Acupuncture Assisted Psychotherapy (AAPT)
Acupuncture is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a system of medicine that is at least over 2,500 years old.
Acupuncture works by activating the body’s own biological system to restore balance and promote healthy function to many common ailments. Acupuncture points have been shown to stimulate the central nervous system. This, in turn, releases chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These biochemical changes may stimulate the body's natural healing abilities and promote physical and emotional well-being.
According to Traditional Chinese Medical theory, the body’s vital energy, called Qi (pronounced chee), circulates through channels, or meridians, that travel throughout the body. In a healthy person, the Qi flows smoothly and is in balance. Illness or disease occurs when the flow of Qi is disrupted or out of balance. A unique and custom treatment plan is formulated to bring a person’s energy flow back into balance.
Events that occur within the body may result in mental and emotional symptoms; psychological events may have an effect on the body’s physiology. The human condition includes the combination of the body and the mind. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on this philosophy of the energetic connection of the human body and nature. “Chinese medicine appears to us as a total psychosomatic medicine grafted onto the cosmic and hereditary environment. The whole is seen entirely energetically” (Larre & Roschat de la Vallee, 1996, p. 20).
In Chinese medicine, the processes of the mind are considered as inseparable from the body. In this way, mental diseases were not treated differently from a disorder of the body. It is recognized that physiological events that occur within the body may result in mental-emotional symptoms. Psychological events may also influence the body’s physiology and acupuncture is used to bring these emotions into balance.
The intention of acupuncture in the treatment of psychological disorders is not to rid the body of the psychological effect, but instead to bring the emotion into balance. There is a healthy expression of emotion, such as the healthy expression of joy, anger, and sadness. The appropriate expression of emotions is fundamental to one’s wellbeing in the journey of life. Life builds up and life recedes; there is a proper time to be introvert and a time to be extrovert. There is growth and decay, winter and summer, joy and grief. Acupuncture may assist the psychological balance of an individual as one journeys through the unique inner and outer landscape of life. Acupuncture points specific to your condition are selected. Special acupuncture needles are inserted into these points to access your body’s energy and allow it to flow more freely. For the process of AAPT, acupuncture points specific to your condition are selected, special acupuncture needles are inserted into these points to access your body’s energy, and [the therapeutic session takes place] which allows it [energy/qi] to flow more freely.