[Solved] Balancing Pairs in Mental–Emotional treatment: When do the Six Qi rules shift?

Hello Fadi, 

• In relation to the strict model of balancing pairs there is only this one divergence I lectured. At the Shao Yang - Jue Yin level, there is balancing / opposing relationship between Liver and Sanjio, Pericardium and Gallbladder and their mental-emotional qualities. But since Pericard and Sanjio are the only two meridiands related to "organs without material content" / "immaterial organs" their (a kind of fuzzy) ZangFu & additional mental aspect is regulation of intake of knowledge and mental/memory content for Pericard and letting it go / cleansing of mental load for Sanjiao. In that sence - as immaterial organs - Pericardium and Sanjio have a special relationship. 
• With all the other meridians for a general view of the emotions we can stick to the model. For clinical application you can see what kind of (usually negative) emotions you will find in excess. The Mind Path model gives you a blueprint which balancing meridian you can pick to balance these emotions. 
• You should in a second step relate the emotional issue of your patient to the overal clinical picture also considering their physical complaints and your other diagnostic information. The best choice for emotional treatment then often is a meridian which relates to both, the mental and physical problem. 
• My personal opinion and also experience when applying the Mind Path model is to approach it in a kind of two step process. Let's get back to basic Six Qi theory. We always have two meridians that carry a certain Six Qi energy. One has pure climatic energy and one is mixed. This means we can say that their overall energetic quality is closely related or overlapping. E.g. Tai Yin energy is in Spleen and Lung present. For the mental model this also means those two meridians cover the same basic emotional topic but with different focus. Tai Yin - Yang Ming meridians generally is addressing the topic of being well provided or cared for with the basic things we need in life to make a physical (and emotional) survival. At the emotional level it adresses exactly these feeling of having or having not the impression/feeling you are well cared for or something fundamentally is missing. 

So we can apply the model in a two step process:

1) First try to find the correct emotional dimension of the three basic levels. Does it relate to physical needs, emotional needs, or power and knowledge. I) Does my patient have trouble in her/his relationship because their is a feeling of not being cared well in general (physical needs emotions)? II) Is their problem in sexual sphere or a general lack to enjoy life with your partner of being able to devote yourself deeply to another person, are you afraid of showing or having deep romantic feelings? III) Is there more of a power struggle, who is boss, who will have the lead, do you have feelings of inequality or inferority to you partner (power and knowldege)? If you can find the correct general box or the dimension the particuliar problem relates to you have made the first correct step. If you pick one of the two balancing meridians of the basic problem your treatment will not be completly wrong simply because the two possible meridains which come into questions as a treatment strategy are closely related. 

2) In a second step you might pick one of the two meridians with the basic same Six Qi - emotional quality to target the treatment more exactly. For this step you will have two options: A) It often helps to relate to the physical symptoms. Let's say you are thinking about using the physical needs level for emotional treatment. You can relate your patients physical conditions to it. Are there more respiratory problems or signs and symptoms relating more to the Lung or digestive problems related to Spleen? Pick accordingly. B) You can explain the Mind Path model in simple terms to your patients and discuss with them which of the specific mental topic of the meridians resonates more with them or which of the (in most cases) positiv emotions each specific meridian will promote will help them more. In many cases they will know quite exactly. Treat this meridian. 

Psychologically speaking in many cases if you discuss the emotional problem and needs with your patients related to a specific situation or problem in their life you will at the end relate to their basic psychological issue coming from early childhood parent-child relationship experiences. These specific imprints express over and over again in our lifes and will come back to us constantly. With the mindpath model it is in my view NOT absolutely necessarily needed to openly communicate with the patients about this deeper layer of their personality or problems. This is why even when you are not a trained psychologist you can treat their problems on a symbolic, energetic level. But you should be aware it might be present even if it is not adressed. Very basic emotional patterns showing in stressful or crisis situations usually have developed early in our life.

In regards to your specific questions: This divergence becomes more evident in the 3rd level. For instance, Hand Jue Yin (Pericardium) is normally balanced with Foot Shao Yang (Gallbladder), but in Mental–Emotional treatment—such as for retaining painful memories (e.g., PTSD)—the choice becomes Hand Shao Yang (Sanjiao) Jeong Gyeok. >> This is correct. 

Hope this helps 

Andreas

@bruechasiatische-medizin-com

Thank you very much Andreas, your explanation is truly rich and illuminating.
The perspective about early childhood parent–child relationship experiences shaping emotional patterns adds a profound dimension to understanding how these dynamics manifest later in life. I found that part especially meaningful.

For me, the 3rd level often feels like the most complex to navigate in clinical practice. Patients may not always express, or even be willing to explore, such personal layers directly, which makes my diagnostic impression rather subjective at times. Your “two-step process” offers a very helpful structure to approach this complexity more clearly and safely.

I deeply appreciate the depth and generosity of your explanation.

@fadi 

Thank you, it's my pleasure!

I agree with you about the 3rd. level. 

Genarally speaking, this level is the most awkward, and not as systematic and logical in the whole model. I think the reason for this is that this level touches the second version of the Five Element aspect of Fire (Shao Yang / Ministerial Fire) and the immaterial quality of Pc and Sj. So it is a kind of different. 

For discussing with the patients about their emotions, it first needs a general openness of the patient. Peronally I aproach it a kind of reluctant and sensible. If patients do not adress their emotions directly by themselves in the beginning, I will wait until there is a little better established patient-therapist rapport and relationship. This means I will wait for a few sessions until the patient knows me a little bit better. Exception is of course if they come explicitly for emotional reasons. 

And a good toolbox of psychological interviewing skills helps also. 

Andreas