[Rehabilitation and psychotherapy]

Especially the chronically ill and disabled deserve to benefit from "socially integrated psychotherapy" in view of their specific situation of distress, which has often arisen without warning and unexpectedly. Dealing with bodily impairments, there are the so-called "organismic" methods using the hypnoid state as major component that have proven to be highly efficient. Dealt with are autogenic training, guided affective imagery, respiratory feedback and hypnosis. Hypnoid states can be regarded as a third basic state of consciousness in humans (besides waking and sleep). They play a major role in many forms of psychotherapy. The knowledge and selective use of underlying mechanisms enhance the potentialities of psychotherapy. The psychotherapeutic basic dialogue stays in constant accompanying function. We are opposed to a widespread misconception that psychotherapy is a method for the treatment of psychogenic disorders only. We obtained good results in the treatment of palsied patients of extrapyramidal and pyramidal type with hypnosis or autohypnosis as well as with our own model of group psychotherapy (autogenic training with concomitant analytic discussion, over a period of up to nine months). In this set-up we successfully mix patients with psychogenic and with somatogenic disorders. Although not a primarily psychotherapeutic method, respiratory feedback also makes use of the hypnoid state. Good results have been achieved with patients in rehabilitation and chronic pain sufferers. Occasional experience with guided affective imagery have been encouraging. We can conclude that psychotherapy with organically ill patients is indicated and promising. We need more appropriate training, supervision and concomitant scientific research.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)