerated and improved the therapy. The patients received in average 20 sessions over 14 months at a cost of 1600 EURO. For the treatment responders, all measured aspects of life (on a five point Likert Scale) improved significantly, simultaneously, and radically: somatic health (from 2.9 to 2.3), self-esteem/relationship to self (from 3.5 to 2.3), relationship to partner (from 4.7 to 2.9 [no partner was rated as “6”]), relationship to friends (from 2.5 to 2.0), ability to love (from 3.8 to 2.4), self-assessed sexual ability (from 3.5 to 2.4), self-assessed social ability (from 3.2 to 2.1), self-assessed working ability (from 3.3 to 2.4), and self-assessed quality of life (from 4.0 to 2.3. Quality of life as measured with QOL5 improved (from 3.6 to 2.3 on a scale from 1 to 5; p < 0.001). This general improvement strongly indicated that the patient had healed existentially, i.e., had experienced what Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994) called “salutogenesis”, defined as the process exactly the opposite of pathogenesis. For the treatment responders, the treatment provided lasting benefits, without the negative side effects of drugs. A lasting, positive effect might also prevent many different types of problems in the future

Self-Reported Low Self-Esteem. Intervention and Follow-Up in a Clinical Setting

At the Research Clinic for Holistic Medicine in Copenhagen, 43 patients who presented with low or very low self-esteem were treated with psychodynamic short-term therapy complemented with bodywork. They received an average of 20 sessions at a cost of 1,600 EURO. The bodywork helped the patients to confront old emotional pain from childhood trauma repressed to the body-mind. Results showed that 60.5% recovered from low selfesteem (95% CI: 44.41–75.02%). Calculated from this, we have NNT = 1.33–2.25. Almost all aspects of life improved at the same time (p < 0.01): physical health, mental health, quality of life, and ability to function in a number of important areas (partner, friends, sexually, and socially). This indicated that we had successfully induced existential healing (Antonovsky salutogenesis). The strategy of improving self-esteem can be the key to a new life for patients presenting with low quality of life, poor health (physical and/omental), and poor ability to function. The patients were strongly motivated and willing to endure strong emotional pain provoked by the therapy. The rate of recovery is comparable to the most successful interventions with psychological and psychiatric treatment. Clinical holistic treatment has many advantages: efficiency, low cost, lack of negative side effects, lasting results, lack of use of psychopharmacological drugs (often with side effects), and an important preventive dimension