MENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 11 August 1928, Page 5

MENTAL THERAPEUTICS

“Montiil Therapeutics” was tins title of a lecture recently given by tlie, president, Alt' .fames Stout, at a meeting of the Christchurch Practical Psychology Club.

The lecturer defined the title of hi? address as meaning any method which attempted 'treatment'for the cure pf: ailments of min£ or Jbody through tMfj agency of the mind!' Me illustrated the negative powers of the mind over the body by some striking examples giren by prominent medical author!ties: drawing also on common experiences under emotional stresses, which resulted in hair turning white over-j njo-ht, faces becoming blanched or 1 (lushed, flesh creeping, body breaking into cold perspiration', becoming transfixed. trembling like a leaf, and so on. T)r. A. V. Schofield, a Harley. street specialist in nerve and mental troubles:, had declared that adverse mental states were amongst the causes of convulsions, dysphagia, spasms of the glottis with inability to breathe, phantom, tumours, paraplegia, paralysis agit.ans, hemiplegia, tense contractions' and rigidity of the muscles, loss of voice; and many other ailments.The obvious inference was that if the subconscious mind, which built the body, could alter it in all these adverse ways under adverse conditions, it could also repair and restore an imperfect. body under right conditions. Proofs of'the truth of such an inference were simply overwlielmingrThere were five main methods of "mental therapeutics, all of which were particularly suited to certain cases, and all wore doing wonderfully good work to-day. It was futile for any ardent therapist of any one of these schools to take up the stand that his was the only legitimate or effective method of mental therapy. Fa eta# too patent to-ignore disproved lijs claims to, a monopoly of such healing. The' main systems in vogue to-day were hypnosis, psychoanalysis, re-education, conscious sug-<msto-therapv, and metaphysical therapy. The last', mentioned, although representing many different schools, from a doctrinal standpoint, had one fundamental factor in common— that faith in an infinite and friendly healing power was a cure for’ all diseases. In the mere mass of cures of all varieties and stages of disease this method eclipsed all other systems of mental therapy in use to-day. Some striking statistics were given in proof of this statement. One organisation had passed a quarter of a million cases through its hands with marvellous successes. Another had grown to such proportions answered a. daily mail of nearly 2;>00 letters, and its printed matter, issued from its own press, exceeded three hundred tons annually. Both organisations had expanded to such great proportions only on the tangible results of their therapeutic methods. The best system of self-cure was outlined in some detail, and causes of failure explained.