Miscellaneous Complementary Therapies

We will describe several alternative therapies that are useful for combating depression that are not covered elsewhere.

Arts therapies

Art, dance, drama or music therapy can provide support as well as a chance for sufferers to discover aspects of themselves of which they were previously unaware.

Auricular therapy is particularly effective in calming the mind.

Autogenic training is excellent for short-term depression resulting from life events.

Autosuggestion

The patient suffering from depression can be helped by the use of affirmations. If the patient is too depressed or is unwilling to repeat the affirmations by himself or herself, they can be recorded on a tape recorder cassette. Then listen to this cassette twice per day, twenty minutes each morning and evening. The affirmations are:

Repeat the following affirmations ten times:

1. I am more and more happy in every cycle of my life. I enjoy living on this planet.

2. From day to day I am better and healthier in every way. I love myself unconditionally,---for myself.

3. I am in full control of my body, mind, and spirit.

4. From day to day I am stronger and happier in every way. I release the past. I am living peaceful and secure. I can express myself freely and peacefully.

5. I relax into the flow of life and let life flow through me with ease. I feel tolerance and compassion and love for all people and myself. From day to day I fulfill myself in every way.

6. From day to day all my personal problems dissolve until they disappear.

Bodywork Therapies

A multitude of hands-on techniques can help to release deeply held or repressed emotions. Some of these methods often combine deep-tissue bodywork, such as Rolfing, with types of body movement, like yoga or Feldenkrais. Depression and anxiety are frequently more amenable to physical touch than verbal therapies. These therapies are particularly important for people with a history of physical and sexual abuse or poor body image. 

Color Therapy

Radiate the following colors twice per day, one after the other: 
Red for twenty minutes
Orange for ten minutes
Yellow for ten minutes

Energy Medicine

Therapies such as Therapeutic Touch, healing touch, and Reiki are all hands-on techniques that are helpful treating both depression and anxiety.

Hellerwork and rolfing may offer an opportunity to come out of the cycle of depression.

Hydrotherapy

Take an alternating hot-cold shower twice a day.

Hypnosis can be used to change physiology, language and thought patterns, as well as belief systems and personal history. 

Journaling

Journaling is a technique for recording your emotions and understanding patterns of action based on your feelings. To begin to focus on positive happenings, try keeping a gratitude journal. This consists of writing each day about something for which you can be grateful. By making a gratitude entry each evening before bed, you neutralize the mindset that focuses on what's wrong in your life-the depression cycle-and you begin to appreciate what's right.

Kinesiology will check the need for vitamin B, phenylanaline, vitamins C and B5, and will offer support for all systems, where necessary. 

Qi gong

Qi gong is a moving meditation practiced by over three hundred million Chinese on a daily basis that strengthens life force energy, or chi. It is relatively easy to learn and can be used to both treat and prevent depression and anxiety.

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